Hackathon partner for colleges
Bring a national-level hackathon to your campus.
Dev Syndicate helps colleges plan, promote, manage and execute professional hackathons with industry judges, mentors, technology partners and student communities.
Built for colleges that want more than another campus event.
- Industry-connected
- End-to-end execution
- Student-first participation
- Professional evaluation
- Scalable event formats
The problem
Running a great hackathon is harder than it looks.
The idea is simple. The work behind it isn't — and it usually lands on a few faculty members who already have full-time jobs.
Student outreach
Getting meaningful participation beyond the students who already show up for everything on campus.
Industry access
Finding credible judges, mentors and technology partners — and coordinating their time around yours.
Operations
Registrations, team formation, submissions, evaluation and a steady stream of participant questions, all at once.
Event quality
Making the event feel like a professional technology event rather than something put together the week before.
That's where Dev Syndicate comes in.
The partnership
One partner. The entire hackathon.
We handle the work behind the hackathon so your college can focus on the students. Eight stages, one team accountable for all of them.
See every service in detail01Plan
Strategy
We start with what your institution wants out of the event — then shape the theme, tracks, scale and format around it.
- Event objectives
- Format & scale
- Themes & tracks
- Master timeline
02Plan
Branding
A name, identity and event page that make the hackathon look like a serious technology event — with your college front and centre.
- Event identity
- Event website
- Social & print assets
- Certificate design
03Plan
Marketing
Outreach built to bring in serious builders: student communities, other campuses and developer networks — not just registration counts.
- Outreach plan
- Campaign content
- Community & campus outreach
- Partner promotion
04Build-up
Registrations
Registration, team formation, screening and every participant email in between, handled on a proper platform.
- Registration flow
- Team formation
- Shortlisting
- Participant communication
05Build-up
Mentors & Judges
We bring in engineers, founders and technology professionals to guide teams and evaluate their work, subject to availability.
- Mentor panel
- Judging panel
- Briefing & scheduling
- Problem statements
06Build-up
Evaluation
Rubrics, judging rounds and scoring designed before the event starts, so results are consistent and defensible.
- Judging criteria
- Round structure
- Scoring system
- Result review
07Live
Event Execution
On the day — or across the days — we run the schedule: check-in, mentoring rounds, submissions, presentations and results.
- Run-of-show
- On-ground / online ops
- Submission desk
- Results & prizes
08After
Post-event Reporting
A clear report on participation, projects and engagement, plus certificates for every participant — so the event keeps paying off.
- Event report
- Participation insights
- Certificates
- Project showcase
Why Dev Syndicate
Not just another college event.
A hackathon run well puts your institution in front of students, companies and other campuses. That only happens when it's designed for it.
Industry-connected
We bring professionals, founders, engineers and technology leaders into the room — as mentors, judges and problem-setters.
Designed for participation
Marketing and outreach designed to attract serious builders, not just to push up registration numbers.
End-to-end execution
One team carries the operational load from the first planning call to the final evaluation and report.
Built around outcomes
The aim is meaningful projects, real student engagement, industry interaction and visibility for your institution.
Flexible formats
Department-level, campus-wide, national or a corporate challenge — the structure follows your objective.
Formats
What can we build together?
Five starting points. Each one is shaped around your objective, audience and calendar before anything is fixed.
- FMT / CAMPUS
Campus Hackathon
For a single college or institution.
- Who takes part
- Your students, your departments
- Good for
- Building an innovation culture on campus and giving students their first serious build experience.
- FMT / NATIONAL
National Hackathon
Open participation across colleges.
- Who takes part
- Students from campuses across India
- Good for
- Institutional visibility, a stronger applicant pool and putting your campus on the national tech map.
- FMT / INDUSTRY
Industry Challenge
A company brings a real-world problem for students to solve.
- Who takes part
- A partner company and selected participants
- Good for
- Industry interaction, placement conversations and problem statements that matter outside the classroom.
- FMT / INNOVATION
Innovation Challenge
Focused on emerging technologies and problem solving.
- Who takes part
- Theme-led — AI, sustainability, health, fintech and more
- Good for
- Innovation and incubation cells looking for early ideas worth taking further.
- FMT / CUSTOM
Custom Format
Designed around your institution's specific objective.
- Who takes part
- Whatever the objective needs
- Good for
- Department events, ideathons, multi-stage challenges or anything that doesn't fit a template.
The ecosystem
Connect students with the people building technology.
A hackathon is only as good as the people around the builders. We bring the right people into the room, and make sure each one has a defined role.
N.01↓
Colleges
Host the event and set the objective.
N.02↓
Students
Form teams and build working projects.
N.03↓
Mentors
Unblock teams while they build.
N.04↓
Judges
Evaluate work against clear criteria.
N.05↓
Technology companies
Bring problems, tools and opportunities.
N.06
Innovation
Projects worth taking beyond the weekend.
How it works
From conversation to hackathon.
Five steps, starting with a short conversation about what your college wants to achieve. You always know what happens next, and who is doing it.
01
Tell us what you want to build
Your college shares its objectives, audience, scale and preferred theme.
02
We design the format
We recommend the event structure, timeline and engagement model.
03
We build the ecosystem
Marketing, participants, judges, mentors, sponsors and operational infrastructure.
04
We run the hackathon
Registration, submissions, evaluation, communication and event operations.
05
You get the outcome
Projects, participation insights, engagement metrics and a professional post-event report.
Step one takes a few minutes: tell us about your institution and the event you have in mind.
Who does what
You bring the campus. We handle the execution.
The division of work is agreed up front, so nobody on your side is surprised by what lands on their desk.
Your college
6 items- Venue
- Institutional coordination
- Faculty point of contact
- Internal approvals
- On-campus communication
- Required infrastructure
Dev Syndicate
11 items- Event strategy
- Branding
- Marketing
- Registration
- Participant outreach
- Judges
- Mentors
- Evaluation
- Technology platform
- Event coordination
- Post-event reporting
The experience
Built for the people doing the building.
Students remember how an event felt to take part in. We design every step of the participant journey — from the first time they hear about it to the certificate in their inbox.
- One event page
- Everything participants need, in one place.
- Clear checkpoints
- Teams know what's due, and when.
- Mentor access
- Help is bookable, not a queue.
- Fair judging
- Published criteria and feedback.
Event page
Your College Hackathon
Outcomes
Built around measurable outcomes.
Every hackathon ends with a report your institution can use. These are the numbers it covers — counted, not estimated.
M.01
Participants
Registered, shortlisted and active on the day.
M.02
Colleges reached
Campuses represented among participants.
M.03
Projects submitted
Complete submissions that reached judging.
M.04
Industry mentors
Professionals who mentored teams.
M.05
Judges
Evaluators across judging rounds.
M.06
Sponsors
Companies supporting the event.
M.07
Hours of engagement
Build, mentoring and presentation time.
The report
Participation, projects and engagement — plus what worked, and what to change next time.
Working with us
What institutions can expect.
01
Clear communication
One point of contact on our side, with regular status updates through planning and the event itself.
02
Structured execution
An agreed timeline, a defined scope and a run-of-show everyone can see before the event starts.
03
Professional event management
The event looks and runs like a serious technology event, because it is planned like one.
04
Transparent coordination
Responsibilities are written down early: what your college handles, and what we handle.
05
Post-event reporting
A report on participation, projects and engagement that your institution can actually use.
FAQ
Questions colleges ask us.
Something not covered here? Send us your question or write to dsdevsyndicate@gmail.com.
How much does a hackathon cost?
There is no fixed package, because no two hackathons are the same size. Cost depends on scale and duration, expected participant count, the event format, how much industry involvement you want, marketing requirements, the judges and mentors involved, and venue and logistics. Tell us what you have in mind and we'll put together a proposal with a clear scope.
Can you organise a national-level hackathon?
Yes. National formats open participation to students across colleges, and we handle the outreach, registrations, screening and evaluation that come with that scale.
Can you handle marketing?
Yes. Branding, the event page, campaign content and outreach to student communities and other campuses are part of what we do.
Can you arrange judges and mentors?
Yes, subject to availability and the event's requirements. We bring in engineers, founders and technology professionals suited to your theme, and brief them before the event.
Can our college provide the venue?
Yes — for on-campus events the college usually provides the venue and infrastructure, and we plan the event around it.
Can companies sponsor the event?
Yes. Sponsorship can be built into the event model, whether that's a company bringing a problem statement, supporting prizes or providing tools and credits.
Can the hackathon be completely online?
Yes. The event structure — registration, mentoring, submissions, presentations and judging — can be designed entirely around online participation. Hybrid formats are possible too.
How early should we contact you?
For a campus hackathon, we suggest starting the conversation at least 6–8 weeks before your preferred dates. For a national-level event with industry judges and sponsors, 10–12 weeks gives everyone room. Shorter timelines can sometimes work — share your dates and we'll tell you honestly what's feasible.
The team
Meet the people behind Dev Syndicate.
Dev Syndicate is led by its founder and co-founder. You'll know who you're working with from the first conversation.
01 · Founder
Shiven Kumar
Founder, Dev Syndicate
02 · Co-founder
Ashutosh Sharma
Primary contact for enquiries
Start the conversation
Let's build something worth putting your campus behind.
Tell us what you have in mind. We'll understand your requirements, recommend an event structure and get back to you for a quick discussion.
Or call Ashutosh Sharma on +91 99042 60348 · connect on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)