The New x Payaza Presents
THE FUSION HACK
We’re funding teams to spend a week building tools for African creators. You apply as a team of three to five. If we pick you, you get to build out your idea, get access to Payaza’s payment API, mentors, seven days to ship and an opportunity to present to a room of investors, partners and technologists.
Idea Submissions Run from Aug 23 - Sept 13
THE PROCESS
FROM IDEA TO DEMO DAY
1
Apply
Three to five people. One dev, one designer, one non-technical. One form. No fee. It takes an evening.
2
Shortlist
Our review panel scores every submission against the criteria. Five ideas advance. Everyone else can still join a team.
3
Build
Five teams. Seven days. Mentors on call, Payaza's payment infrastructure wired in, and an opportunity to build the future.
4
Demo
30 minutes on stage. Six judges. $20,000 in cash and a three-month residency for the team that builds the strongest product.
WHO'S BEHIND THIS
TWO ORGANIZATIONS. ONE THESIS.
The New Church recently opened The New Fusion Centre – a permanent space for builders, innovators and creatives, not just for church services. Payaza is one of the largest payments company in Africa. Both of us think the same thing: there are too few founders in this market shipping tools their peers can actually use, and the bottleneck isn’t talent.
The Fusion Hack is how we start doing something about it. One of us brings the room, the community, and the mentors. The other brings the payment rails and the technology. Between us, we can launch the next unicorns out of Africa.
IF YOU BUILD
Build something that matters.
FOR EVERYONE ELSE
Come and Experience Faith-Driven Innovation
THE BRIEF
BUILD FOR THE AFRICAN CREATOR ECONOMY
African creatives shape global taste. The people making the work capture almost none of the value. The tools they'd use to change that don't exist yet, at least not built for African currencies, African payment behavior, or African legal frameworks. Discovery is broken. Rights are unenforceable in practice. Getting paid takes weeks when it works at all. Pick one part of this problem and build a tool that fixes it. Not a platform. Not a superapp. One thing, done well enough that a real creator would pay to use it.
PAYMENTS & MONETIZATION
Turn attention into income. Tipping, subscriptions, micro-payments, built the way Africans actually pay.
DISCOVERY & DISTRIBUTION
Fix the recommendation gap. Help creators get found, and paid, for work the platforms haven't surfaced.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Turn followers into people who show up. The layer between "I liked that post" and "here's my money" is basically missing.
RIGHTS & LICENSING
Protect what gets made here. Simple, enforceable IP and licensing for African creative work.
WHO'S IN
OPEN TO ANYONE WITH AN IDEA WORTH BUILDING
No membership. No fee. No gatekeeping. A short list of rules that keep the cycle fair, and a few we won't bend on.
WHO CAN APPLY?
Must be at least 18 years or older.
At least one developer, one designer, and one non-technical person on the team at submission.
One person submits on behalf of the team. Everyone else is named on the form, with role and email.
One person can only be on one team. If your name shows up on two submissions, both get thrown out.
One idea per person as lead. Not shortlisted? You can still join a Top 5 team after the selection on September 12.
WHO CAN'T APPLY?
Anyone on the organizing committee, judging panel, or mentor bench, and their immediate families.
Teams whose idea is already a funded or revenue-generating company. Bring us new work.
Anything illegal, hateful, or built to harass will not be accepted at the idea phase.
Late applications. Deadline is 11:59pm on Sunday, September 6th. The only extension is if this form itself breaks.
THE PRIZES
CASH, SPACE AND THE PARTNERSHIPS THAT MATTERS MOST
The cash is real. So is the residency. But the most valuable thing you can win here is warm introductions to the people who can help you keep going.
1ST
$10,000
$10,000 in cash. Three months of studio space at The New Fusion Centre, no rent. A direct access intro to Payaza's product and engineering community and academy.
2ND
$5,000
$5,000 in cash. One months of co-working access at the Fusion Centre. Continued time with the mentor pool through year-end.
3RD
$2,500
$2,500 in cash. Three months of 1:1 mentorship with a senior operator we match to your problem.
Best Design
For the team whose product actually feels well-crafted. Design is what turns a demo you remember into a product a stranger would trust.
People's Choice
Voted by the audience on Demo Day. The team whose story lands hardest with the people in the room.
Best Social Impact
For the team whose tool would most concretely change life for a real community of African creators.
All prizes are paid through Payaza.
FAQs
THE QUESTION SERIOUS BUILDERS ASK
Should we apply if the idea isn't fully formed?
Yes. The best applications we get won’t be from teams with a polished business plan. They’ll be from teams who see a real problem clearly and can describe it in one paragraph. If that’s you, apply. Ideas move fast. Teams move slow. We’re selecting for teams.
What actually matters in the application?
Do we need a working prototype to register?
Our team is missing a designer. Can we still apply?
I'm the only non-technical person I know who cares about this problem.
I can't code. Can I still apply?
Is it limited to The New Members?
What if my idea isn't shortlisted?
Who owns what we build?
What's Payaza's role, sponsor or something more?
Who do I speak to for questions?
APPLY
TEN MINUTES, ONE FORM, DON'T OVERTHINK IT
One person from the team fills this in. Write like you'd explain the problem to a friend. Short is better. Specific beats general. We'll spend about ten minutes reading your application, make it easy to say yes.