Introducing the TechCrunch Disrupt SF ’18 Virtual Hackathon

We’ve told you that TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2018 is going to be the biggest, most ambitious Disrupt ever — and we’re serious. So serious, in fact, that we’re super-sizing the Hackathon, taking it online and making it global. Now thousands of the world’s most talented developers, programmers, hackers and tech makers can participate and submit their hacks from anywhere in the world.

If you know Disrupt, you know the Hackathon. It’s where hundreds of talented tech creators enter a 24-hour frenzied sprint to develop amazing products. Products like Quick Insurance — the easiest way to purchase an insurance product for all your valuable stuff (Disrupt Berlin ’17); Alexa Shop Assist — lets you ask Alexa where to find products in a store (Disrupt SF ’17) and reVIVE — a VR solution that provides both a diagnostic and treatment mechanism for ADHD (Disrupt NY ’17) — all previous Hackathon winners.

Now imagine the possibilities when thousands of highly motivated coders, hackers and programmers around the world focus their talents in a global Hackathon. “Epic” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

As you can imagine, an event this size requires substantially more time than 24-hours. More details will be unveiled in the coming weeks, but here’s the basic gist of how it’s all going to work. But before you read any further, be sure to sign up for any virtual Hackathon updates so you won’t miss a thing.

We’re going to ask you to show us how you’d creatively produce and apply technology to solve various challenges. A panel of judges will review all eligible submitted hacks and rate them on a scale of 1-5. The members of every team that scores a three or higher will receive Innovator Passes to TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018.

The 30 highest-scoring teams make it to the semi-finals, where they get to demo their hack at Disrupt SF. From there, we’ll choose 10 of those teams to pitch their hack on The Next Stage in front of thousands of Disrupt SF attendees. One of those 10 teams will win the $10,000 grand prize and be the first-ever TechCrunch Disrupt Virtual Hackathon champ.

While this Hackathon is virtual, the sponsored prizes are very real — and plentiful. Be sure to sign up for updates and announcements. You’ll get the details as they become available, and we’ll let you know when you can register to participate. Hope to “see” you there!