Hackathons
A weekend that a company actually reads.
Most hackathons end with a certificate nobody looks at again. On Udgam, the company that set the problem reads your submission, scores it against a published rubric, and can follow you for the next three years.
- Counts toward your degree
- Prizes held in escrow
- Every entrant stays visible
What's different here
Four things that make this worth your weekend.
It counts toward your degree
Your professor can approve a hackathon as assessed work for your course. That means the weekend you spend on it is not competing with your coursework — it is part of it. This is the single biggest difference from every other hackathon platform.
The company reads every entry
Not just the winners. Judges score all submissions against a rubric you can see before you start. Companies routinely add strong non-winners to their watchlist — placing fourth in a good field is a real signal.
The prize money is real
For any prize pool above ₹50,000, the company deposits the money before the event begins and it is released to winners within fourteen days. No chasing anyone afterwards.
It stays on your profile
Your submission, your rank and the judges' rubric scores become a permanent part of your skill profile. Two years later, a recruiter can still see exactly what you built.
Before you commit
Everything you need to decide, on the listing.
- The full problem statement — specific, not a vague theme
- Who is hosting it and what they do
- Exactly what the judges will score, and how much each criterion is worth
- Team size, duration, mode and dates
- The prizes, stated plainly, with no hidden conditions
- Which of your courses it can count toward, and how much credit
- Your match score — how well your profile fits what they are looking for
Every hackathon is read by a person at Udgam before it goes live. Vague problem statements are rejected. So are briefs designed to extract ideas without saying what happens to them, and prizes with conditions buried in the terms.
If you have ever entered a hackathon that turned out to be free consulting for someone, that is the specific thing this review exists to stop.
How it runs
From finding it to what happens after.
It finds you
Hackathons matching your profile appear in your feed with a match score. You can also search and filter by domain, dates, team size and prize.Form a team, or don't
Bring your own team, or apply solo and let the platform suggest teammates whose strengths complement yours rather than duplicate them.Ask your professor for credit
One click sends the request. If they approve it, your participation and submission are assessed as coursework.Build and submit
Solution, code or prototype, an optional demo video, and a short team reflection on what you did and why — required if you want the academic credit.
Judging
Each judge scores independently against the published rubric. Where judges disagree sharply, the platform flags it for discussion rather than averaging it away.Results and feedback
Rankings published, and every participant sees their own rubric scores. You find out what you were actually strong and weak at — not just whether you won.It joins your profile
Participation, your submission summary and your rank appear permanently on your record.Companies follow up
The host can watchlist anyone whose work impressed them, and follow your progress for years. This is where most hackathon-to-internship routes actually start.
points toward your access level for entering, before any result is announced
bonus points for a top-three finish
from results to prize money reaching a winner's account
Four kinds of host
Not all of them are big companies.
| Host | What their problems look like | Why enter |
|---|---|---|
| Large corporates | Well-scoped challenges from a real team, usually with a defined dataset or system | Brand recognition, larger prizes, and a direct route into their internship pipeline |
| MSMEs and startups | Messier, more open-ended, closer to a genuine unsolved business problem | Far less competition, and a much higher chance of the winning solution actually being used |
| Institutions | Academic or applied challenges, often cross-disciplinary | Free to enter, close to home, and a good first hackathon if you have never done one |
| Government and PSU | Innovation-mission problems with public-scale impact | Structured programmes, strong credentials, and visibility beyond the private sector |
Real business problems. Real student teams. Real outcomes.
Innovative Projects
Real business problems. Real student teams. Real outcomes.
Talent Access
India's verified talent — from Nagpur, Coimbatore, Guwahati, not just IITs.
Placements
Not more drives. Better matches. Lasting placements.
Students
Keep exploring
Free for students
Enter the first one when the platform opens.
Join the waitlist and you'll see the founding partners' challenges before anyone else.