Zenith Bank, on Thursday, gave out a total sum of N77.5 million in cash prizes to winners at the end of a keenly contested hackathon session at the Fourth Edition of the Zenith Tech Fair.
Ten finalists shared the prize money after emerging winners from over 1,700 contestants who participated in the hackathon.
The event with the theme, “Future Forward 4.0: Embedded Finance, Cybersecurity & Growth Imperatives – The Impact of AI “, was held on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Among the winners are: JumpnPass, a self-checkout technology solution aimed at reshaping the retail landscape in Africa. It emerged as the overall winner, taking home the grand prize of N25 million, in addition to a six-week mentorship and incubation program, which will run from December 2024 to February 2025.
Coming close to JumpnPass is CreditChek with a N20 million cash prize. It is a credit and verification service provider that leverages AI and open banking to streamline income and credit history verification for financial institutions. It is closely followed by the second runner-up, Salad Africa – a start-up that offers seamless integration of credit products for digital platforms and software companies. It won N15 million as well as a mentorship program.
Others include: Regxta, CashAfrica, Middleman, Messenger, Pocketfood, Famasi Africa, and Kitovu, which took home N2.5 million each.
Earlier during the program, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Dame (Dr.) Adaora Umeoji, OON, in her welcome address, expressed her appreciation to the Founder & Chairman, Dr. Jim Ovia, CFR, for his visionary leadership in utilizing technology to revolutionize the world of business and banking which led to the establishment of the Tech Fair initiative 5 years ago.
Commenting on the Hackathon, Umeoji said the idea behind the event was to support technology startups and empower and nurture young fertile minds like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs.
“This prestigious annual event was created to empower and nurture young fertile minds. We hope to produce the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk from the Zenith Bank Hackathons in the nearest future,” she said.
According to her, if and when these youths are empowered, their success will not only foster innovation and growth in Nigeria but will also play a vital role in creating employment opportunities for our youth.
She also noted the importance of adopting technology to stay ahead of the curve stressing that many companies have failed owing to lack of innovation. She said, “Innovation should be a top priority for us.”
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in his goodwill message noted the importance of acting ‘global’, rather than ‘local’. He called for a global approach to doing business in the country.
“What we need to do is to be able to enhance our product and services to compete in the world. We can’t continue to act local, we need to think global”, he said.
The Fair featured the launch of the bank’s digital wallet, EazyByZenith, which will help to support the bank’s retail and financial inclusion strategy.
The fair also included presentations on the leading technological innovations that cut across different aspects of life, such as Artificial