4 Reasons to Join the $100K “Build on Redis” Hackathon—And Tips on How to Win

The Redis community is constantly innovating, and our annual hackathons bring creative minds together and provide developers with a platform to build new ideas using Redis. Last year we challenged more than 320 hackers to build applications using Redis beyond caching. This year, join us for the “Build on Redis” hackathon for a chance to win one of 52 prizes totaling $100,000 USD! Building begins on Thursday, April 15—five days before RedisConf—and will run for a full month until Saturday, May 15.

At its heart, Redis Lab’s hackathons are less group coding events and more like a “communal brainstorming.” We focus on creating an atmosphere where the best coders, designers, and architects come together, learn about a problem statement, and develop working prototypes for real-world problems and solutions for those challenges. This hackathon provides an excellent coding environment that gives you an opportunity to learn about trending technologies and immediately apply them to innovative projects.

Why join the $100,000 “Build on Redis” hackathon?

Redis Enterprise Cloud is not only blazingly fast, but also versatile and packed with functionality and tools—you can build anything and everything using Redis rather than patching together multiple databases. Whether you’re collecting billions of events (Redis Streams), storing JSON documents (RedisJSON), querying and indexing your data (RediSearch), analyzing a stream (RedisTimeSeries), making real-time recommendations (RedisGraph), or detecting fraud (RedisAI), you can do it all and do it fast.

We want as many people as possible to experience the speed, simplicity, versatility, and fun of Redis, but don’t just take our word for it—sign up for the hackathon and see how easy it is to build your entire data layer on Redis Enterprise Cloud!

Here are four compelling reasons why you shouldn’t miss the “Build on Redis” hackathon:

1. Opportunity to meet and challenge fellow high-potential developers

While the hackathon is a great opportunity for you to meet and collaborate with others, it’s also a competition. You’ll be competing against thousands of other developers—so placing in the top 50 won’t be some small accomplishment. Our hackathon challenges attendees to unveil their ability to innovate and create compelling, real-world solutions by utilizing the latest tools and technology. It is a unique learning opportunity, allowing you to develop new skills, grow your networks, and ship breakthrough solutions.

2. Propel your personal brand

The hackathon is not just an event where programmers and hackers unite, but it’s also a personal branding platform. The “Build on Redis” hackathon allows developers to seize the incredible opportunity to showcase their talent and establish a positive personal brand, opening new career growth opportunities and attracting recognition from the top recruiters.

The top 10 winners of the Redis hackathon will be promoted on our tech blog and social media—plus, they will also have an opportunity to be a guest on our RedisPods podcast. Top winners may also have an opportunity to write a guest blog.

3. Train and practice for a fast-paced, real-world development environment

When was the last time you stepped into uncharted territory? It can be very easy to stay in your comfort zone, doing things you know how to do and never really challenging yourself. To win at the “Build on Redis” hackathon, there is no time to idle by—you will be challenged to push yourself. Our hackathon prepares you to find ways to work quickly with more precision, challenging thousands of coders, and prepares you to work in a competitive and collaborative environment. You can ease through the hackathon if you like, but if you want to attain the glory and recognition this event can provide you, it is essential to take risks.

4. Win big awards and prizes

And if you weren’t convinced yet, we’re offering more than 50 prizes totaling $100,000 USD. Here’s what you can win:

5 platinum prize winners earn $10,000
2 diamond winners receive $2,000
5 gold winners make $2,000
20 silver winners receive $1,000
20 bronze winners get $500

Plus, all winning teams will receive Redis swag—one Redis t-shirt and sticker per team member—along with the promotion of their projects on the hackathon website, in a Redis blog post, and on Redis social media accounts.

5 tips for winning this hackathon

Whether you’re a hackathon newcomer or a veteran, following these five tips are a sure path to success:

1. Build the right team

“Individually you specialize, together we transform.” A hackathon is all about engaging minds. It is not simply an individual achievement. Try to convince and attract competent developers and a good designer (for visually appealing UI/mockups) to your team. Diversified brains from different parts of the world with different types of expertise—and at least one strong communication specialist—can lead your team to success. Join the Redis Discord channel and start hunting for your right team.

2. Do your homework

It’s important to know your organizers and their purpose in running the hackathon. Focus on the theme of the hackathon event. Learn about the Redis Enterprise Cloud free tier and Redis modules. Read the hackathon rules (and read them again!).

3. Choose the right tool

Choose your tech stack wisely. You must use at least one Redis Enterprise module. Each team must use a free Redis Enterprise Cloud account (if your app is using just one module) or use the Redismod (Redis Enterprise modules) Docker image if your app needs multiple modules attached to a single Redis database (e.g. RedisJSON + RediSearch). GitHub is a perfect place to showcase your original work.

4. Envision your demo

It’s important to come up with a solid business idea that can both be marketable and profitable for you and your hackathon organizer. Start brainstorming from day 1 and try to visualize the end product. Try to come up with a well-validated demo and marketing pitch of your product. Don’t ignore time for presentation preparation.

5. Have fun!

A hackathon is like a “roller-coaster ride.” It’s full of non-stop ups and downs but at the same time, it’s full of fun. Don’t stress and take a healthy break in between the intensive periods of thinking and coding.

What and when?

Who can participate?

Due to legal and fulfillment restrictions, only legal residents from the following countries are allowed to participate at this time:

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Canada (excluding Quebec).

Take advantage of this free opportunity to challenge yourself to build something memorable, purposeful, and rewarding. The hackathon opens soon, so make sure to register before April 15! Further details will be available after April 15.

And if you’d like to brush up on your Redis skills before you start hacking, sign up for our free training courses, which will open a week before RedisConf 2021. These brand new training courses and more than 60 breakout sessions will be available at RedisConf 2021, so don’t wait—sign up now!