Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – Excitement is mounting ahead of Texpo 25, Zimbabwe’s premier technology expo, as organizers officially announced the eight teams selected to participate in this year’s highly anticipated Hackathon. Set to run from April 21 to 25 at the Zimbabwe Academy of Music in Bulawayo, the Hackathon will gather some of the brightest young minds in tech, ready to tackle pressing challenges at the intersection of music and innovation.

The selected teams—Kinetic Canvas, Tech Titans, CtrlAltWin, Syntax Squad, CAFFIENE.EXE, Hackletes, Music Clusters, and Cyber Wolves—were chosen from a competitive pool of applicants who submitted innovative proposals backed by strong technical feasibility. According to the organizers, the calibre of entries this year was particularly high, with the final eight teams standing out for their creativity, practical vision, and compelling presentations. The selection committee used a detailed scoring rubric that considered innovation, feasibility, technical execution, potential impact, and presentation quality.

This year’s Hackathon is centered on four real-world challenges that reflect the evolving needs of Africa’s creative economy. The “MoCap4All” challenge, which attracted three teams, focuses on democratizing motion capture technology for use in local creative and performance industries. Another three teams will be working on the “TuneTrack” challenge, which aims to revolutionize how royalties are tracked and distributed across the continent. “CrowdBeats,” taken on by one team, explores how to enhance crowd interaction during live performances using affordable tech. Finally, one team will tackle “Echoes of Africa,” a challenge that seeks to preserve and archive indigenous African sounds through digital means.

One of the most talked-about challenges is TuneTrack, which directly addresses a persistent problem in Zimbabwe’s music industry. Artists have long struggled to receive fair royalties due to the absence of reliable airplay tracking systems. Radio stations, bars, and online platforms often play their music without reporting it, whether due to oversight or deliberate underreporting. TuneTrack calls for the development of a low-cost solution using Raspberry Pi devices to listen to broadcasts, recognize songs through audio fingerprinting, timestamp and log every play, and generate quarterly airplay reports for submission to the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (ZIMURA) and broadcasters—all while operating in environments with limited internet connectivity and maintaining tamper-proof data.

The stakes are high, with the winning Hackathon team earning a fully sponsored Technology Immersion Trip to Cape Town, South Africa. The trip promises unparalleled exposure to Africa’s leading innovation spaces, tech incubators, and digital communities, providing a launchpad for the next phase of their idea’s development.

Though the Hackathon is a key highlight, Texpo 25 offers much more for attendees. The week-long festival features a dynamic programme that includes gaming tournaments, panel discussions, technology exhibitions, film screenings, literary showcases, and a high-energy Battle of the DJs, all aimed at exploring how technology is reshaping culture, education, business, and entertainment.

Technology Expo (Texpo) continues to be Zimbabwe’s flagship event for showcasing emerging technologies and fostering collaboration across sectors. By bringing together students, educators, entrepreneurs, and global experts, Texpo offers a vital platform to engage with the digital tools that are transforming lives and redefining the future.

Organizers are encouraging the public to attend Texpo 25 and experience the energy, innovation, and ingenuity that will be on full display in Bulawayo this April.