Hack Midwest has hosted Kansas City's largest coding competition since 2012, and next week 300-plus software engineers will compete for $20,000 in cash, including a $10,000 grand prize from H&R Block Inc.
Software engineering teams from more than 50 regional firms will demonstrate their abilities by developing apps that deliver creative solutions to problems in a variety of sectors, including finance, health care, manufacturing, transportation and more.
The teams will participate in a 24-hour competition with multiple cash prize categories, including the $10,000 grand prize.
A group of executive judges will assess the teams' apps based on a variety of factors, including creativity, completeness and utility.
“We are giving people in the tech community from around the region a chance to build a culture of innovation in the heart of Kansas City,” Hack Midwest founder Mike Gelphman said. “The exciting thing is that you never know what people are going to create during this competition."
Hack Midwest also provides highly skilled developers with the opportunity to connect and network with a pool of sponsors that will be present. The competition is expected to attract more than 40 sponsors, including H&R Block, Pinata and GEHA.
“One of the biggest things that this competition does is that it connects our top developers from around the region with other companies,” Gelphman said. “A lot of sponsors are hiring right now and are actively looking for developers, so this is a great time to showcase your skill set.”
The "hackathon" will take place July 23-24 at Lightwell in downtown Kansas City. Teams of corporate and independent software developers can apply now to participate.
