BREAKING: Zenith Bank Awards N140m Into Tech Ecosystem With Zecathon 5.0

BREAKING: Zenith Bank Awards N140m Into Tech Ecosystem With Zecathon 5.0

Zenith Bank has concluded the 2025 edition of its innovation competition, Zecathon 5.0, at the Zenith Tech Fair, with a total of N140 million awarded to participating startups and developers.

The event drew thousands of applications and was attended by dignitaries, including the founder and chairman of Zenith Bank Plc Jim Ovia and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The 2025 edition introduced a Hackathon track alongside the Startup Pitch Competition.

From hundreds of applications, 20 teams of developers and designers were selected to participate in a three-day programme focused on problem-solving and technical execution across selected sectors.

Group managing director and chief executive officer of Zenith Bank, Adaora Umeoji, said the initiative was part of the bank’s strategy to support innovation.

“Our mission is to empower innovators with the resources and support they need to build ventures that can solve real challenges and accelerate Africa’s digital and economic growth. Zecathon continues to be the platform where ideas are developed into market-ready solutions,” Mrs Umeoji said.

In the Innovation Hackathon category, TrustLoop, a digital KYC and liveness verification solution, won the top prize of N30 million.

Finalist teams Konfam, The Very Hacked Men, Zenith IntelliScore and ZeraX each received N10 million.

The Startup Pitch Competition featured early-stage founders in fintech, edtech and healthcare.

Cubbes, an edtech startup, emerged as the overall winner and received N30 million.

Other finalists, Venille, Sowota, Invopay and Flow, were awarded N10 million each.

Fikun Aluko, head of Tech and Entrepreneurship Programs at Beyond Limits Global, said the programme highlighted the impact of collaboration between institutions and entrepreneurs.

“This edition showed the value of platforms that connect institutions and entrepreneurs. The teams presented solutions with the potential to support digital transformation across Africa,” Aluko said.