Zenith Bank Plc has unveiled the sixth edition of its flagship innovation programme, Zecathon 6.0, with a total prize pool of N190 million.

The programme, organised in partnership with Beyond Limits, brings together technology innovators, developers and startups across Africa, while introducing the Future Innovators Challenge for senior secondary school students in Nigeria.

The latest edition has the largest prize pool in the history of the programme, up from N140 million awarded at Zecathon 5.0.

The bank said the initiative was designed to accelerate the development of technology-driven solutions to real-world challenges and support the next generation of innovators.

Zenith Bank Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dame Adaora Umeoji, said the expanded programme would create an ecosystem where developers, students and entrepreneurs could collaborate and develop solutions capable of shaping the future of banking and business.

The Hackathon will challenge participants to address real-world banking problems using artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

The Startup Pitch Competition will focus on growth-stage ventures with scalable solutions across sectors including financial services, education, healthcare, agriculture, cybersecurity, retail and e-commerce, insurance, transportation and logistics.

Winners in both the Hackathon and Startup Pitch Competition will receive N35 million each, while second and third-place finalists will receive N20 million and N15 million respectively.

Fourth and fifth-place finalists in each category will receive N10 million each.

The newly introduced Future Innovators Challenge has a separate N10 million prize pool for senior secondary school students, with N5 million for the winning team, N3 million for second place and N2 million for third place.

The school challenge is open to teams of two to four students and is focused on areas including financial inclusion, education, healthcare, agriculture and energy and environmental solutions.

Participants will receive virtual learning, mentorship and innovation training designed to strengthen their problem-solving, design-thinking, collaboration and communication skills.

Applications for the 2026 edition opened on September 22 and are scheduled to close on October 13.

Zenith Bank said the initiative formed part of its broader commitment to supporting innovation, entrepreneurship and digital transformation across Africa.

The bank expressed optimism that the expanded competition would help identify promising ideas, provide young innovators with opportunities to develop their solutions and contribute to the growth of Africa’s digital economy.