2025 Hedera Africa Hackathon Announces Winners, Officially Becomes the Largest Web3 Hackathon Globally

The Hashgraph Association and Exponential Science mark the conclusion of the 2025 Hedera Africa Hackathon, officially becoming the largest Web3 hackathon globally, with The Hashgraph Association confirming a 2026 edition.

  • Over 13,000 developers competed for $1 million in prizes across the globe
  • Winning projects focused on key infrastructure - payment routing, energy certification, medical records
  • New Investment Committee formed to provide multi-million-dollar backing for top builders.
The Hashgraph Association (THA), the Swiss-based non-profit advancing digital enablement, innovation, and education across the Hedera ecosystem, together with Exponential Science (ES), a global non-profit dedicated to accelerating emerging technologies through research, education, and ecosystem building, today announced the winners of the 2025 Hedera Africa Hackathon. The announcement marks the conclusion of the world’s largest Web3 hackathon to date, which brought together more than 13,000 developers, produced over 1,300 project submissions, and onboarded more than 45,000 participants into its education and certification pipeline across 20+ major African hubs and online.

The winning projects reflect a more mature and pragmatic vision of what Hedera technology can deliver. Developers from all over the world focused on building real infrastructure: systems that route payments across incompatible networks, verify renewable energy certificates, and secure medical records against silent or unauthorized alteration. Together, these projects offer a glimpse of what distributed ledger technology becomes when builders prioritize problem-solving over abstraction, creating the connective tissue between systems that were never designed to communicate. The USD 1 million prize pool, among the largest ever awarded at a Web3 hackathon, was distributed across four thematic tracks, alongside a cross-track championship recognizing the strongest projects overall.

In addition to the success of the hackathon, The Hashgraph Association also announces the formation of an Investment Committee, which will make multi-million-dollar commitments in strategic partnerships, expanding the ecosystem's global footprint and emphasis on emerging markets. This committee positions Hedera as one of the few ecosystems directly supporting builders with capital, mentorship and enterprise pathways.

2025 Hedera Hackathon Winners

The hackathon tasked developers with creating scalable, real-world solutions tailored to the continent's most urgent challenges using Hedera's DLT across four tracks: On-Chain Finance & Real-World Assets, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) for Operations, Immersive Experiences and AI & DePIN. It was co-funded by The Hashgraph Association and Exponential Science, in partnership with Orange Digital Center and operated by Dar Blockchain.

Commenting on the win, the team behind Carboni Renewable Energy Certificate Platform said: “We’re honored that the judges endorsed our vision for rebuilding renewable energy reporting and financing, and excited to turn this win into a real service on Hedera that supports the 1.5-degree goal.”

The Cross-Track Champions were selected for exceptional innovation, execution and real-world impact across all categories:

  • 1st Place ($100,000): GreenAfrica (Nigeria) - Environmental verification platform enabling transparent tracking of sustainability initiatives
  • 2nd Place ($70,000): Carboni Renewable Energy Certificate Platform (Egypt) - Infrastructure for proving and trading verified renewable energy credentials
  • 3rd Place ($60,000): Effisend X Africa (Mexico) - AI-powered payment routing layer connecting incompatible African payment rails 
  • 4th Place ($40,000): Silsilat Finance (Malaysia) - Cross-border settlement infrastructure for emerging markets
  • 5th Place ($30,000): Beyond Service (Nigeria) - Mobile game with persistent digital identity and asset ownership

The winners by track are:
On-Chain Finance & Real-World Assets
  1. Silsilat Finance (Malaysia)
  2. Direla (South Africa)
  3. Upesa (Nigeria)
  4. Tedera (Romania)
  5. Nia (Madagascar)
DLT for Operations
  1. Carboni Renewable Energy Certificate Platform (Egypt)
  2. Building a Chain of Trust in the Green Power-to-X Market (USA)
  3. RDZ Health (Zimbabwe)
  4. Afiya (Nigeria)
  5. W.A.T.A (Brazil)
Immersive Experiences
  1. Beyond Service Game (Nigeria)
  2. Cryptonia CITY (Nigeria)
  3. KeyRing (USA)
  4. CryptoMage (India)
AI & DePIN
  1. Effisend X Africa (Mexico)
  2. GreenAfrica (Nigeria)
  3. Hedron (Morocco)
  4. APIx: Intelligent Web3 Deployment Layer (Ivory Coast)
“The Hedera Africa Hackathon reached historic heights, scaling the depths of talent and ambition across the continent and beyond with our online participants,” said Kamal Youssefi, President of The Hashgraph Association. “Hedera has a longstanding commitment to enabling global innovation and powering real utility, proven by the applications built this year spanning finance, sustainability, AI and DePIN verticals. Through supportive partnerships and The Hashgraph Association’s new Investment Committee, we are committed to nurturing these developers long after the hackathon ends and really focusing on empowering the next generation of builders.”

Building on the success of this year's hackathon, The Hashgraph Association is proud to announce that it will return in 2026. Additional details on the location, tracks and partners will be released at a later date.

“Any strong, innovative, and responsible technical ecosystem begins with education. At Exponential Science, we have focused on building structured pathways that enable developers to translate emerging technologies into practical, real-world applications,” said Dr. Paolo Tasca, Executive Chairman at Exponential Science.

“Through this initiative, we have seen that approach materialise at scale, with participants advancing from learning to the development of meaningful infrastructure. We look forward to continuing this work and supporting the next generation of builders within the Hedera ecosystem.”

The organizers extend their sincere thanks to the partners and sponsors whose support made the 2025 Hedera Africa Hackathon possible, including Sygnum Bank, Orange Digital Centers, and the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Additional thanks go to Shamba Records, Hashgraph Online, and Swisscoast, alongside ecosystem and institutional partners Taylor Wessing, Rearden Digital Assets, and Object Computing, Inc. Their continued commitment to open innovation, developer education, and real-world blockchain adoption across Africa was instrumental in delivering the scale, quality, and impact of this year’s hackathon.

To stay up to date on the next Hedera Hackathon, please visit https://hedera-hackathon.hashgraph.swiss/.