AIP-577: Bananahack at Zo

PROPOSAL NAME:

Bananahack at Zo

TEAM DESCRIPTION:

Zo World is a network state for culture. With over 12 years of experience in tech, real estate & culture, Zo aims to be a curated cultural community first network. Our Zostels & Zo Houses act as IRL nodes, blending digital and physical spaces to serve as perfect hubs for inspiration & accelerated learning. Each Zo House embodies the decentralised ethos of Web3, functioning as a node where like minded thought leaders collide.

Our clubhouses have been rocking BAYC mascots and the team has been degen enough to roundtrip assets proudly. Our newest addition to the clubhouse network is also dope af.

Core Team Members:

DV: CEO & founder of Zo World, after leading a culture of lifestyle and travel for more than a decade with Zostel, Spreading the culture of $Zo.
BAYC #8665 as degen as they come.

Samurai: Director of Zo Houses, building a network of For The Culture web3 clubhouses for the Founder Members of Zo World.
BAYC #5439, Down bad degen.

Pofunder - COO & Co-Founder of Zo World and Zostel, Philosopher & quantum surfer.
BAYC #385

And a network of 490+ founder members.

About our Zo Houses

BLRxZo: Zo House BLR
Signature 1, 12th Floor, Anaa Infra’s Signature
Video for reference

SFOxZo: Zo House SF
300 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107
Video for reference

PROPOSAL DESCRIPTION:

BananaHack is a month long hybrid hackathon experience designed to catalyse innovation in the ApeChain ecosystem, this event leverages the power of Zo Houses as IRL nodes, creating unique Digital and physical hackathon experience.

Duration: Upon approval for 4 weeks, with the final report being made 1 week after.

Format:
Online hackathon: Hosted on DoraHacks

IRL Build- Stations: Zo Houses in San Francisco and Bangalore offer co-working spaces and in-person guidance.

Workshops: Each city will host workshops during the hackathon to provide technical support and cultural inspiration

Dedicated tracks: Allowing participants to explore impactful themes.

  • Cultural : Build AI driven chat bots for BAYC proliferation & Getting the masses in the right vibes to build relavant projects.

  • AI Agents: Building decentralised AI agents for automation and utility on ApeChain.

  • GameFi: Creating play-to-earn experiences that help onboard normies to apechain.

  • Consumer Apps: Design easy-to-use decentralized apps for the next billion users.

Target Audience:

Web3 developers, Zo Citizens, BAYC holders, and builder communities in India and SF..


BENEFIT TO APECOIN ECOSYSTEM:

BananaHack is designed to:
Onboard 2420 degens to ApeChain.
100 builders onboarded to Apechain
Build 8 impactful projects across 4 key tracks.
Our goal is to make Make apechain builders go viral

Future KPIs include 10+ project submissions on DoraHacks, 75%+ hacker participation during the event, and 100K+ views on X. As of April 10th, 2025, progress includes 2,000+ website visits, 30K social media views, a community of 300+ builders, 42 hacker registrations, and 600+ visits to the hackathon-specific site.


STEPS TO IMPLEMENT:

Start Date: Upon approval
End Date: Five weeks after approval

These are the activities that has already been done.
Made the DoraHacks page
Metrics Already Achieved:

  • Registrations: 36 Hackers on DoraHacks.
  • Marketing activities done at ETH India, India’s biggest hackathon.
  • Social Media impressions: 30,000+

BananaHack activities:

Pre Promotion Phase:1 week after the proposal passes

Start activities to push the hackathon to devs
Launch a gamified landing page for engagement and buzz.

KPI:
No: of website visits
Social media engagement
Community reach

Promotions & Registrations Phase: Starts 3 weeks after the proposal gets approved

Open registrations on DoraHacks.
Launch a gamified landing page for engagement and buzz.
Collaborate with community partners to amplify outreach on X, Telegram.

KPI:
Total hacker registrations
No: of website visits
Social media engagement
Community reach

Support from Ape Foundation:

Announcement from ApeCoin’s official twitter
Connecting with ApeChain devrels

Hackathon Phase: 2 weeks after the Promotions & Registrations Phase ends

Kick off BananaHack with an opening ceremony streamed online.
Run weekly webinars and mentorship sessions with industry experts.
Track submissions and support hackers with technical and logistical needs.
Highlight outstanding projects weekly through social media.

KPI:
Submissions on DoraHacks: 10+ completed projects in various tracks.
Participation: 75%+ of registered hackers active during the event.
Social media engagement: 100K+ views
on X

Support from Ape Foundation:

Amplifying the hackathon
Mentors for the hackathon

Weekly Activation Plans during Hackathon Phase

Week 1: Ideation & Kickoff
Cultural Workshop to onboard devs into the swamp.
Builders submit project ideas via DoraHacks.
Top ideas get selected based on alignment with Apecoin ecosystem.
Kickoff workshops held online and IRL at Zo Houses.

Weeks 2–3: Build Phase
Teams develop projects with access to mentorship and workshops.
IRL Build-Station at Zo Houses for collaboration and accelerated learning.

Week 4: Demo Day
Final presentations at Zo Houses and online, live-streamed globally.
Judges evaluate projects based on scalability, innovation, and long-term value to apechain.
Top 8 projects awarded bounties and ongoing support.

KPI:
Project submission on DoraHacks
Projects launched on ApeChain

MARKETING STRATEGY
Zo Studio - A creative powerhouse of in house 3D and motion graphic designers to pump out dope content.

Areas of focus
Share builder stories, cultural highlights & vibes.
Team profiling - Video interview with teams
Promo video and after-movie
Gamified Challenges for viral social loop through Zo Houses.


REPORTING EXPECTATIONS:

Pre-promotional metrics - 3 weeks after we kickstart the the Pre Promotion Phase
Updates on workshops, onboarding, and project progress. - 2 weeks after the Promotions & Registrations Phase starts.
Post-event report with outcomes, project details, and feedback. - 1 week after the hackathon phase ends.
All the reports will be made available on Notion with access shared with the APE Foundation and ApeCoin team.


OVERALL COST:

Total amount requested from the ApeCoin Ecosystem Fund = $54,000.

Three funding tranches have been requested:
Milestone 1: $18,000 (upon approval)
Milestone 2: $18,000 (2 weeks after approval)
Milestone 3: $18,000 (4 weeks after approval)

  1. Prize Pool: $16,000 (4 tracks, 8 Projects, $2000 each).
  2. BLRxZo Build Station: $8000 (see below)
  3. SFOxZo Build Station: $15000 (see below)
  4. Workshop & Events:
    1. Workshop x 2 - $2500 (1 in BLR & 1 in SF)
    2. Cultural events x 2: $4500 (1 in BLR & 1 in SF)
    3. Cross continental demo day: $4000
  5. Marketing: $4000

Build Stations are our Zo Houses in Bangalore and San Francisco, where we will be providing the builders from that region co-working spaces for that entire duration of the hackathon.
Here is the detailed split of both build stations:

  a. BLRxZo Build Station: $8000
       30 Days * 20 Builders (Tables) * $13.5 = $8100

  b. SFOxZo Build Station: $15000
       30 Days * 20 Builders * $25 = $15000

We are seeking support from the APE Foundation to enhance the event’s success and provide value to participants through an announcement or acknowledgment on ApeCoin’s official Twitter to increase awareness, and assistance in connecting with ApeChain Developer Relations (DevRel) teams for technical guidance and development support. We understand that the APE Foundation’s participation is not guaranteed and remain flexible.

1 Like

Hi @samurai ,

The community feedback period for your proposal would be ending in roughly 24 hours.

  • If you’re content with the feedback received, your next steps are to finalize your proposal using the AIP Draft Template.

  • A moderator will reach out to the author to finalize the AIP Draft. Upon receipt of the final Draft, we will review and provide instructions on the next steps.

  • Are you ready to proceed to the next phase or do you wish to extend community discussion for another 7 days?

We look forward to hearing from you.

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@samurai has requested to extend the community discussion period for this AIP idea. This topic will automatically close a further 7 days from now. We encourage the community to continue to engage in thoughtful discussions through constructive criticism, honest feedback, and helpful suggestions.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

-@Facilitators

1 Like

Amazing to see this proposal here as I’m a Zo Citizen and an Apecoin holder.
I see that there are two projects per track. So will there be some sort of selection process if more than two projects sign up for the Hackathon or will it be FCFS?
Another question I had was regarding the first and second tracks, could you elaborate on why different tracks were chosen AI Chatbots and AI Agents. Asking as a noob.
One suggestion I have is regarding GameFi. I feel that track is the fastest way to increase Apecoin adoption and maybe you should have more funding allocated to that track.
Looking forward to attending this in person in Zo House Bangalore. IRL hackathons at both Bangalore and San Francisco would definitely help with Apecoin innovation.

2 Likes

Luckily this got extended otherwise I’d have missed adding my views.

2 Likes

Thanks you for your feedback @srinigoes excited to host you during the hackathon do make sure to register via the Dorahacks link provided

Q1 : There is one judge assigned towards each track and the projects will be judged on several criteria apecoin adoption being one of them detailed in the hackathon page.

Q2 : I will revise the proposal to specific more clearly but the first track is more about culture i.e chat bots that help users understand and tune into apecoin ecosystem and the second track is more focused on onchain ai agents.

All aspects of the hackathon are themed in a gamified manner but will definitely consider and higher weightage to gamefi.

Hope this answers your queries happy to help if there is anything else as well.

p.s: We will revise the proposal and clarify the tracks better

Hi @samurai ,

The community feedback period for your proposal would be ending in roughly 24 hours.

  • If you’re content with the feedback received, your next steps are to finalize your proposal using the AIP Draft Template.
  • A moderator will reach out to the author to finalize the AIP Draft. Upon receipt of the final Draft, we will review and provide instructions on the next steps.
  • Are you ready to proceed to the next phase or do you wish to extend community discussion for another 7 days?

We look forward to hearing from you.

-@Facilitators

2 Likes

Gm @12GAUGE.Admin, We are content with the feedback received, will be awaiting response from the moderator for next steps as we are also ready with our AIP Draft for our proposal.

1 Like

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

The AIP Draft submitted is currently incomplete and feedback has been provided to the author.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Thank you,

-@Facilitators

This topic was automatically closed after 14 days. New replies are no longer allowed.

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@samurai has completed editing their AIP Idea to be their AIP Draft.

This proposal has been assigned the AIP ID Number 577.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

2 Likes

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

Our team has reviewed and discussed @samurai 's AIP Draft and have sent a list of initial questions. We await answers.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@samurai has responded to our questions and they are in our review once again.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

We have sent a list of follow up questions to the author.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@samurai has responded to our questions and they are in our review once again.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

Edits have been made to this Topic, by the author, by the author’s request, or with the author’s consent.

You can click the Pencil icon at the top of the post to see these edits.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

We have no further questions for @samurai . This AIP is now under Administrative Review.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

After review, this Topic submitted by @samurai has been “Returned for Clarification”. The Foundation waits for answers, and the community will be notified whenever the author responds.

Kind Regards,

-@Facilitators

Hi ApeCoin DAO Community,

@samurai has responded to the Clarification questions and they remain in Administrative Review.

Follow this Topic as further updates will be posted here in the comments.

Kind Regards,
-@Facilitators