SmartFin emerges as winner in the UPSA pitch competition

Report by Ben LARYEA
The University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) has held its Interdisplinary Research
Business Pitch Competition under the theme “Turning Innovation into Enterprise and Policy to
Contribute to National Development with Smartfin, an intelligent financial and tax management
platform for SMEs emerging as winner.
GRAIT, a tax reporting system for social media content creators in Ghana and SearchBuddy AI,
an AI assisted search tool for UPSA’S learning management systems won the second and the
third place respectively out of sixteen student innovation teams.
The rest include SCRS-Smart crisis response system for Kantamanto market, Business advisory
system- an AI powered decision support platforms for SMES in Ghana, Nudge ED -a digital
Nudge system for improving academic discipline in higher education, Talent Connect -An AI
enhanced HR platform for Ghanaian organizations, Digital Crash course platform- Demand
driven digital skills for graduate employability.
Others were Pharma Verify Ghana- AQR code based mobile system for authenticating medicines,
UPSA market -AI enabled regulated E-commerce ecosystem for student entrepreneurship,
campusHub -an SSD and mobile application free payment system for UPSA, UPSA-FBS- a web
-based facility booking and management platform at UPSA, Attend Face X -Face ID for taking
attendance time monitoring, signal -AI powered social listening and reputation intelligence dash
board, SMAS-Smart mortality analytics system monitoring and clear signal -real time power
outage communication platform.
The pitch competition is the hallmark of UPSA innovation day,2026 and brought together
student’s innovators from their respective faculties to present their research-backed solutions
before a panel of judges, industry leaders, regulators and development partners for assessment.
Speaking at the UPSA innovation day, the Vice-Chancellor of UPSA Prof. John Kwaku Mensah
Mawutor said that the university has moved beyond the production of knowledge hence students
must convert academia into emerging innovations and enterprises for national growth and
development.
“UPSA commitment is reflected in a sustained effort in bridging the gap between academia and
industry which is fostering dialogue that leads to actionable solutions, “he said, adding that the
innovation week celebration rests on a foundation already instituted by the respective faculties.
He however called for collaborations in relations to the innovation programme to enable the ideas
of the innovators go beyond the jurisdictions of UPSA and the world at large as well as leverage
the concepts of the students towards the growth of the country’s economy.