HACKATHONS UK

What HACKATHONS UK does

Hackathons UK is a UK-registered charity (No. 1195243) and Company Limited by Guarantee (No. 12530692) that operates as the centralised support infrastructure for student-led hackathon events at UK universities. Founded in 2019 and headquartered at a registered office in London, the non-profit serves three primary constituencies: student hackathon organisers (who need planning support, sponsor introductions, and continuity across graduating committees), students/hackers (who need access to free, inclusive, high-quality events), and corporate sponsors (who want access to next-generation developers).

Its core products are service- rather than technology-oriented. Partner Event Support provides comprehensive lifecycle assistance—planning, social media promotion, event listing on hackathons.org.uk, sticker distribution, an Event Support Specialist, a Hackiest Hack challenge, Twitch channel access, post-event debriefs, surveys, and prize distribution. The hackathons.org.uk Events Platform serves as an event discovery directory with guaranteed accuracy for officially partnered events, while the Community Discord Server connects organisers and hackers. Organiser Mentorship & Knowledge Resources functions as long-term institutional memory to mitigate the knowledge loss that occurs when student committees graduate annually.

Revenue comes exclusively from corporate sponsorships and grants; the organisation is donor-supported via a 'Donate' link and sponsor logos (Arm Education, Newton, Avo visible). All hackathon participation is mandated to be free for attendees per the Partner Event Policy, and partner events must be run by registered charities, CICs, or similar not-for-profit bodies, with at least 80% of attendees being current students. Distribution runs through the Discord community, direct outreach to university tech societies, social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, GitHub), and formal partner-event agreements, with no traditional external investors or parent company.

Name

HACKATHONS UK

Legal name

Hackathons UK Limited

Website

https://hackathons.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hackathons UK is a UK-registered charity that provides planning support, mentorship, and event-visibility services to student-led hackathon organisers across UK universities, supplemented by a community Discord server and an events directory on hackathons.org.uk.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Event Support Services

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAKADAH

Amateur & Grassroots Tournament Organizers

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Sports (Leagues, Teams, Events, Venues)/Sports Event & Tournament Organizers (Tours, Championships, Meets)

Keywords

• Student hackathon support
• Nonprofit event services
• Community mentorship programs
• Event coordination services
• Hackathon organiser resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Egham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and Grants: As a charitable non-profit organisation (Charity Registered in England No. 1195243), Hackathons UK relies on sponsors who engage with hackathon attendees. Sponsors provide opportunities to engage with next generation of developers, engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs by sending engineers and recruiters to add value to hackathons.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HACKATHONS UK provides free, comprehensive support to UK student hackathon organisers throughout the entire event lifecycle. Services include pre-event planning support, social media promotion, an on-site Event Support Specialist, post-event debriefs, mentor coordination, sticker and prize distribution, and listing on the hackathons.org.uk events platform. The organisation also operates a Community Discord Server and Twitch channel for partner events, functioning as a non-profit backbone that preserves institutional knowledge across graduating student committees.

Product overview

Hackathons UK is a community-led non-profit that provides a unified platform of support services for UK student hackathon organisers and hackers. Its core offering centres on the Partner Event Support programme — comprehensive assistance covering the full event lifecycle — backed by the hackathons.org.uk Events Platform for event discovery, a Community Discord Server for networking and guidance, and an in-house Twitch Channel made available to partner events. The Organiser Mentorship & Knowledge Resources product completes the ecosystem by providing direct mentorship and institutional knowledge to prevent knowledge loss across graduating student committees. Together, these services function as a coordinated non-profit support infrastructure rather than a traditional software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Partner Event Support

Quantifiable outcome

• 60+ partnered events supported since inception
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Major League Hacking PBC Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationWhen an event is partnered with both Hackathons UK and Major League Hacking PBC Inc., organisers have agreed to permit data sharing between the two organisations. Personal data including email, demographic details, academic information, and hackathon participation data may be shared where participants have provided relevant consent at event registration or check-in.
• Arm EducationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLogo sponsor visible on the Hackathons UK website, indicating sponsorship or marketing partnership support for the organisation.
• NewtonminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLogo sponsor visible on the Hackathons UK website, indicating sponsorship or marketing partnership support for the organisation.
• AvominorGTM or Marketing PartnerLogo sponsor visible on the Hackathons UK website, indicating sponsorship or marketing partnership support for the organisation.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Devpost: Hackathon hosting platform where companies and organisations launch and run online coding challenges, with a large community of student developers. Comparable because it is one of the primary surfaces for organising and discovering hackathons globally.
• Hack Club: A community-led non-profit that supports high-school student hackathon organisers globally, providing resources, branding, and a network similar to what Hackathons UK offers at the university level in the UK.
• HackerEarth: Operates a hackathon management platform used by enterprises and developer communities to run coding competitions. Comparable because it provides hackathon organising infrastructure, though it targets enterprise customers rather than student organisers.
• Junction: A European-origin hackathon platform that organises large-scale hackathons across multiple countries. Comparable because it operates a similar community-of-hackathons model with platform-level event support, though at international scale.
• Major League Hacking: The largest global organiser of student hackathons, running events across the US, Canada, Europe, and beyond. Directly comparable because it supports the same student-organiser use case that Hackathons UK addresses, with a formal data-sharing partnership already in place.
• CodeDay: Runs student-focused coding events and hackathons worldwide. Comparable because it organises grassroots, student-led tech events with a community-empowerment mission analogous to Hackathons UK's.

Broad incumbents

• Google Developer Student Clubs: Google-sponsored university developer communities that run hackathons and tech events. Comparable because they serve the same student-tech-society audience at UK universities, but with corporate backing rather than an independent charity structure.
• Microsoft Imagine Cup: Microsoft's global student technology competition. Comparable because it engages the same student developer audience and corporate sponsors that Hackathons UK serves, but at much larger scale and as part of a broader corporate initiative.
• Techstars Startup Weekend: Community-driven weekend entrepreneurship events operated by Techstars. Comparable because it uses a similar grassroots, volunteer-supported event model aimed at students and early-career participants.
• GitHub Campus: GitHub's programme for student developers, including event support and community resources. Comparable because it provides tooling, community, and visibility to the same student-developer population that Hackathons UK serves.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/hackathons_uk
• GitHubgithub.com/hackathons-UK
• Facebookfacebook.com/hackathons.org.uk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hackathons-uk

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HACKATHONS UK