Completed · 23 August 2025

First Fintech Reloaded Hackathon

Where the movement started — practical product building, live infrastructure.

23 August 2025Tan House Victoria, Dar es Salaam

Live API rails

Build tracks

Announced live

Prizes

What this one's about

The first Fintech Reloaded brought the community together around practical product building, live infrastructure, and the shared belief that African fintech should be built by the people closest to the problems.

It started at Tan House Victoria: developers, founders and operators in one room, live fintech APIs on the table, and a shared belief that African fintech should be built by the people closest to the problems.

Teams built and pitched to judges, mentors from across the ecosystem circulated the floor, and the format was set — innovate, integrate, impact.

Prize categories were announced live at the event. The tradition stuck: no spoilers, ever.

Inside First Fintech Reloaded Hackathon

Builders, mentors and the prototypes they shipped — straight from the room.

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The rails you'll build on

Live APIs for bulk SMS, mobile money, virtual cards, collections and bank accounts — pick a rail and build.

APIs by Tembo

Mobile Money Payments

Collect and move money the way Tanzania actually pays — M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money — through live payment APIs.

APIs by Briq

Bulk SMS & Verification

Reach every phone in the room — and the country. Bulk messaging plus SMS, WhatsApp and voice OTP for signup, login and transaction checks.

APIs by Tembo

Virtual Cards, Collections & Bank Accounts

Issue virtual cards, spin up virtual accounts for traceable collections, and settle to real bank accounts.

APIs by Ghala

WhatsApp Commerce & AI

Meet customers where they already live. AI sales agents, catalogs, orders and checkout — all inside WhatsApp.

APIs by Black Swan

Credit & AI

See real incomes — formal or informal — and turn transaction data into credit decisions people can actually afford.

APIs by Senjaro

Cross-border Payments

Move money beyond borders: multi-currency wallets, transparent FX and global transfers for African businesses.

Prizes? Announced at the hackathon.

No leaked prize list, no spoilers. Prize categories are revealed live on the day — so build like everyone's watching, because the judges are.

How the day ran

The Fintech Reloaded format: innovate, integrate, impact.

Arrival

Doors open & kickoff

Badge pickup, chai, and a walkthrough of the live APIs you'll build on.

Teams

Find your crew

Come solo or with a team — team forming happens on the spot. Pick a rail, sketch the idea.

Build

Prototype sprint

Build with mentors and partner engineers on the floor. Food and chai provided throughout.

Demos

Pitch to the judges

Live demos, no slides. Show a working prototype and defend it in front of the judges.

Awards

Winners & prizes, announced live

Prize categories are revealed at the hackathon — never beforehand. Stick around for the announcements.

The ecosystem behind the rails

Meet the partners whose live APIs power this hackathon.

View all partners

Questions? Answers.

The stuff everyone asks us in the group chat.

This one's history. The next one isn't.

Fintech Reloaded runs regional sprints through the year. New dates are announced on the events page — be first in line when the next one drops.