SXSW Hackathon Returning To Austin

AUSTIN, TEXAS — The SXSW Hackathon will be returning to Austin next month for its sixth year, South by Southwest Conference and Festivals officials announced on Wednesday.

Described as "...an exhilarating 24-hour marathon," the event is scheduled from March 12-13 at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown. Developers, coders, and tech creatives will collaborate in teams to build technology focused on topics covered at SXSW — including Music, VR, AR, AI, and Blockchain, officials said.

"The SXSW Hackathon fosters innovation and creativity, inspiring developers and coders to take their projects to the next level," organizers said. "Previous SXSW Hackathon winners have found great success, with two of the top three winning teams from the 2018 SXSW Hackathon going on to launch companies based on their projects."

Moreover, the Best Music project winner from the 2017 SXSW Hackathon was also recently selected for Techstars 2019 Class of Music Tech Startups. This year’s Hackathon will be an international gathering, with developers joining from Japan, Mexico, Germany, Canada and the U.S., officials noted.

Participating hackers will have access to a wide range of resources, including guidance from official SXSW mentors, public APIs and tools, and SXSW’s partner APIs and SDKs. The three winning teams will be awarded cash and sponsor prizes by our panel of industry judges. The Hackathon Final Presentations and Awards event will take place on Wednesday, March 13, at 1:30 p.m. and is open to all SXSW badgeholders.

Winners will also be invited to join the SXSW Hackathon Incubator from March 14-15, where they will fine-tune their projects with guidance from industry mentors. Interested hackers can apply here through March 5.

The 2019 judges include Scot Barbour, VP Production & Innovation of Sony Pictures Entertainment; Josh Constine, Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch, Louise-Marie Marguet, CEO of EmoJam, Lauren Vitek, Founding Employee at TravelBank, Jon Gottfried, Co-Founder of Major League Hacking, Andrew Dubber, Director of Music Tech Fest, and Tuhin Roy, Senior Vice President of New Digital Business and Innovation at UMG.

“Universal Music Group is pleased to partner with SXSW to encourage the development of a new wave of music applications and technologies by supporting the talented developers and entrepreneurs participating in the 2019 SXSW Hackathon,” Tuhin Roy, Senior Vice President of New Digital Business and Innovation at Universal Music Group, said in a prepared statement.

The 2019 SXSW Hackathon is presented by R9B, a provider of advanced cybersecurity services. The company specializes in threat detection and elimination through its proprietary HUNT platform, ORION. Founded in 2011, R9B is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Additional SXSW Hackathon sponsors include Buzz Angle Music, Capitol360, Cox Automotive, Devpost, Eluvio, Kony, Native Instruments, RealtimeBoard, R3, Show Sparker, and Universal Music Group. The event is produced in conjunction with Travis Laurendine of CODEMKRS.

ABOUT SXSW

"SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries," organizers wrote. "An essential destination for global professionals, the event features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together."

SXSW 2019 will take place March 8-17, 2019. For more information, visit sxsw.com. To register for the event, please visit sxsw.com/attend. SXSW 2019 is sponsored by Capital One, Mercedes-Benz, Bud Light, Uber Eats, and The Austin Chronicle.

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