Hefty-Hacks

Overview

Hefty Hacks is a fully online hackathon focused on the intersection of finance and trading, presented by TechZap. Over an intense 36-hour sprint, participants are challenged to transform market dynamics into working products. This includes developing trading systems, market predictors, fintech solutions, risk engines, and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The competition emphasizes a focused approach, encouraging teams to identify a specific niche and develop a deep, defensible solution rather than a broad application. The goal is to ship something novel that addresses a unique problem within the financial or trading landscape. Top-performing teams will gain an exclusive career opportunity, with the top 10 teams being considered for direct hiring rounds with leading companies and fast-growing startups. Selection for interviews and hiring is at the discretion of the participating companies and subject to their individual eligibility criteria. Hefty Hacks is designed for teams of 2-6 individuals, fostering collaboration in a remote environment. The event offers a prize pool, along with free Azure credits and elite mentorship to support participants in bringing their innovative ideas to fruition.

What to build

Participants are challenged to build innovative solutions at the intersection of finance and trading. This includes, but is not limited to: Finance Track: * Payments, lending, & neo-banking solutions * Personal finance & wealth autopilot tools * Fraud, AML, & risk intelligence systems * Insurance, credit scoring, & RegTech applications * Decentralized finance (DeFi), including on-chain lending, tokenization, & protocols Trading Track: * Algo, HFT, & execution engines * Futures, options, & derivatives tooling * Market prediction & alt-data signals * Backtesting & portfolio optimization tools Fusion Track (combining both): * Sentiment-to-signal fintech apps * On-chain quant & DeFi execution systems * Embedded trading inside consumer finance * Other uncharted crossovers

Prizes

Key dates

• Hackathon Start Date2026-10-24
• Final Hack Day (Build Sprint Start)2026-10-31
• Hackathon End Date (Build Sprint End)2026-11-01

How to enter

1. Register your team.

Submission requirements

• Teams must consist of 2–6 members.
• Follow the Code of Conduct.

Judging criteria

• Originality of the niche: how sharp and defensible is the bet?
• Technical depth: did you actually build the hard part?
• Working demo: does it run and hold up under questions?
• Market insight: do you understand the problem you're solving?

Sponsors & partners