Solana Foundation announces Renaissance hackathon details with over $1 million prize pool for global builders

The Solana Foundation, a non-profit entity committed to the growth of the Solana network and its ecosystem, announced today the start of Renaissance, a global hackathon for global talents and builders with a passion for Web3 to engage, collaborate, and compete for a share of a $1 million prize pool.

According to the Solana Foundation’s press release, the Renaissance hackathon will run from March 4 to April 8, 2024, and will receive registrations through Colosseum, an organization dedicated to attracting, accelerating, and investing in the Solana ecosystem.

Through Colosseum, participants can create their builder profiles, connect with potential team members, brainstorm ideas, explore the competition tracks, and compete for a share of the $1 million prize pool and pre-seed funding, as noted in the press release.

According to the Solana Foundation, this hackathon features six major tracks, including “DeFi & Payments,” “Consumer Apps,” “DePIN,” “Gaming,” “DAOs & Startup Communities,” and “Infrastructure.”

The Grand Champion Award, presented by Symmetry, offers a $50,000 USDC cash prize and three tickets to Breakpoint 2024, the Solana Foundation’s annual conference.

Each of the hackathon’s six tracks, including Consumer Apps, DeFi & Payments, DePIN, Gaming, Infrastructure, and DAOs & Startup Communities, will award five prizes ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 USDC to the top projects.

Beyond these track-specific awards, three additional prizes will be awarded:

• The University Award: A $10,000 USDC prize for the best student team.

• The Public Goods Award: A $10,000 USDC prize for the team creating open-source technology with the most significant benefit to the entire Solana ecosystem.

• The Climate Award: A $5,000 USDC prize for the project promoting the most impactful green and climate-friendly solution.

All winning teams will be eligible to apply for Colosseum’s Accelerator Program, offering a chance to secure $250,000 in pre-seed capital to further develop their projects.

Dan Albert, Executive Director of the Solana Foundation, emphasized the hackathons’ importance in fostering the Solana network’s growth.

“Hackathons play a critical role in continued growth on the Solana network by fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration,” said Albert. “These events empower builders to create meaningful solutions that will revolutionize industries, solve real-world problems, and develop practical applications that are only possible on Solana.”

Matty Taylor, Cofounder at Colosseum, expressed enthusiasm for hosting the next Solana Foundation hackathon, saying:

“We are thrilled to administer the next Solana Foundation hackathon on Colosseum,” said Taylor. “Following the success of Hyperdrive, there has been a lot of momentum among the Solana builder community. We are glad to be able to support them in the most critical steps of their journeys. We look forward to working alongside the Solana Foundation and many others in the Solana ecosystem to continue fostering experimentation, startup innovation, and real-world problem-solving.”

The hackathon has already drawn significant interest, with over 2,000 builders from 92 countries creating profiles on Colosseum within a month of its launch. The previous Solana Foundation hackathon, Hyperdrive, saw over 7,000 participants develop more than 900 projects.