LUMA Hackathon 2026 is a 2-week virtual build competition for high school and middle school students across the US. This is a challenge for creators and coders. Show us what you can build.

What is a Hackathon? A hackathon is a technical sprint. You will execute a functional project like an app, website, or software tool that solves a real world problem through code.

Round 1: Project Submission Submit a 5 minute video demonstration covering:

The Problem: What specific technical or social challenge are you tackling?

The Build: A walkthrough of your codebase, architecture, and the stack used.

The Demo: A screen share recording of the project functioning in real time.

Scalability: How is this project suited to handle more data or more users?

Round 2: Live Finals The top technical projects will advance to a Live Demonstration and Q&A. Finalists will run their code live for a panel of judges and defend their technical logic and architecture in a real time discussion.

Prizes 1st Place: $300 cash

All Participants: Subscription bundle

Who Can Participate? Any high school or middle schooler student. Teams of 1 to 5.

• Technical Execution (25%)
  Is the code clean, efficient, and well-documented? Does the project actually work, and did the team demonstrate a strong grasp of their tech stack?
• Innovation & UX (25%)
  Did the team come up with an original or clever idea? Is the interface intuitive and the user flow seamless for the end user?
• Business & Finance (25%)
  Does the submission include a realistic business model, revenue streams, and a clear path to financial sustainability?
• Communication (25%)
  Did the video and live Q&A demonstrate a deep understanding of the product, its technical architecture, and its target consumers?