The Skillians Founders Hackathon
Build a real MVP in 8 days. Pitch it Shark-Tank style. Win a spot in the Founders Track.
Built for builders, not just coders
Skillians Students
- Your ticket to a real portfolio project, not another tutorial clone.
- Direct line to mentors, CEO, and the Founders Track.
- Bring in an external engineer to strengthen your team — you lead the referral.
External Engineers & Peers
- No Skillians enrollment required — just team up with one internal Skillians student.
- Real chance to pitch in front of working founders and industry mentors.
- A live, demo-able MVP on your GitHub — better than another LeetCode streak.
From idea to Shark Tank in 4 phases
Team Formation & Pre-Qualification Gate
- • Form a team of 1–4. Every team must include at least 1 internal Skillians student.
- • External participants must each fill the Official Pre-Qualification Form individually.
- Required for externals: Full Name & Contact, Email, LinkedIn & GitHub URLs, Placement Status, Target CTC, Core Tech Domain, Skillians Referral ID.
Architecture Submission (Idea Triage)
- • Submit a 1-page Business Case & Architecture doc: problem, target market, tech stack.
- • Reviewed by the Operations Team for business viability.
- • Only the Top 25 ideas are greenlit for the build phase.
Build in Public Sprint (7–10 Days)
- • Top 25 teams build their MVP.
- • Daily LinkedIn progress posts tagging @TheSkillians.
- • All code hosted on GitHub (open-source).
- • Academic Mentors conduct a strict code-authenticity review.
Day 4 of the @TheSkillians Founders Hackathon. Shipped auth + payments today. MVP goes live tomorrow. 🚀 #BuildInPublic
Final Shark Tank Pitch
- • Finalists present live on the Skillians Discord Stage.
- • 10 minutes per team: live demo, UX breakdown, market defense.
- • The CEO evaluates business impact and selects winners.
The clock is real. So are the deadlines.
- 5 JulRegistration Opens
- 30 JulRegistration Closes
- 15 AugArchitecture Doc Submission Deadline
- 20 AugTop 25 Announced
- 30 Aug → 6 SepBuild Sprint Window (8 days)
- 7 SepFinal Shark Tank Pitch (Discord Stage)
- 10 SepWinners Announced
All deadlines are IST 23:59:59 unless stated otherwise. No extensions — see Rule 04.
What actually gets you to the top 25 (and beyond)
Architecture Review
What gets you into the Top 25
- Problem clarity & market relevance30%
- Technical feasibility of proposed stack25%
- Originality (not a clone of an existing product)25%
- Founder clarity — why this, why now20%
Shark Tank Pitch
What crowns the winners
- Working demo (does it actually run)35%
- Business viability & market size25%
- UI/UX quality20%
- Pitch delivery & Q&A handling20%
Judging weightage is set by the Operations Team and CEO panel and is final.
Past editions in pixels
From weekend idea to funded founder
This could be your story.
Our first Founders Track grant is waiting to be won. Ship a real MVP in 8 days, defend it Shark-Tank style, and walk out with funding, mentorship, and an incubation slot.
Zero leniency. Ship or step aside.
Absolute Technical Freedom
Any stack, language, database, or framework that best solves the problem.
The IP Quarantine Protocol
Internal students may not share dashboard credentials, proprietary curriculum, or internal Wallu AI access with external teammates. All collab happens in open-source environments.
Original Architecture (No Plagiarism)
Zero tolerance for direct GitHub cloning or fully AI-generated codebases. AI is fine for debugging; core MVP logic must be originally authored.
Absolute Deadlines
All cutoffs — registration, architecture doc, final deployment — are hard stops. No late submissions.
Professional Communication
All support requests via the "Event Support" Discord channel — brief, direct, actionable.
Build something real. Get funded.
1ST
Place
- 01Funding for a premium industry certification (MAANG / IBM)
- 02Entry into The Skillians Founders Track (4–16 month incubation)
- 03Direct mentorship from the CEO & guest founder-mentors
Honorable
Mentions
INDUSTRY SOCIAL PROOF PACKAGE
Certificate of Participation
Officially issued by The Skillians
GitHub Stars & Code Review
Direct feedback from mentor network
LinkedIn Endorsements
Premium skill endorsements from placed alumni
Ship-first stories
“The Founders Hackathon forced me to ship. That mindset landed me my job.”
AAarav K.Alum · Data Analyst @ PwC
“Shark Tank pitch was terrifying and life-changing. Best 8 days of my prep.”
PPriya S.Alum · SDE @ Amazon
“My hackathon MVP became my company. Skillians mentors were the unlock.”
RRohit M.Alum · Founder
Lock in your team's spot
Entry fee: ₹50/team · Team size: 1–4 · Must include at least 1 internal Skillians student.
- ₹50 per team (not per member) via UPI / Razorpay.
- Payment confirms your slot; architecture doc still required.
- Entry fee is non-refundable (Refund Policy).
- Receipt emailed — keep it for Phase 2.
- 1Team Details
- 2Payment
- 3Confirmation
Want to back the next generation of founders?
We're opening a limited number of sponsor slots for this edition — prize sponsorship, mentor slots, or platform credits (cloud, hosting, no-code tools). If your company wants visibility with 100+ high-intent student builders, reach out.
Become a Partner