2026 CodeXtreme Ingenious Hackathon Season 1

Welcome to the participant guide for the CodeXtreme Ingenious Hackathon 2026.

This document walks you through everything you need to know to get the most from your CodeXtreme Ingenious Hackathon journey; from registration and team formation to ideation sessions, hacking resources and final presentations. It reflects feedback from prior seasons and introduces a few upgrades to make your experience productive,  enjoyable, and memorable.

CodeXtreme is a student‑focused hackathon designed to discover, inspire, activate, nurture, and accelerate Africa’s next generation of pragmatic innovators and aggressive builders.

The 2026 edition continues the theme “Build Things People Need,” challenging participants to create solutions that address real problems in their communities and beyond with a deep focus on MEANING, VALUE and IMPACT.

Our goal is to build a sustainable pipeline of pragmatic innovators and aggressive builders across Africa who consistently build, launch, and scale world-class, high-impact tech companies. From the hackathon to the buildathon, to the tradeshow, it is a journey from discovery to impact, where raw talent and grit evolves into transformative ventures.

The Hackathon serves as the entry point into the national Ingenious talent and venture pipeline operating across multiple university nodes.

CodeXtreme welcomes:

• Undergraduate and graduate students, boot‑camp graduates and self‑taught developers from across Africa. All based in Rwanda.

• Early tech talent and founders.

• People with diverse technical backgrounds—programming, design, product management, hardware, data science and more.

No prior hackathon experience is required.

Teams have 2-4 members. Solo applicants or pairs looking for team members will be matched with others during the orientation and team-matching session.

The event will take place from Wednesday 4th to Saturday 7th March, in person at the African Leadership University, Kigali, Rwanda.

Check the official schedule for more.

Pillar 1 - Productive Economy

• AgriTech

• Climate and Sustainability

• Physical Infrastructure & Logistics

• IoT

Pillar 2 - Human Capital Systems (human capability and long-term development.)

• HealthTech

• EdTech

Pillar 3 - Financial & Digital Infrastructure (economic rails + digital backbone.)

• FinTech & Economic Empowerment

• Digital and Cloud Infrastructure

• Decentralized Ledger Technology

Open track – participants solve any meaningful and relatively hardcore problem aligned with the theme. This is for people working on really contrarian ideas or deep/rare tech that does not fit in any of the provided pillars and tracks.

• Product and Design Engineering workshop: Building in the age of AI. An Engineering Manager Perspective.

• Product and Business workshop: A PMF Journey.

• 1:1 Engagement with Mentors: Office hours, product feedback sessions, and pitch clinic.

Based on feedback from previous years, we’ve created a dedicated space to support your creativity and productivity.

An open area filled with whiteboards, flip charts, sticky notes, markers and prototyping materials. Use this zone to brainstorm, sketch user journeys, map data flows and work on hardware prototypes. Mentors will regularly visit to provide guidance.

Capture memories with teammates at our photo booth, complete with themed props/frames and backdrops. Share your photos on social media using the event hashtag (#CodeXtreme26) to help amplify the hackathon’s visibility and showcase your experience.

Participants should bring their own laptops and laptop chargers. We provide Stable Wi‑Fi and power outlets.

Note: If you require a special plug, please bring your own extension/universal travel adapter

Check the official schedule for details on the submission deadline and the official judging criteria for our judging framework and deliverables.

• Our official judging criteria.

• Our official schedule.

Top 3 teams

• Public Recognition

• 1st Place: USD 2,500 + exclusive Ingenious Buildathon spot.

• 2nd Place: USD 1,500 + exclusive Ingenious Buildathon spot.

• 3rd Place: USD 1,000 + exclusive Ingenious Buildathon spot.

Top 10 teams

• Selection into the Ingenious Buildathon Track

• 4th to 10th Place: Exclusive access to the CodeXtreme Ingenious Buildathon track, the national talent and venture pipeline operating across multiple university nodes for an incredible 5 months of building.

All participants receive the CodeXtreme Ingenious Hack Certificate after the hackathon, the Ingenious Build Certificate after the buildathon, and exclusive access to our talent and startups community (current and alumni).

🚀 The Ingenious Buildathon Track (What Top 10 Unlock)

• 5-month intense structured buildathon pathway focus on disciplined execution (product, team, market, strategy, traction and growth.)

• Dedicated Technical Mentor

• Dedicated Product/Business Mentor

• Month 1 validation sprint

• Structured milestone and deliverables design

• Weekly execution reviews

• Bi-weekly public updates

• Demo sessions & ecosystem exposure

• Year-end Trade Show & investor visibility

📍 Month 1: Validation & Progression Gate

All Top 10 teams enter a structured one-month validation sprint focused on user research, problem refinement, and milestone and deliverables architecture.

At the end of Month 1, teams demonstrating strong execution and clarity progress into the 5-month structured buildathon track.

Select teams may access additional institutional support, subject to eligibility.

Hackers will be provided with complimentary meals and drinks.

• Buses leave pick-up stations for the venue (First round at 7:00 AM, Second round at 8:00 AM)

• Buses leave the venue for drop-offs (First round at 7:00 PM, Second round at 8:00 PM, except 8:30 PM on Demo Day)

The 2 routes will be communicated the day before the event on March 3rd 2026.

CodeXtreme is committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment.

By participating you agree to our official code of conduct.

Please report any issues to the organising team immediately.

• Email: [email protected]

• Phone: +250737026499

We reserve the right to remove participants who do not follow the code of conduct.

See you on the other side!