About

Build-a-thon 2025 is an online hackathon taking place on November 7th through 10th, hosted by the Buildathon Foundation, a student-led organization empowering youth through computer science hackathons. Over 48 hours, participants build apps, games, or websites while attending beginner-friendly workshops, receiving mentorship, and competing real prizes. Industry professionals will evaluate submissions and finalists will present live.

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Our Sponsors & Partners

Build-a-thon 2025 is fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499). Donations support prizes, platform costs, and participant experiences.

Important Dates

November 1

Intro to Hackathons Workshop

November 7

Opening Ceremony — 6:00 PM PT

November 8 - 9

Workshops & Speaker Sessions

November 9 (EOD)

Submissions Due (Devpost)

November 13

Top 10 Notification

November 16

Finalist Live Pitches

November 18

Top 3 Announced

See the information document for more detailed scheduling and workshop times.

Rules & Eligibility

Attendees from all backgrounds, genders, and geographies are welcome, subject to standard restrictions.
Age limit: 13–22 years old. Participants must meet regional legal requirements to receive prizes.
Committee members are not eligible to compete; they may mentor during the coding phase.
No country restrictions, but winners are responsible for any taxes on prize winnings and must be eligible to receive prizes.
Teams can have a maximum of four members. Each team may submit only one entry.
Participants may not join more than one team during the event.

Submission Details

Submissions are made via Devpost. Join our Discord for announcements and any schedule changes.

Requirements

All code must be written after the hackathon start time (November 7).
Use of external tools, libraries, and APIs is allowed (disclose where relevant).
Submissions will be judged on Impact, Creativity, and Technical Execution.
By the deadline, teams must submit: a 2–3 minute demo video and a public GitHub repository containing the code.
Finalists will present their product live on the announced date.

More specific submission format and judging criteria are available in the information document.

Workshops & Events

We will host a series of workshops and speaker sessions for beginners through advanced participants. Exact workshop schedule will be shared in Discord and the Info Doc.

Join the Discord for announcements and links to workshop rooms and recordings.

Donate

Every donation directly supports student innovation and helps build the next generation of tech leaders. Your contribution is tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, The Hack Foundation.

Donate Now

Prize Breakdown

Total prize pool: $10,000+ in cash, partner licenses, credits, domains, and swag. Prize categories include 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Top 10, category winners (Best Solo Hacker, Social Impact, Design, Popular Choice), plus giveaways throughout the event.

1st Place — $500 + Finalist Prize

Interview Cake License ×3 → $150
Figma Pro License ×11 → $165
.xyz domains ×5 → $50
Jukebox Print credit* → $100
AoPS coupon ×1 → $25
Zoom Pro License ×1 → $15
Canva Teams ×1 → $10

2nd Place — $400 + Finalist Prize

Interview Cake ×2 → $100
Figma Pro ×11 → $165
.xyz domains ×5 → $50
Jukebox Print credit → $50
AoPS coupon ×1 → $25
Canva Teams ×1 → $10

3rd Place — $300 + Finalist Prize

Interview Cake ×1 → $50
Figma Pro ×10 → $150
.xyz domains ×5 → $50
Jukebox Print credit → $50

Top 10 — $300 (each)

Interview Cake ×1 → $50
Figma Pro ×9 → $135
.xyz domain ×1 → $10
Canva Teams → rotate (0–1)
Jukebox Print credit → rotate (0–1)

Category Winners — $300

Best Solo Hacker, Social Impact, Design, Popular Choice — $300 + partner perks
Interview Cake ×3 → $150 + Figma Pro, .xyz domains as listed

Giveaways & Participant Perks

Figma Pro Licenses ×10 (giveaway)
.xyz domains ×10 (giveaway)
All participants: Certificate of Participation & networking sessions

*Jukebox Print credit can only be redeemed for winners residing in the United States due to shipping constraints and expenses.

More prizes are coming soon.

Meet the Organizers

Judges

Mahendran Chinnaiah
Mahendran Chinnaiah is a seasoned and visionary Digital Healthcare Architect with over 18 years of experience in delivering enterprise solutions.
Praneetha Kotla
AI & Innovation leader with extensive experience mentoring and judging global hackathons, passionate about supporting teams solving real-world problems.
Karthik Jayaprakash
Technical Leader at AMD focusing on GPU performance optimization.
Alan Xiao Lin Zhu
Consultant at BCG

Contact

Questions or partnership inquiries?
Email us at buildathon25@gmail.com or hi@buildathon.dev

Build-a-thon2025