The atmosphere at the 2025 Zenith Tech Fair was electric as founders, innovators, creators, investors, and tech leaders gathered to witness the grand finale of Zecathon 5.0, Zenith Bank’s flagship innovation challenge designed to spotlight and accelerate Africa’s brightest emerging talent. With the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in attendance, Zecathon 5.0 delivered a powerful showcase of ingenuity, grit, and Africa’s rising capacity to build transformative solutions at scale.
The 2025 edition stood out not only for the quality of ideas but also for the sheer volume of interest it attracted across Africa’s innovation ecosystem. Thousands of applicants submitted solutions that demonstrated both technical depth and market relevance, reinforcing the Zenith Bank Zecathon as one of the continent’s most credible launchpads for early-stage ideas. From this strong pool, founders and innovators were shortlisted through a rigorous screening process before earning their place on the live stage.
In her remarks, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank Plc, Dame Dr. Adaora Umeoji, OON, emphasized the bank’s long-term commitment to building platforms that empower the next generation of innovators. “Zecathon continues to be a platform where bold ideas are transformed into real solutions,” she said. “Our mission is to empower innovators with the tools, resources, and support they need to build ventures that can solve real challenges and accelerate Africa’s digital and economic growth.” Her words set the tone for a day that celebrated excellence, resilience, and the ambition of African builders.
“Expanding to a pan-African program unlocked an impressive range of talent and ideas. Participants didn’t just pitch concepts, they built prototypes capable of real-world impact.” said Fikun Aluko, Head, Tech & Entrepreneurship Programs at Beyond Limits Global.
This year marked a defining moment as Zecathon 5.0 featured a dedicated Innovation Hackathon track, bringing together hundreds of developers, designers, and problem-solvers competing for a place among the Top 25 teams. Those selected advanced into an intense 3-day sprint that demanded speed, clarity, creativity, and technical excellence. From this fierce competition emerged 5 outstanding finalists whose work demonstrated discipline, technical strength, and a deep understanding of the real-world challenges they set out to solve.
At the Tech Fair, the hackathon finalists presented solutions tackling misinformation, credit scoring, smart lending, and identity verification, as well as other problem tracks shaping daily life for millions across the continent. The winning team, TrustLoop, which was solving for seamless digital KYC and Liveness Verification, earned the top prize of N30 million, while the other finalists – Konfam, The Very Hacked Men, Zenith IntelliScore, and ZeraX – each received N10 million for their exceptional contributions.
The Startup Pitch Competition delivered equally compelling stories of innovation. Early-stage founders from across sectors, including fintech, edtech, e-commerce, and healthcare, pitched to a distinguished panel of industry leaders and investment experts. After a tightly contested session, Cubbes, an education technology venture from Nigeria, emerged as the overall winner, securing N30 million for its mission to transform learning experiences across the continent. The runners-up – Venille, Sowota, Invopay, and Flow – each received N10 million for their creative solutions and readiness to scale.
Following the Zenith Tech Fair, all finalists now move into a six-week accelerator programme designed to help them refine their solutions, strengthen their business models, and position their products for real-world impact. They will receive guided mentorship, technical support, and ongoing visibility to investors and industry leaders.
For more updates, visit https://beyondlimits.global/zecathon5/ and follow @zenithbankplc and @the_beyondlimits on social media.
