Vechain Announces Harvard Hackathon Winners, Showcasing Sustainable Blockchain Solutions

Boston, USA — Vechain, a prominent L1 public blockchain, has unveiled the winners of its sustainability-themed hackathon, a 36-hour marathon hosted at Harvard University in partnership with Web3 educational app, EasyA, and global consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

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Vechain Track Winner: Movelo, creators of a “move-to-earn” application that allows companies to sponsor and reward users for sustainable transportation choices such as walking, biking, or ride-sharing.

BCG Track Winner: FiTag, developers of a luxury fashion tracking iOS app promoting supply chain transparency through blockchain and NFC tags, digital twins, loyalty-program NFTs, and AR shopping.

‘Shark Tank’ Pitchathon Track Winner: PropelPixel, the brains behind an eco-friendly travel solution incentivizing ride-sharing and sustainable travel through a bespoke metaverse environment powered by NFTs.

These visionary projects collectively earned a share of $46,000 in prize money, with additional funding opportunities announced at the event.

Movelo, built on VechainThor, the sustainable public network by Vechain, uses blockchain to verify distances traveled through walking or cycling, calculates carbon offsets, and directly rewards individuals based on carbon emissions saved. It gamifies the experience with NFTs and leaderboards, offering companies a new way to incentivize sustainable travel options for their employees.

FiTag, the winner in BCG’s track, is a luxury fashion tracking app ensuring brand supply chain transparency through Vechain’s blockchain. Utilizing NFC tags, FiTag provides transparency from sourcing to sale, complies with sustainability regulations, and promotes a circular economy through a rental model. NFTs guarantee product authenticity and digital ownership.

Sunny Lu, CEO of Vechain, emphasized the role of Web3 technologies in sustainable development. He noted that developers are crafting sustainable dApp ecosystems, leveraging tokenization and gamification to drive positive change.

The Pitchathon category winner, PropelPixel, offers a platform where users share eco-friendly travel experiences, earning tokens and NFTs for documenting their journeys. It redefines carpooling, ridesharing, and public transportation with a secure platform for sharing experiences.

A panel of industry experts judged the projects, assessing their ability to address sustainability applications, particularly ‘X’-to-Earn sustainability solutions.
“Over the weekend, we saw the development of truly innovative blockchain solutions for enterprises, and we now have the opportunity to see these winners enter the sector and reshape the way entities within it operate.”

Bernhard Kronfellner, Partner at BCG
“The event further demonstrates how building on sustainable infrastructure like vechain’s network can make sustainability a by-product of business solutions, meaning companies can both streamline their processes and strengthen their carbon neutrality efforts all at once,” commented Bernhard Kronfellner, Partner and co-lead of the digital asset and blockchain group at BCG.

The hackathon marked the conclusion of Vechain’s #60daysofvechain event, attracting over 10,000 candidates and gathering 200 top developers from companies like Google, Meta, and Coinbase, as well as prestigious institutions including Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Wharton, and Stanford.

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About Vechain

Vechain, headquartered in San Marino, Europe, is the curator of VechainThor, a leading smart contract platform advancing the real-world adoption of blockchain technology. VechainThor’s capabilities include trustless data, smart contracts, and IoT technologies, enabling solutions across various fields with a focus on sustainability and digital transformation at a global scale.

About EasyA

Founded by former Cambridge University and Wharton School alumni, Phil and Dom Kwok, EasyA is a leading Web3 learning app with a large developer community. It partners with over 250 blockchain clubs worldwide and ranks as one of the top apps on the App Store, receiving Apple’s App of the Day award.