In one year I competed at IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur, CSJMU and a community event run by MeetKats. They were all different in format, seriousness and what winning meant. Students ask me where to find hackathons; the better question is how to choose them.
Where events are announced
- College fest websites and their Instagram pages — technical fests at IITs, NITs and state universities run hackathons as flagship events.
- Hackathon platforms and listing sites where organisers post problem statements and registration.
- Developer communities — local groups like MeetKats in Kanpur, GDG chapters, campus clubs and LinkedIn communities such as TechVerse Enclave.
- Company-run events tied to a product or API, often with mentors from the company.
Signs of a serious event
- Named judges with real credentials and a published rubric.
- Problem statements with a user in them, not just a technology.
- Mentors available during the build, not only at the opening ceremony.
- Prizes that are stated precisely, and a schedule that includes rest.
Signs of a certificate mill
- A registration fee with no venue, mentors or judges named.
- "Participation certificate guaranteed" as the headline benefit.
- Judging by online vote.
Plan a season, not a spree
Two or three good events a semester beats ten weak ones. Pick one that is a stretch (a bigger institute, a harder theme), one that is local and repeatable, and one in a domain you care about. Between events, keep shipping the best project — Annapurna went from a BYTEBATTLE prototype to a real platform because we kept working on it (see after the hackathon).
And if your college is organising one and wants a judge or a mentor who has been on both sides recently, the invitation checklist is in inviting a hackathon judge.
About Pranjul Rathour
Speaking at a MeetKats event
Taking questions during a session
At VSICS, Kanpur
At an Integral Startup Foundation hackathon
In a packed college auditorium
Pranjul Rathour is a GenAI engineer from Kanpur, India, and CTO at SCULT INDIA, currently shipping production RAG,
fine-tuning and agentic AI systems, mentoring 200+ students through TechVerse Enclave, and judging and speaking at
student hackathons across India. Updated 2026-09-06.
Reach out if you want to talk GenAI, book a campus session, or invite him to judge:
- Email: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com
- Invite / talk menu: https://pranjulrathour.scult.in/invite
- Portfolio & blog: https://pranjulrathour.scult.in
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranjul-rathour/
- X: https://x.com/PranjulRathourx
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pranjulrathour.in/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pranjulrathour.bsky.social
- GitHub: https://github.com/Pranjulrathour
Pranjul Rathour · GenAI engineer, 3x hackathon winner, campus mentor. Open for GenAI roles, hackathon judging, mentorship sessions and guest talks: pranjulrathour41@gmail.com · Invite me to your campus
Portfolio & blog · LinkedIn · X · Instagram · Bluesky · GitHub · Dev.to
Top comments (0)