How Google expands its developer community through hackathons on Devpost

Google has an impressive history of fuelling innovation through hackathons on Devpost. Take a deep dive into how these competitions have sparked innovation, fostered a sense of community among developers, and inspired the creation of cutting-edge apps using Google’s products. 

Summary

Since 2019, Google has conducted more than 25 hackathons on Devpost's public hackathon platform. By leveraging Devpost's services and strong developer community connections, Google has organized competitions that have engaged over 160,000 developers in 172 countries. This collaboration has allowed Google to enhance its developer ecosystem and get thousands of developers using its products in new ways.

Many hackathon registrants have engaged with Google beyond the hackathons, such as by creating Google developer accounts, joining Discord servers, joining Slack channels, and using Google APIs.

Key themes and objectives

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning: Google has been running AI hackathons on Devpost since 2019—well before generative AI became an everyday term. Participants in these events are encouraged to build innovative applications using Google technologies like TensorFlow, Vertex AI Agent Builder, Gemini, and Google AI APIs.
• Social good: Google’s social impact hackathons leverage technology for societal benefit, inspiring developers to create solutions for environmental, health, and community challenges.
• Low/no-code and beginner-friendly: Google’s beginner-friendly and low or no-code hackathons enable developers of all levels to sharpen their skills and gain invaluable experience with emerging technologies and Google products. 
• Gaming: In Google’s gaming-themed hackathons, participants used tools like Flutter to push their creativity and build games. The Global Gamers Challenge is a great example of how these projects and games can use the power of play to inspire positive environmental action.‍
• Augmented reality and virtual reality: Google’s AR/VR hackathons challenge developers to blend the physical and digital worlds—transforming how people shop, learn, create, and experience the world around them through the use of Google’s ARCore Geospatial API.

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Featured hackathons and highlights

With so many great hackathons, it wasn’t easy to narrow down the list to just a few! Here are some of the most notable Google hackathons on Devpost:

Gemini 3 Hackathon

Details: Hosted by Google DeepMind, this hackathon invited developers of all skill levels to build new applications using the Gemini 3 API—with no category restrictions and a $100,000 prize pool. Whether participants wanted to build a game, a productivity tool, or a scientific analyzer, the only requirement was that it used Gemini 3 to do something new.

Highlights: More than 35,000 developers took part in the Gemini 3 Hackathon. The Grand Prize went to “Globot,” an agentic AI system that uses multiple Gemini 3-powered agents to transform supply chain crisis management—monitoring geopolitical signals in real time, calculating financial impacts of route changes, and replanning shipping routes to avoid conflict zones. Check out the hackathon's project gallery to see all the projects.

Google AI Hackathon

Details: This hackathon challenged participants to build a creative app using Google’s Generative AI tools with Gemini. Developers from around the world were invited to unleash their creativity and create apps that leverage AI—from digital masterpieces to impactful products solving real-world challenges.

Highlights: Over 15,000 developers participated in this hackathon, making it one of the biggest hackathons hosted on Devpost! Participants built a wide range of AI-powered solutions including geospatial tools, educational games, business tools, and much more.

“When I read about the Google AI Hackathon, it immediately captured my attention,” said Volker Janz, the overall second-place winner of this hackathon. “The challenge of showcasing what is possible when passion meets technology sounded incredibly exciting.”

Volker was also featured in a Devpost user story—check it out here.

Google Cloud x MLB™ Hackathon

Details: In partnership with Major League Baseball™, this hackathon challenged developers to use Google Cloud's AI and analytics tools—including Gemini, Imagen, and Vertex AI—alongside real MLB™ data to build projects that enhance the baseball fan experience. Participants could tackle one of five defined challenges, from generating personalized fan highlights to predicting player prospects using computer vision.

Highlights: More than 7,600 developers participated in this standout collaboration. The Overall Grand Prize went to Jake DiBattista for his "MLB Pitcher Mechanics Scorecard" project, which he got to demo live in front of 10,000 people during a keynote at Google Cloud Next. 

"It's been really life-changing for me personally. I've actually started my own business and I don't think it would have been possible without this hackathon and the support of Devpost and Google Cloud," said Jake DiBattista, winner of the Google Cloud x MLB™ Hackathon. 

Check out the hackathon's project gallery to see all the winning projects and submissions.

Flutter Puzzle Hack

Details: Developers had the opportunity to participate in this fun challenge that asked them to reimagine a classic slide puzzle using Flutter. Whether that meant creating a new design, rebuilding the puzzle from scratch, or integrating packages in new, interesting ways, developers were encouraged to push their imagination.

Highlights: Nearly 5,500 participants answered the call to reimagine the classic slide puzzle. There were 40 winning projects in different categories including Best Animation/Design, Best Execution, Most Creative, Best Educational Content, and more. See the winning projects and all submitted projects in the hackathon’s project gallery.

Google’s Immersive Geospatial Hackathon

Details: Developers and creators were invited to go beyond the map in this hackathon. They were challenged to either use Geospatial Creator to build an augmented reality experience in Adobe Aero or Unity, or use Photorealistic 3D Tiles to create a 3D virtual, immersive experience. 

Highlights: Almost 3,000 participants joined this hackathon to create AR or virtual 3D experiences on a global scale. There were 16 winning projects in five categories. The projects showed a wide range of uses including encouraging local discovery, creating immersive audio-visual experiences, and redefining how architects collaborate and visualize designs. Check out the hackathon’s project gallery to see all the submitted projects.

Spotlight: Multi-partner hackathons

Google has run a series of multi-partner hackathons on Devpost that bring together industry-leading technology platforms to reach new developer audiences. In these events, Google Cloud serves as the foundation while participants choose a partner challenge—giving developers hands-on experience across the full cloud and AI ecosystem and giving each co-sponsor direct exposure to a highly engaged, technical audience.

These recent multi-partner events demonstrate the breadth of this approach: the AI in Action Hackathon paired Google Cloud with MongoDB and GitLab; the AI Accelerate Hackathon brought in Elastic and Fivetran; and the AI Partner Catalyst Hackathon united Google Cloud with Datadog, Confluent, and ElevenLabs. 

These events show how a well-structured multi-partner hackathon can amplify reach, deepen technical credibility, and deliver value for every brand at the table.

Engaging with the Devpost community

Developers from Devpost’s community, bringing diverse skill sets and backgrounds, participate in Google hackathons. Here’s a closer look at the participants who have connected with Google through hackathons:

Devpost has proudly powered Google’s hackathons since 2019. In addition to providing a hackathon platform to manage registrations, team building, judging, and more, the Devpost team assists with event logistics, including setting up the event, supporting participants, and prize fulfillment. 

We also connect Google with developers in our global community. Our joint efforts help Google continue to grow its developer programs beyond hackathons as many registrants create Google developer accounts, join Discord servers and Slack channels, and use Google APIs.

Takeaway

Google’s hackathons allow its developer community to collaborate, learn, and inspire each other. These competitions help expand the reach of Google’s products and grow its network of talented developers.

Ready to supercharge your next hackathon? Book a demo to see the Devpost platform in action and talk to our team of hackathon experts.