How a Small Town Boy made it to Singapore Grand Finals

Back in our first year, me and my friend Abhyuday went to our first hackathon called Hackman v6. As a team of first year students, we didn't expect much other than a learning experience and free coffee. However, we ended up beating all of our college seniors and making it to top 10 of that hackathon. Even though we didn't win that hackathon, we both understood this is something we are good at.

Since then, me and Abhyuday along with various peers went for n number of hackathons, maintaining a winning streak throughout. One of them was HackBangalore in May 2024.

Intro

I am Akash Singh, a Backend Developer and Open Source Contributor.
Here is my LinkedIn, GitHub and Twitter

I go by the name SkySingh04 online.

The Story of HackBangalore

Hackathons are more than just competitions; they’re spaces for you to build and with friends and batchmates alike. So, when we first heard about HackBangalore and the fact that literally everyone from our batch was participating, we decided to go and give it a shot.

After 36 hours of brainstorming, coding, and more caffeine than I’d care to admit, we developed Sharkbucks, our project to connect SMEs and investors through a bidding platform. Our goal? To empower businesses with the funding they need and give investors a unique opportunity to support ideas that resonate with them. With this project, we entered HackBangalore, with no clue that this was supposed to lead us to Singapore.

Winning HackBangalore was surreal. Competing against top teams in India, who literally flew in from different cities along with all of our batchmates was intense. The thrill of standing out among our peers and emerging as the winners in the Financial Inclusion Category was just peak main character.

The reason for the smile was the victory in front of all of our batchmates, a statement made loud and clear. Of course, the prize money of $3000 was most appreciated as well xD

Securing a Spot in the Top 30 Globally

Now after we won HackBangalore , we realised this hackathon was a part of a global hackathon series called Hackglobal. And this Hackglobal had more than just the main event; it also had bounty projects that could solidify our spot in the top 30. We knew we couldn’t pass up the chance to broaden our impact, so we dove into developing two additional projects, each as meaningful and challenging as the last. It was exhilarating to work under such tight timelines, constantly brainstorming and pushing each other to think bigger.

After submitting two bounty projects, one in July 2024 and one in August 2024, we scored some additional points on the leaderboard. That, combined with the points of being the winners of Financial Inclusion track at HackBangalore meant we stood at 8th place worldwide when the leaderboard froze! Soon after, we got the news that we secured our place for Hackglobal Finals and, with it, a fully funded trip to Singapore. Packing for the trip, it hit me — this was really happening. We were about to represent India on a global stage.

Touchdown in Singapore: The HackGlobal Summit

Arriving in Singapore was like stepping into a world of possibilities. Hackglobal brought together some of the brightest minds from seven countries, each team bringing their own unique perspectives and innovations. Being part of that community, exchanging ideas, and networking with people from all over the world was an eye-opener.

The hackathon itself was intense. Surrounded by competitors from diverse cultures, the environment was electrifying and challenging in the best way. We absorbed insights from each conversation and demo, seeing the variety of ways other teams approached problem-solving.

On the first day of the grand finals, we were briefed about the rules and schedule of the event, along with who our judges and mentors will be. We spent the first day exploring Singapore, clicking pictures and spamming Instagram stories.

As a 20 year old Small Town Boy, this was truly a big arcade for me and my teammates alike.

The Hacking Period

On the second day, we were allotted with two mentoring slots at 10am and 5pm with mentors we had selected previously. The mentors gave us constructive criticism on how our presentations were too flashy and guided us towards improvising our pitch and product.

The Problem Statement we were allotted was How can we improve customer satisfaction and loyalty? This was revolving primarily around the Lyf Hotel Group who were one of the sponsors of the events.

What we built was an AI Concierge called LUMi which was designed to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by delivering a personalized guest experience at Lyf Funan Singapore. This AI-powered solution operated across multiple platforms such as Whatsapp, via phone call and Integrated App to streamline guest interactions and promptly address their needs. The core objective was to provide guests with fast, efficient, and intuitive assistance, transforming the traditional customer service model and bridging the feedback loop for enhanced loyalty and satisfaction.

After the mentoring sessions on 2nd day and a night full of caffeine and cup noodles, the third and final day of the hackathon arrived. We had the first round of judging at 8:30AM with two judges and they really seemed to like our idea and our pitch.

Something really interesting we did at the hackathon was provide handouts to the judges at both rounds of judging. This handout contained a summary of our presentation along with QR Codes for them to scan and try our project demo. Here is the handout we printed out. PS: Don't try to scan the QR's, the VM we were running our model on is shut down now :))

And here is us pitching our solution to the judges

The Grand Finals at SWITCH

Once we got on the buses to SWITCH (Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology) at Marina Bay Sands, we got to know that we had qualified for top 9! We were the only team from India to make it that far, and it was a proud moment for all of us.

Pitching at SWIITCH was one of the most intense and memorable experiences of my life. Standing on that stage, presenting Lumi to a panel of international judges, we felt the weight of representing our team, our project, and our country. We received incredible feedback that has only strengthened our resolve to bring Lumi to life.

You can watch my full pitch at SWITCH here :

Key Pointers for First-Time Hackathon Participants

1. Go in with an Open Mind: Don’t worry about winning; focus on learning, networking, and improving. Every hackathon is a chance to grow.
2. Choose Your Team Wisely: Go with people you can communicate and collaborate well with—your teammates are your biggest asset.
3. Stay Organized and Set Clear Goals: 36 hours can go by quickly. Plan your project, divide tasks early, and stay on track.
4. Seek Mentorship and Take Feedback Seriously: Feedback can be the difference between a good project and a great one. Use your mentoring sessions to gain insights and improve your pitch.
5. Prepare for Presentation: Your idea is only as good as how you present it. Practice your pitch, and bring any helpful materials (like handouts) to stand out.
6. Enjoy the Process: Embrace the experience, even the sleepless nights and caffeine highs. Hackathons are as much about the journey as they are about the end result.

Small-Town Boy in a Big Arcade

As a small-town boy in a bustling, high-tech arcade , I felt like I was truly stepping into the world. From winning our first hackathon in college to presenting on an international stage at SWITCH in Singapore, this journey has been surreal. Standing on stage at Marina Bay Sands, representing my team, my project, and my country, I realized how far we had come — not just in miles, but in skill, resilience, and ambition.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that no dream is too big, and no background too small. Opportunities like Hackglobal are out there, and they’re waiting for passionate developers who are willing to take a leap. So, to every coder out there, especially those in small towns dreaming big, keep pushing.

I can't thank my teammates Tarun, Hema and Abhyuday for staying with me throughout the journey. It was a joy leading this team from the first day and I wouldn't have done it with anyone else. I can't thank my seniors at Point Blank enough for guiding all of us through and through.

In the end, I would like to share a quote that a good friend of mine shared with me a while ago : Ignis aurum probat