Facebook Launches The “Bots For Messenger Challenge” In The Middle East And Africa

Messenger has been on top of Facebook’s priorities over the past year. This was very much evident in the upgrades the app has gone through, most noticeably, in the latest release that introduced a new way for users to interact with bots.

Today, Facebook is challenging developers across the Middle East and Africa to team up in threes and compete to create innovative bots for Messenger under the following categories: gaming and entertainment; productivity and utility; and social good.

Here are the “Bots For Messenger Challenge” Prizes:

Winners:
Three winning teams (one from each category) will win $20,000 and most important three months of Facebook mentorship.

Runners-Up:
Three runner-up teams (one from each category) will win $10,000 and three months of Facebook mentorship.

Finalists:
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.

Students:
All student teams who make it to the finals will win an additional $2,000

Developers, find your partners and sign up today.

• Submissions open: 15 February
• Deadline for entries: 28 April
• Finalists announced: 19 May
• Deadline for entries from finalists: 2 June
• Winners announced: 19 June

There’s also a Facebook group created to keep track of what is happening.