Global Student Competitions

9 items

MLH Hackathons (Varies)

Official collegiate hackathon league with 200+ hackathons per season. 150,000+ hackers, 12,500+ projects yearly. Events include Hack the North, HackMIT, PennApps, TreeHacks. Prizes vary per event — internships, tech gadgets, credits, swag, cash.

Hackathons Global
Visit

Microsoft Imagine Cup ($100k)

"Olympics of Student Innovation". Two paths: Launch ($50k, early-stage) and Scale ($100k + mentorship with Satya Nadella). Must use 2+ Microsoft AI services. Teams of 1-4 students. $1,000-$5,000 Azure credits included. World Championship at Microsoft Build.

AI/Tech startup Jan-May
Visit

Hult Prize ($1,000,000)

"Nobel Prize for Students" — world's largest student social entrepreneurship competition. Year-long program: Qualifiers → Nationals → Digital Incubator (60 teams) → Global Accelerator at Ashridge House, London (20 teams) → Finals (6 teams). ~10% equity to Hult Foundation.

Social enterprise 10,000+ teams
Visit

Enactus World Cup

University teams from 34+ countries build social entrepreneurship ventures. National competitions → World Cup (2026 in São Paulo). 42,000+ students participate annually. Enactus Malaysia chapter exists.

Social enterprise Recognition prize
Visit

GSEA ($100k pool)

Global Student Entrepreneur Awards for students who already own and operate a business while enrolled. Local (100+ cities) → Regional → Global Finals. Winners get EO network access, featured in YouTube series (10M+ views).

Student founders Business owners
Visit

Rice RBPC ($1,000,000+)

World's largest and richest student startup competition. 42 teams judged by actual early-stage investors. Over $1,000,000 in cash, investments, and in-kind prizes.

Startup pitch Investors
Visit

James Dyson Award (£30,000)

"Design something that solves a problem". 28 countries, 2,100+ entries annually. National: £5,000, Global winner: £30,000 (~$38K) + media exposure. Opens March 11, 2026. For current or recent (within 4 years) engineering/design students.

Design engineering Mar-Jul
Visit

NASA Space Apps Challenge

World's largest annual global hackathon — 551 events across 150+ countries. 48-hour hackathon using NASA's open data to solve Earth & space challenges. 15,000+ teams in 2025. Winners get NASA recognition and visits to NASA centers. Open to everyone.

Hackathon October
Visit

Meta Hacker Cup

Meta's annual worldwide programming competition. Online rounds → World Finals at Meta HQ. Tests algorithmic problem-solving skills. Cash prizes for top finishers.

Competitive programming Cash prizes
Visit