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"Mind Diving Varna" - Hackathon 2025

Mind Diving Hackathon

Under the coordination of the Regional Agency for Entrepreneurship and Innovations – Varna (RAPIV) and the company AWARE 7, the "Mind Diving Hackathon Varna" brought together 3 mentors looking for solutions and 15 young people between 17 and 30 years old in the sunny and very hot Varna n the 05th and 6th of July 2025. The Innovator Coworking Space, an established partner for all workers on the move, provided a cool room and excellent equipment. The five teams worked 24 hours to develop the best solution to three challenges:

🪴Challenge 1: Happiness for Life! Design a solution related to happy living.
👨‍🎓 Mentor: Dilyn Popov/Smart Varna Foundation/Altscale Ltd./ Bulgarian Angels Club – Varna Chapter. An entrepreneur, a mentor and an expert in innovation and business modelling.

🚰 Challenge 2: What’s Really the Best Water? Create an innovative solution that helps people understand, compare, or make better choices about the water they drink.
👩‍🎓 Mentor: Assoc. Prof. Galina Momcheva/BioMed - Varna Foundation/Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. A researcher, a teacher and a professional mentor.

👾 Challenge 3: IT Security Gamification: Let’s play! Develop an IT security game that entertainingly teaches important lessons.
👨‍🎓 Mentor: Benjamin Krüger/AWARE 7. IT security consultant and awareness trainer.

On July 6 in the afternoon, the teams pitched their ideas to a jury for a chance to win two prizes: € 1,000 and € 500. After an intensive competition, however, three teams went home with prizes:

💦 1. place went to the youngest team - two passionate high school students and one university student dream about „the best water“, Aquapure delivers - a distillation and mineralisation of water to ensure the most qualitative drinkable water at an affordable price. 

🤖 2. place went to the largest and most diverse team of 5 young people who pulled their competencies to make life happier. Utilising AI technology, they developed a business model for a personal psychological assistant.

👾 a special prize went to a team tackling cybersecurity education with a virtual reality game. In 24 hours, the team programmed a workable prototype, impressing our colleagues from RAPIV Bulgaria so much that they decided to award them an additional 200€.

Congratulations to the winners, and good luck in further realising your ideas. 

„Mind Mining Ruhr“ - Hackathon 2024

Artwork Mind Mining Hackathon

On September 21st 2024, the Wissenschaftspark in Gelsenkirchen hosted our "Mind Mining Ruhr" 24 hackathon! In the heart of the Ruhr area, a region with a proud history of mining and innovation, we were digging for new ideas.

The five teams were confronted with five challenges provided by local companies. From coding, design, and marketing to sustainability, innovative solutions were developed within 24 hours. The solutions were presented at the RuhrSTARTUPWEEK-Opening Party with your Mind Mining Pitches in the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, Gelsenkirchen on Monday, September 23rd.

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