Developers, in teams of up to three people, are invited to create bots in three categories: gaming and entertainment; productivity and utility; and social good.
This aligns with Facebook’s commitment to promote innovation in the Middle East and Africa by providing developers and start-ups with the tools they need to build, grow, monetize, and measure products and services.
Facebook grew out of a hacker culture and thrives by promoting innovation on new platforms. That's why Facebook is launching the Bots for Messenger Challenge, a contest to recognise and reward developers who are able to create the most innovative new bots on Messenger.
The 60 finalist teams (10 per category in each region) will win a Gear VR and mobile phone, one hour of Facebook mentorship and tools and services from FbStart, a Facebook program designed to help early stage mobile startups build and grow their bots.
All student teams who make it to the finals will win an additional US$2,000 (students will be verified against their registration via their government accredited school email accounts).
For each region, three runner-up teams (one from each category) will win US$10,000 and three months of Facebook mentorship.
For each region, three winning teams (one from each category) will win US$20,000 and three months of Facebook mentorship.
Submissions open: 15 February at 9am (GMT)
Deadline for entries: 28 April at 11:59pm (GMT)
Finalists announced (30 teams each in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East/North Africa): 19 May at 9am (GMT)
Deadline for entries from finalists: 2 June at 11:59pm (GMT)
Winners announced: 19 June at 9am (GMT)
For more, go to www.messengerchallenge.splashthat.com and join the Facebook Group to stay connected.
