In a bid to drive innovation in the food and gas industries, Kike AI, Nigeria’s first intelligent kitchen assistant, has launched the 2025 Kike AI Campus Impact Challenge (KCIC).
The campus challenge is a nationwide student-led innovation competition offering over N2.5 million in prizes, a return ticket to New York, and career-defining internship opportunities.
Targeting undergraduate and postgraduates across tertiary institutions in Nigeria, KCIC 2025 aims to ignite student-driven solutions in the food and gas sectors through entrepreneurship, media creation, research, and policy innovation.
“KCIC is about solutions, leadership, and impact,” said Femi Oye, CEO of SMEFUNDS. “We want students to think beyond theory—to act, build, and shape the future of our gas and food systems,” Oye said.
He noted that the initiative is a call to action backed by purpose and powered by SMEFUNDS, adding that it is more than just a challenge.
According to him, the initiative is a mission to empower young changemakers to tackle real-life problems in Nigeria’s kitchen and cooking gas economy using creativity, collaboration, and technology.
Participants will collaborate in teams of three to five students and take on one or more of the following challenge tracks; stakeholder research & mapping, gas distribution innovation and vendor e-commerce & chef onboarding
Others are; viral skit & content creation and policy & strategy development.
The challenge welcomes talents from diverse backgrounds—tech, energy, policy, storytelling, agriculture, or media—who are passionate about creating real-world impact.
Interested participants can apply online as a team or register as Campus Ambassadors to lead activation efforts across universities. Both roles come with mentorship, leadership training, and growth opportunities.
Kike AI is modernising Nigeria’s cooking and food systems using artificial intelligence, smart data, and digital vendor networks.
This challenge is part of Kike AI’s broader mission to onboard 10,000 B2B vendors and reach 1 million users in 2025.
“We are using this platform to find the next wave of innovators, marketers, media minds, and ecosystem shapers,” added Oye. “It’s time to build with Nigeria’s brightest students.”
