BuildForge Hackathon

About

About the Hackathon: Have an idea? Build it. Ship it. BuildForge is an open-innovation hackathon where participants turn their ideas into working products or functional prototypes. With no predefined problem statements, fixed domains, or technology restrictions, you are free to identify a problem, discover an opportunity, and build a solution that creates real value. Whether you're building with AI, software, healthcare, education, finance, productivity, cybersecurity, social impact, developer tools, or exploring an entirely new idea — the problem you solve and the product you build are yours to define. Don't build just because you can. Build something that solves a problem, improves an experience, creates value, or introduces a new possibility. Tracks: AI & Intelligent Systems Software & Developer Tools Healthcare & Wellbeing Education & Learning Finance & Commerce Social Impact & Accessibility ️Mobility & Urban Systems Cybersecurity & Privacy Productivity & Automation Open Innovation Tracks are provided for guidance only. Participants are free to build outside these categories. Why Participate? Turn an idea into a working product. Solve a problem you genuinely care about. Build something that can be used beyond the hackathon. Experiment with technologies and ideas without domain restrictions. Collaborate with developers, designers, AI/ML enthusiasts, and innovators. Build a project you can showcase in your portfolio. Get feedback from mentors and industry professionals. Demonstrate your ability to move from idea → execution → product. Connect with a growing community of builders. The winning project isn't necessarily the one with the most features or the most complex technology. It's the one that demonstrates the strongest combination of problem understanding, innovation, execution, usability, and real-world potential. Eligibility: Students Software Developers Engineers AI/ML Enthusiasts Researchers Entrepreneurs & Startup Builders Open-source Contributors Professionals Anyone interested in building with technology Team Size: 1 – 4 members Event Format: Round 1 – Idea Submission Start with an idea and demonstrate why it is worth building. Teams must identify a problem, opportunity, or user need and propose a product that addresses it. Submit a short PPT presentation covering: Slide 1 – Project Title, Theme, Team Name & Members Slide 2 – The Problem / Opportunity Slide 3 – Target Users & Why the Problem Matters Slide 4 – Existing Solutions / Current Approach Slide 5 – Your Proposed Solution Slide 6 – How It Works / User Flow Slide 7 – What Makes Your Solution Different Slide 8 – Basic Implementation Approach The strongest and most promising ideas will be shortlisted for the next stage. Final Round – Pitch & Prototype Demo The Top 15 shortlisted teams will proceed to the Final Round. Each team will be required to submit a maximum 5-minute pitch video presenting their idea and demonstrating their working solution. The video should cover: Problem and target users Proposed solution Key features Technology and implementation Working product/prototype demonstration Impact and future scope The judging panel will evaluate how effectively each team has transformed their idea into a practical, innovative, and meaningful solution. The final evaluation will focus on: What you built, how well it works, how effectively it solves the problem, and the value it creates. The top 3 teams will be selected as the winners based on the final judging scores. Rules and Guidelines: Team size must be 1–4 members. Solo participation is allowed. Teams of 2–3 are recommended. Cross-college teams are allowed. Cross-disciplinary teams are encouraged. Participants can choose their own problem statement. There is no restriction on technology, framework, or programming language. Participants may build for any industry or domain. Teams must adhere to the event timeline and submission deadlines. Projects should demonstrate meaningful development during the hackathon. Any form of plagiarism, copied projects, or unfair practice will result in disqualification. Teams must clearly explain their problem, solution, implementation, and impact. The decision of the judges will be final and binding. AI tools and coding assistants are allowed. Judging Criteria: Round 1 – Idea Evaluation Problem / Opportunity Understanding – 20% Innovation & Originality – 20% Problem-Solution Fit – 20% Impact & Value Potential – 15% Feasibility & Implementation Approach – 15% Idea Explanation & Clarity – 10% Rewards: Top-performing teams will receive: Winner / Runner-Up Certificates for the top 3 teams Certificates of Merit for the top 10 teams Networking Opportunities Participation Certificates for eligible participants Open Source Recognition Mentorship & Industry Connections About Invoqe Invoqe is a student-built technology initiative focused on helping the next generation of builders learn by creating real products. We believe that the best way to develop engineering and problem-solving skills is to build, experiment, collaborate, and ship. Through hackathons, internships, mentorship, and hands-on projects, Invoqe creates opportunities for students, developers, and aspiring engineers to move beyond tutorials and build solutions to real-world problems.