Organised by Dr. Emmie Chiyindiko, the 2025 edition of Falling Walls Lab Zimbabwe brought together Zimbabwe’s most promising innovators, influential leaders, and committed partners in a celebration of creativity and problem-solving. Held at the Stanbic Bank Incubator Hub, the Lab reaffirmed its position among the top five most-applied-to Labs globally, with 87 applications.
"Since 2022, we have ranked second in Africa after Lab Ghana, despite being a much younger platform — a testament to the platform’s credibility and reach. The event ran flawlessly, blending competition, collaboration, and a strong alumni presence." - Dr. Emmie Chiyindiko
From the 87 applicants, 10 finalists were selected with problem solving ideas taking on issues such as real time tracking of artist royalties and an African alternative to Ozempic for low resource communities.
Finalists received expert coaching from Tharin Sethi — Managing Director of SethiG, and Miklos Romandy, FNF’s Regional Project Coordinator, while Fungisai Sithole, FNF Project Manager in Zimbabwe, was available throughout for strategic advice and guidance.
Participants also joined a design thinking session facilitated by Emmie Chiyindiko using Liberating Structures to co-create strategies for sustaining the Lab Zimbabwe Alumni Network. Alumni management was a central focus, with active event support from past Falling Walls Lab winners Tsungai Manyadza, Sithulisiwe Ngwenya, and Stanlake Mangezi.
Lovemore Chinyoka was the winner of this year's edition with his pitch on breaking the wall of the Unbanked Informal Sector, and he will be sponsored by FNF to attend the global Falling Walls Lab Finale in Berlin, November 2025.
The runners up were Tinotenda Njajawa whose pitch took on the issue of Maternal Deaths, and Hope Mashavakure who shared a revolutionary idea taking on Dsyplidemia and Obesity. Their transformation from training to confident final delivery underscored the strength of the Lab’s mentorship model.
The Falling Walls Lab jury was comprised of Prof. Brighton Samatanga - Founder & CEO of The Biotech Institute Company, Tharin Sethi - Managing Director of SethiG, Edith Maziofa-Tapfuma - Lead and Managing Consultant at Vitality Wellness Zimbabwe, Nonhlanhla Lindel Nondo - Senior Project Coordinator at Health Research Unit Zimbabwe, Roma Gendera - DAAD Lecturer, University of Zimbabwe.
In their reflections, the jury lauded Falling Walls Lab Zimbabwe and platforms such as it for being the catalysts of transformative change that bring the country to a new frontier. Prof. Samatanga and Edith Maziofa-Tapfuma pledged sponsorship for the 2026 edition, and The Biotech Institute will also exploring further funding collaborations with the Lab.
For the 2025 edition Falling Walls Lab Zimbabwe partnered with Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF), Stanbic Bank, The Biotech Institute Company, Heart and Soul TV, GoWaya, and DAAD.
While the top 3 pitches are recognised by the platform, the innovative ideas Falling Walls Zimbabwe puts front and centre are all brilliant enough to deserve funding. The financial sector, government departments and grant funders should not only be paying attention but jumping over each other to fund them. There is a spark in these ideas that has the potential to not only have impact across Zimbabwe but the globe.
Enjoyed reading this news report? Support Greedysouth by buying the team a cup of coffee. Your support assists in the production of such quality reports. Thank you.