Mid-program weekend
The
hackathon.
A weekend hackathon for the cohort plus a handful of outside UCSB builders. 48 hours, one product, live judging. $1,000 in credits for the winner; $250 in credits for every participant.
Prizes
Credits for winners, credits for everyone.
Grand prize
$1,000 in credits
The winning team walks away with $1,000 in build credits across our partner stack: compute, AI, and tooling.
Every participant
$250 in credits
Everyone who ships a project gets $250 in credits. Show up, build something, leave with resources to keep going.
Outside winners
Priority for next cohort
If your team wins and you’re not already in the current cohort, you move to the top of the pile for the next ucsb.network intake.
Partner tools
Cursor Pro, AI credits
A bundle of Cursor Pro, AI credits, and a stack discount across our partners for the full weekend.
Format
Simple rules.
Build something specific, show it off, ship it after.
- 01
Teams of up to four. Solo entries are welcome.
- 02
Build what you want, but be specific about the user and the problem.
- 03
All core code written during the hackathon weekend. Boilerplate is fine.
- 04
Judging on product quality, traction, and the quality of your demo.
- 05
Cohort partners automatically qualify. Outside builders are picked from the signup list.
Outside builders
Sign up.
Spots for non-cohort builders are limited and we pick by hand. Tell us a little about you and what you’d build.
In the current cohort? You’re already in. The hackathon is part of the program and will show up in your member events.
A weekend, a product, some credits.
Sign up above if you’re outside the cohort and want in.