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Hackathon

hackFront India 2026

Where U Elevate

About

hackFront India 2026 is a nationwide innovation league by Where U Elevate, designed to connect students, builders, industry partners and startups through a structured 20-week innovation journey.

Unlike a conventional hackathon, participants do not simply arrive for a 24- or 48-hour coding sprint. The program takes participants through multiple stages including registration, theme selection, structured mentorship, ideation, prototyping and a national hackathon.

Participants join a four-week cohort aligned with one of the program's innovation themes. During the cohort, they work on real industry briefs with domain mentors, develop their solution and participate in an ideathon. Teams that qualify move forward to the 30-hour National Hackathon in Delhi.

The program is designed around outcomes beyond competition. Top builders can potentially enter hiring pipelines, internship opportunities, incubation programs and R&D adoption tracks with participating organizations.

Eligibility & requirements

  • Open to students currently enrolled in a college or university in India
  • Participants can apply individually or as a team
  • Teams can have up to 4 members
  • Participants do not need to have a pre-formed team
  • Team formation support is provided during Week 1 of the cohort
  • Participants should be interested in technology, innovation, product development, or problem-solving
The official cohort page confirms that any student enrolled in a college or university in India can apply, either solo or with a team of up to four.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to compete in a ₹1 Crore+ opportunity pool
  • Four weeks of structured mentorship
  • Work on real industry problem statements
  • Access to domain mentors
  • Opportunity to build a working prototype
  • Qualification pathway to the 30-hour National Hackathon
  • Internship opportunities
  • Hiring conversations with sponsor companies
  • Potential incubation opportunities
  • Potential R&D adoption by industry partners
  • National exposure
  • Opportunity to work with students and builders from different institutions
  • Participation in a nationwide innovation ecosystem

    • Documents

  • Student/college details
  • Participant registration information
  • Team details, if applying as a team
  • Proposed solution/idea
  • Prototype or working project for later stages
  • Presentation/demo materials as required during the ideathon and National Hackathon

    • How to apply

  • Visit the official hackFront India registration page.
  • Register individually or with a team of up to four.
  • Select one of the eight innovation themes.
  • Join the relevant four-week cohort.
  • Understand the industry problem brief.
  • Work with domain mentors to develop your solution.
  • Structure your idea and build a prototype.
  • Participate in the Week 4 ideathon evaluation.
  • Teams that qualify move to the National Hackathon.
  • Selected teams participate in the 30-hour build sprint in Delhi.
  • Top-performing builders can enter hiring, internship, incubation, and R&D pathways.

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