The program is going to start with a 48-hour hackathon, followed by a 2-month acceleration program.
🧠 WHAT IS M1TQ?
M1TQ is a startup boosting project that focuses on the potential and the innovation of the Armenian technology field. It is implemented in the framework of DigiTown project, initiated by Digitain.
The first M1TQ acceleration program took place in 2021 giving a chance for 8 startups to go through an intensive 12-week entrepreneurial journey which ended with a Demo day. The Demo day was followed by investment contracts with some of the startups.
🚀 WHAT IS A GARAGE48 HACKATHON?
Hackathon is a weekend-long intensive development event to work out new web and mobile applications or novel services and products and bring new startups to life.
The event is open for both university students and already working specialists and visionaries. We start on Friday with one goal in mind - to have a working prototype by Sunday to present to the jury. All the teams will be supported by internationally experienced mentors throughout the event.
Get ready for 48 hours of hacking, designing, coding, conceptualising, and working with industry experts to bring in new products and solutions to market! 🙌🏻
🙋🏻♂️🙋🏻♀️ WHO CAN JOIN?
The hackathon and acceleration program is open to professionals from all backgrounds.
We invite business visionaries, software engineers, marketing professionals, project managers, educators, web/app developers, UX/UI designers, entrepreneurs, product/service developers, data scientists, and other interested individuals with the desire to develop change-making products and services with their knowledge and skills.
The hackathon and acceleration will happen in English.
🏆 THE PRIZE POOL
- Best teams will be accepted to M1TQ acceleration program;
- Pitch your prototype to a network of International and Armenian investors at the acceleration Demo Day;
- The opportunity to pilot your ideas with Digitain;
- The prize fund is growing, stay tuned for updates!
💡 TEAMS AND IDEAS
Hackathons have proven to be a great opportunity to meet fellow talents, potential co-founders, employers, and employees, and work together with industry-leading experts who will support you in the process!
Ideas across all sectors are welcome at the program. For example, have an idea to innovate EdTech, FinTech, GreenTech, E-Commerce, AI & Machine Learning, SaaS & more? Join the hackathon!
✍🏼You can join as an individual or a team. You can register with an idea and put together a team of skilled individuals who are looking for an idea to work on, or if you don't have an idea, you are very welcome to join a team with an idea you like.
This is your chance to unleash your creativity and bring your idea to life under the guidance of industry-leading experts!
🤩 HOW TO JOIN?
Make sure you follow the M1TQ hackathon & acceleration events on Facebook and LinkedIn to not miss any hackathon-related information, registration is open until May 15th!
👉 Register here: https://garage48.typeform.com/m1tqhack
SEE YOU AT THE HACKATHON! 🚀
NB! Agenda is preliminary and might change. The latest agenda is always here on this website.
Friday
17:00 - The doors are open, registration
17:30 - Check-in, networking, coffee, snacks
18:00 - Opening remarks
18:30 - Pitching of ideas
19:30 - Team formation
20:30 - Teamwork begins
Saturday
09:00 - Coffee & light breakfast. Development continues
10:00 - Checkpoint #1 with mentors
11:00 - Teamwork & mentoring sessions
13:00 - Lunch
13:45 - Product development continues. Teamwork & mentoring sessions.
14:00- 14:30 Pitch training
16:00 - Checkpoint #2. Development continues
19:00 - Dinner
Sunday
09:00 - Checkpoint #3
10:00 - 11:00- Pitch drill session #1
12:00 - 13:45 Pitch drill session #1 continues
13:00 - Lunch
14:00 - 16:00 Pitch drill session #2
15:30 - Coffee break with light meal/snacks
17:30 - Final event & LIVE stream
20:30 -21:00 Jury decides
21:00 - 21:30 Award ceremony & networking
The address of the venue is Isakov 11, Yerevan Armenia Digitain's Downtown
What to bring with you?
Positive attitude, an open mind and lots of energy!
But like with any other hackathon, please take your:
laptop
3-5m power extension cord (as power might be on distance),
mobile phone
all chargers
if you have your own hardware things - bring them along
ID - otherwise you can not enter the building.
Optional:
We will provide some floor room at the venue for accommodation - so take your mattress and sleeping bag with you if you plan to stay and work through the night.
We'll start on Friday at 17:30 with the doors opening. Please come on time, as the registration process might take some time - use it to get to know the crowd and to network. See the agenda for further information.
The address of the venue is Digitain's Downtown building, Isakov 11, Yerevan Armenia.
For pitching:
Consider the following key points:
- Describe briefly your background (10 sec)
- What is the name of the idea (5 sec)
- What's the idea all about? What is the problem your idea solves? Target user count and description (30 sec)
- Technical solution and if there is a revenue model (in case of non-profit idea, how the maintenance and further development costs will be covered?) (30 sec)
- Minimum viable product and plan for 48 hours. Who do you need for the team? (20 sec)
NB! Practice your pitch to your friends or family before you present! 90 seconds goes really fast!
Team formation
After pitching is over, we will put all the ideas on the wall. Every participant will choose their favorite idea and this is how teams will be formed. Usually, 14 to 16 best ideas will get enough interested people to get the "green light" for the implementation. The average team has about 4 to 7 people and the team should be "balanced" - covering all required roles like necessary engineers, a designer, and an expert in order to get the product/service ready in 48 hours! The minimum size for a team is 3 people and max is 8 people. If some ideas get too few people or not balanced teams (probably unable to build the product), the idea will be dismissed. But don’t worry, just choose another idea/team to join.
Working in teams
After forming the teams, organizers will give a space for every team for the weekend. You should start by dividing roles, setting the product vision, customer journey and start working right away.
It is very important that you have a project manager (team lead) in the team - one of the tasks is to keep the focus of the team, one eye on the clock and the other on the team progress. 48 hours is really a short time.
Food and drinks
We provide breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. So, you could focus on work and building your product. There will also be snacks available!
Mentors
We have arranged mentors to work with the teams throughout the weekend. Some of them are more technical, some more business savvy. Be open and ask for their advice and contacts.
Please wear your name badge during the whole event this will help to encourage networking. Otherwise be open, get to know new people, share your ideas and give ideas/feedback to other teams.
MOST IMPORTANT - have fun!
