The EasyA Consensus Hackathon: Web3 Unicorn Breeding Ground

You may have heard of Devin, the AI software engineer built by Cognition Labs and its massive $21 million Series A it raised, led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. But did you know that just one and a half years ago, one of its co-founders was presenting his startup idea at an EasyA hackathon at Harvard?

The EasyA Consensus Hackathon takes place during CoinDesk’s Consensus festival May 29-31, in Austin, Texas.

Devin is not the only project that’s raised millions from VCs having come out of an EasyA hackathon. Projects launched by EasyA alumni have been funded by a16z, YC, Founders Fund and tons of other world-class VCs. The path from learning about a blockchain on EasyA to competing at a hackathon and then raising millions of dollars in VC funding is one that is well-trodden by the EasyA community.

So well-trodden, in fact, that startups launched by EasyA hackathon winners are now valued at almost $500m. Yes, that’s almost half a billion!

And while $500 million is already an astronomical number, we want to bring it up to $1 billion. That’s why we made the decision to partner with CoinDesk this year, to bring the first ever in-person hackathon to Consensus. Running directly alongside the conference itself, at the exact same venue in Austin, we’re inviting the top 500 builders from across the world to hack at this inaugural hackathon. Accepted hackers will not only get a chance to pitch at 2024’s biggest hackathon of the year, but also a free Consensus ticket!

Here are three reasons startups should consider participating this year.

Funding opportunities

If you’re an aspiring founder looking to launch the next Web3 unicorn, funding is probably the number one thing you’re looking to secure. Together with CoinDesk, we’re bringing a ton of exciting funding opportunities to Consensus, more than you can even apply for. From hundreds of thousands of dollars in bounties to hundreds of millions more in equity-free grants and VC funding, there’s literally no better place to launch your project.

Present on-stage at Consensus

Over 15,000 blockchain professionals and pioneers will flood Consensus this year, making it the perfect place for you to launch your idea with an immediate captive audience. We’re even giving hackathon finalists the chance to present their pitches on stage at the main Consensus conference itself, meaning you’ll get to meet and pitch VCs in the crowd. It’s literally the perfect launchpad to take your idea to the moon!

Access to leading investors and founders

The world’s best investors and founders attend Consensus each year. Getting accepted to the EasyA Consensus hackathon doesn’t just give you the chance of a lifetime to pitch your blockchain project on-stage at Consensus, but it also gives you a free pass to the main Consensus Conference itself, where speakers from a16z’s Chris Dixon to Solana’s co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko will be presenting live on stage.

We’re about to start hosting Twitter spaces with each of our sponsors where we’ll be dropping alpha on what to expect from each hackathon track, bounties and how you can get ready to win! So make sure you’re following our Twitter account to stay up-to-date on important updates as we approach hackathon week.

Make sure you sign up for the hackathon right now. Spaces are limited and once they’re gone, they’re gone.

We look forward to welcoming you to Austin and cannot wait to see what you build!