The Vechain x EasyA Harvard Hackathon: Professional Devs To Build A New Wave of Applications on VechainThor

VeChain Official
4 min readSep 13, 2023

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Today, we’re excited to share that we at vechain, in collaboration with EasyA, are gearing up for a landmark hackathon hosted in Harvard University’s brand new Science and Engineering Complex.

This announcement comes on the heels of the highly successful #60DaysofVeChain in-app campaign, welcoming participation from over 9,150+ developers worldwide (so far).

The Harvard hackathon, featuring workshops, keynote talks from vechain leaders and Boston Consulting Group, and a prize pool of $30,000, aims to spur innovation on the VechainThor blockchain by bringing together some of the brightest minds in the blockchain world for a competitive build-fest!

An Impressive Venue For Impressive Minds

The event will take place at Harvard’s brand new Science and Engineering Complex, a $1.2 billion, 500,000 square foot hub dedicated to fostering innovation and interdisciplinary research. This state-of-the-art facility will serve as the backdrop for 36 hours of intense coding, brainstorming, and collaboration, providing an environment that is as innovative as the ideas that will emerge from the hackathon.

The hackathon is set to welcome inputs from 200 of the world’s best developers, handpicked from top companies such as Meta, Google, and Coinbase, as well as elite academic institutions like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Wharton, and Stanford. These developers will get the unique opportunity to pitch their groundbreaking ideas for innovative solutions and projects for follow on funding.

The Program

Keynote Talks and Workshops

The event will kick off with a keynote talk and several workshops led by vechain’s senior leadership team, including co-founder Sunny Lu, CTO Antonio Senatore, CBDO Renato Grottola and a guest speaker from Boston Consulting Group.

These sessions will set the tone for the event and provide valuable insights into vechain’s vision for the future of blockchain and decentralized technologies.

Participants will have two development tracks to focus their efforts on:

  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) will present one track offering a set of challenges and areas where blockchain solutions could offer significant impact.
  • Vechain will present a second track, inviting participants to explore and implement ideas using vechain’s blockchain solutions.

The Hackathon

After the introductory talks and workshops, participants will engage in 36 hours of non-stop coding. At the end of this hacking period, the developers will present their projects to a panel of esteemed judges, composed of industry veterans and academic leaders who will cast their expert eyes across submissions.

The Prizes

Not only does the event promise an intense learning and networking experience, but it also offers a substantial prize pool. A total of $30,000 in prize money will be awarded to the best projects, along with follow-on funding opportunities to help bring these innovative ideas to life. Past EasyA hackathon projects have been funded by a16z, YC and other top VCs. If you’re looking for the next Web3 unicorn, you won’t want to miss this hackathon!

An Exciting Day of BUIDL

The Vechain x EasyA Hackathon at Harvard University aims to be more than just a coding event; it’s a celebration of innovation, a confluence of brilliant minds, and a stepping stone for groundbreaking projects that could redefine the tech landscape.

With some of the world’s best developers and an unparalleled environment for innovation, this hackathon promises to be a landmark event in the world of technology and blockchain, and spur new developer growth in the vechain ecosystem.

About EasyA

Founded by brothers Phil and Dom Kwok, former alums of Cambridge University and The Wharton School, EasyA is the world’s leading Web3 learning app. EasyA has one of the world’s most talented and largest developer communities globally, with over 500,000 developers at top universities and companies across the US and UK. Startups founded by the EasyA community have been funded by a16z, YC and many more top VCs.

EasyA partners with over 250 of the world’s best blockchain clubs such as the Harvard, MIT and Cambridge Blockchain clubs and frequently ranks as one of the top apps on the App Store, having won Apple’s prestigious App of the Day award.

About vechain

Vechain, headquartered in San Marino, Europe, is the curator of VechainThor, a world leading smart contract platform spearheading the real world adoption of blockchain technology.

Through leveraging the capabilities of ‘trustless’ data (information without intermediaries), smart contracts and IoT technologies, VechainThor has enabled solutions across a wide array of fields. Vechain now turns its attention to the greatest challenge of all — building digital ecosystems to drive sustainability and digital transformation at global scale.

Visit https://www.vechain.org to learn more.

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VeChain Official

VeChain, based in San Marino, Europe built VeChainThor, a powerful platform driving a blockchain and sustainability revolution