With over 5000+ participation, the hackathon was a grand success in bringing out the best in all participants.
Students and youngsters today are living the entrepreneurial dream, and giving the right impetus to their dreams are the ed-tech platforms which go a long way in providing them with the much needed opportunities and exposure. Many young entrepreneurs in India are leading the way and the numbers are fast increasing. Keeping this in mind, RISE - a new-age ed-tech platform recently conducted an entrepreneurial hackathon with phenomenal success. The goal is to catch them young and groom them in the right direction. The RUNWAY GET SET HACK by RISE saw 2000+ teams participating from across the country. The three top teams won a fully paid trip to Silicon Valley to attend the Hero Training program from Draper University, California. The teams also received a cash prize of Rs 25,000 to Rs 1.75L. Circle, a financial wellness application for low income white and grey collar employees, bagged the First Prize. The first Runner Up position went to SwiftRide, a Ride pooling platform (mobile app) for student communities. This app matches student ride-givers and ride-takers on the same route. The second Runner Up position was bagged by Teamup, a cloud-based platform that enables university students to collaborate with industries in solving real-world cases in order to bridge the gap between theoretical education and practical learning. The three teams also received letters of engagement from CBIE Ventures for further funding and mentoring.
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RISE, a step forward in bringing the best in students
With over 5000+ participation, the hackathon was a grand success in bringing out the best in all participants. It offered an environment where the participants got a chance to interact with the best minds. It brought out their unwavering dedication in conducting thorough research and meticulous planning, resulting in innovative solutions to complex real-world problems. Their multi-disciplinary teams provided a wealth of perspectives that contributed to the success of their ventures. By leveraging their collective strengths, these exceptional startups were able to achieve outstanding results that impressed both judges and competitors alike.
With the competition being tough, the final winners were chosen on the grounds of Innovation, Problem-solving and Scalability. The criteria was to see how unique and novel their startup ideas were; how effectively would the idea address a real-world problem and how well could the idea be grown and expanded to reach a larger audience or market. RISE, a platform which is at the forefront of the edtech revolution, is also working towards launching its own Entrepreneurship Program which will help many more students to get hands-on experience and mentoring from the best minds in the industry.
MidDay also interviewed the winners of the Hackthon
1. How was your experience of the hackathon? What did you get to learn?
Navan from team Circle shared in detail about their experience at the RUNWAY GET SET HACK by RISE. He described it as a valuable peer-to-peer learning experience where they had the opportunity to interact with like-minded individuals who were building startups. Navan also said that they were able to learn about the other participants' journeys, gain inspiration from them, and exchange ideas. Sharing his views, Aryan from Teamup said the hackathon was insightful in terms of learning about the prevailing investor culture and refining his pitching skills. He further went on to say that the guidance provided by RISE and Draper University, including the courses and training, proved to be invaluable in their efforts to not only win but also avoid any potential missteps. Vivian from SwiftRide said that participating in the hackathon was an exhilarating experience, considering the competition was among 2,000+ teams. Their interaction with experienced judges provided them with valuable exposure to the workings of the real investment and venture capital world, he added.
2. Are you excited to go to Draper University?
All three winning teams seemed excited about going to Draper University in San Mateo, California. Navan responded enthusiastically saying it was a fantastic opportunity and they were looking forward to it. Aryan said the team was thrilled to explore the new environment and make new friends at Draper University. He added that they are excited to learn about the university's academic programs and research initiatives. Vivian too affirmed their excitement at the opportunity and are looking forward to engaging in huge networking opportunities.
3. How are you going to utilise the education you receive there?
All the three winning teams had great ideas about utilising the education and learnings that they will receive at Draper University. Navan from Circle said his team intends to apply the concepts and learnings in their startup. Aryan from Teamup meanwhile said, their main objective is to gain insights into the differences between the Indian and foreign systems and understand how US startups operate. He added they would be eager to identify the existing systems that have the potential to be replicated in India, and vice versa. Vivian from SwiftRide said they want to leverage the education received at Draper University in two significant ways. Firstly, by learning how to extract customer insights from a dynamic market, and secondly by learning to develop a comprehensive go-to-market strategy, which serves as a guiding framework for a company's efforts in launching a new product or services crucial for hyper-scaling. He added, their priority would be to establish a network and gain recognition while expanding their contacts in the US.
4. How will you utilise the funds/grant allocated by the hackathon? (for the winner)
The three winning teams were happy to receive the prize money from the hackathon and all of them said the money would be invested back in their respective companies to help grow and develop their businesses.
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