Enter the ‘Hack the Mara’ The Last Mile Payment Tracking Hackathon for developers, designers and entrepreneurs

July 19, 2022 BusinessTrumpet

Mara Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of ‘Hack the Mara’, a weeklong immersive hackathon bringing together talented innovators from across Africa to build impactful solutions and empower a community.

The Hackathon in partnership with USDC creator Circle, will challenge teams of developers, designers and entrepreneurs to build a last mile payment tracking solution for the Masai Mara community. Participants will utilize blockchain via USSD and MPESA for payment transparency.

Global early-stage VC and start-up builder Antler, will offer the winning solution the opportunity to join the Antler Nairobi program to further develop their idea into a business and potentially receive investment.

Eligibility

Interested members of the public who are resident on the African continent are invited to apply to join the Hackathon.
Individuals who apply must be older than 16 years, and must have the required skills and permission to participate.
Shortlisted teams would be required to travel down to the Ishara Mara in Kenya, to participate in the one-week physical hackathon.

Prizes

1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners stand a chance to win both cash and in-kind prizes
$100,000 in prizes (cash in USDC, and in-kind)
Acceptance into Antler’s Nairobi incubation program
Access to follow-up funding from Mara and partners
Mentorship from Mara and partners

Benefits

Developer Badges for everyone that completes a successfully submitted app or web service
Prizes in cash and kind to the tune of $100,000 will be won at the end of the hackathon
Opportunity for follow on funding by Mara Foundation and/or its partners
Access to partner companies looking to hire developers, and project managers with experience building or managing blockchain applications.

Timeline

Please note that the ﬁrst four stages must all be completed before the 5th of August for your team to be eligible for the fifth and ﬁnal stage to be held in the Mara.

Stage 1

Join the Mara Discord and Telegramchannels to start engaging with fellow builders and creators.

Stage 2

Register the team on Zindi. Participation in the hackathon is dependent on completing Stage 1. Only registered members of Discord & Telegram can participate in the hackathon. Each individual must fill out this Google Form to participate.

Guidelines:

Interested individuals form a team of three persons and select a team lead. One of the members must be a woman.
All team members are expected to join Discord & Telegram if they are yet to do so (Stage 1).

Stage 3

Every team that has successfully registered will be required to take a short practical test on HackerRank for the first level of shortlisting.

Guidelines:

The link to take the test will be on the Zindi discussion forum after you have joined the competition
The nominated member of the team proceeds to take the Hackarank Test on behalf of the team
Team scores are added up and the top teams are contacted to proceed to the next stage

Stage 4

The shortlisted teams will be required to send in their ideas for the hackathon. This is a team effort and will ensure that the team discusses the hackathon and think of innovative solutions to be built during the hackathon. This is the second stage of shortlisting.

Stage 5

After the second stage of shortlisting, the top 8 teams will be invited to come to Kenya for the hackathon. The invitation will be sent on the 15th of August, 2022.

Venue: Ishara, MasaiMara
Date: 17th – 26th September 2022
Time: 9 AM – 6 PM Daily

The teams will be required to build solutions on the Mara Testnet as well as using partner APIs and the top 3 solutions based on the following set of criteria will win the prizes;