Build For Billions: 24-Hour
About The Hackathon: Build for Billions is a 24-hour hackathon focused on creating innovative, inclusive, and scalable technology solutions that address challenges faced by billions of people. The event invites students, developers, designers, researchers, and technology enthusiasts to build solutions that leverage emerging technologies to solve real-world problems and create meaningful social impact. Participants will explore how technology can improve accessibility, trust, privacy, digital inclusion, and public service delivery at scale. The hackathon features three specialized tracks along with one Main Track recognizing the best projects overall.
Total Prize Pool: ₹1,00,000.
Tracks: 1.
Agentic AI For Billions: Build intelligent, autonomous, and trustworthy AI agents that solve real-world problems for individuals, communities, businesses, and public institutions.
Potential Areas Include: AI agents for education, healthcare, agriculture, financial inclusion, and other real-world use cases. Multilingual and voice-first AI assistants. Agents for accessibility and assistive technology. Autonomous workflows for public and social services. Responsible, explainable, and human-centered AI systems. Creative applications of agents for day-to-day workflows. 2. Web3
And Privacy For Billions: Explore how decentralized technologies, cryptography, and privacy-preserving systems can empower individuals and communities while improving trust and digital ownership.
Potential Areas Include: Privacy-preserving identity and authentication. Decentralized applications for financial and social inclusion. Verifiable credentials and digital ownership. Secure data sharing and consent management. Blockchain solutions for transparency, trust, and accessibility. 3. Reinvent Digital Public Infrastructure
For Billions: Reimagine digital public infrastructure (DPI) to make essential services more accessible, interoperable, secure, and inclusive.
Potential Areas Include: Digital identity and authentication. Payment systems for financial inclusion. Data exchange and consent layers. Public service delivery platforms. Open, interoperable, and multilingual digital ecosystems. DPI solutions for underserved and marginalized communities. Participants are encouraged to identify a meaningful problem, understand its users, and build a practical solution with the potential to create impact at scale.
Eligibility: The hackathon is open to college and university students and eligible technology enthusiasts . Participants from any academic specialization or discipline are welcome. Students from different colleges and universities may form a team. Inter-college teams are allowed. Inter-specialization teams are allowed and encouraged. Participants must provide accurate details during registration. Each participant may be a member of only one team.
Venue
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
Mangaluru, India
Team Formation: Participants must participate in teams of 3–6 members . Teams may include members from different colleges, universities, academic years, and specializations. Teams are encouraged to bring together diverse skills, including development, design, product thinking, research, and domain expertise. One member must be designated as the team leader for communication and submission purposes.
Hackathon Format & Process: The hackathon will consist of one screening round , followed by a 24-hour offline hackathon for the shortlisted teams.
Screening Period: 12 September – 24 September. Participants will submit their proposed solution for evaluation by the screening panel. The submission should demonstrate the problem being addressed, the proposed solution, its relevance to the selected track, and its potential impact.
Screening Submission Should Include: Problem statement. Selected track. Proposed solution and key features. Target users and use case. Technology stack. Innovation and scalability. Prototype, wireframe, demo, or GitHub repository, if available. Brief explanation of the expected impact.
Number Of Problem Statements: Participants may choose only one problem statement or challenge within one of the three tracks .
Selection: Teams will be shortlisted based on the quality, feasibility, innovation, relevance, and potential impact of their submissions. The shortlisted teams will be announced through the official communication channels.
Round 2: 24-Hour
Hackathon Start: 26 September, 10:00 AM.
Hackathon End: 27 September, 10:00 AM.
Duration: 24 hours. The top 50 shortlisted teams will participate in the offline hackathon, where they will develop and refine their proposed solutions. Teams are expected to build a functional prototype or proof of concept that demonstrates the practical application of their idea. During The Hackathon, Participants Will Be
Expected To: Develop a working prototype or minimum viable product (MVP). Demonstrate the core functionality of their solution. Document their implementation and t