Babatunde Ademuyiwa Wins Zenith Tech Fair Hackathon Award and ₦25 Million Grant

By Funke Olaode
In a triumph that reflects both national recognition and innovation excellence, Babatunde Ademuyiwa has been named the grand prize winner of the Zenith Bank Tech Fair 4.0 Hackathon Award, earning the award of recognition and a ₦25 million grant to scale his groundbreaking retail automation solution, JumpNPass. The win marks a major milestone in the Nigerian tech ecosystem, not just for Babatunde, but for the growing wave of homegrown founders and entrepreneurs tackling deeply embedded inefficiencies with visionary products.

The Zenith Bank Tech Fair, now in its fourth edition, has grown into one of the most prestigious technology showcases in Nigeria, drawing attention from top industry players, investors, regulators, and policymakers. The 2024 edition featured participation from numerous government agencies including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and The government of Lagos State reflecting the national scale and strategic importance of the event.

This year’s hackathon received 1,700 applications from startups and founders across the country, all vying for a chance to pitch their transformative ideas. After a rigorous multi-stage selection process, 10 finalists were invited to present their business solutions live at the Tech Fair at Eko Convention Centre in Lagos. A distinguished panel of judges, comprising leading figures from venture capital, product innovation, and government regulatory bodies, deliberated intensively before awarding the grand prize to JumpNPass, Babatunde’s AI-powered self-checkout solution, which revolutionizes the shopping experience for retailers and customers alike.

A Product-First Visionary

Babatunde Ademuyiwa is a seasoned, product-focused technology founder whose work reflects both breadth and depth across Nigeria’s startup and innovation landscape. With a proven track record of building solutions at the intersection of utility, design, and scale, Babatunde first drew attention with his early venture Speaking Cards, which pioneered Afrocentric greeting card designs for a new generation of Nigerian consumers. He later founded Kiakia Prints, a platform that simplified access to on-demand print services, further affirming his ability to identify gaps in local markets and solve them with technology-driven models. Today, as the founder of JumpNPass, he is tackling bottlenecks in retail and service delivery through automation and self-checkout systems, a solution now gaining national recognition. Babatunde’s work is characterized by his deep understanding of user behavior, relentless commitment to product iteration, and hands-on leadership style. He has led multiple successful platform launches, participated in accelerator programs, and demonstrated a unique capacity to merge commercial viability with technical innovation. His ventures have not only attracted institutional recognition but have also solved real problems for thousands of users, earning him respect as one of Nigeria’s emerging voices in pragmatic tech entrepreneurship.

Speaking on the award, Babatunde said: “Winning the Zenith Tech Fair Hackathon is a humbling validation of the years I’ve put into solving everyday problems with technology. It shows that the work of founders and solution-driven entrepreneurs can match global standards, and with the right support, we can build solutions that not only thrive but shape the future.”

The Zenith Bank Hackathon win adds to Babatunde’s growing list of accolades, which include participation in Techstars. Babatunde was awarded a recognition award for his contribution to the technology ecosystem. The award also includes a 25 million Naira grant for his company to continue innovating.  As Nigeria continues to invest in its innovation economy, entrepreneurs like Babatunde are proving that with vision, persistence, and execution, homegrown technology can change the trajectory of entire industries.