Hackathons have long been recognized as launchpads for innovation, bringing together developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to solve real-world problems under tight deadlines. Yet, behind the buzz and energy, many hackathons suffer from systemic issues—fragmented workflows, chaotic execution, and little support for builders after the final pitch.
Despite the global hackathon market being valued at approximately $1.5 billion in 2023 and projected to grow at over 15% annually through 2031, much of the infrastructure supporting these events remains outdated and inefficient.
In this Newzchain Exclusive, we interviewed Saran Kumar, Co-Founder of 0xDay, to explore more deeply how the platform is eliminating hackathon mayhem, its impressive early traction, and its goal of becoming the global infrastructure layer for innovation sprints.
Building Order from Chaos
The seeds of 0xDay were sown not in a boardroom or a startup accelerator, but during a mentorship session at a hackathon in Kerala, India. There, amid the energy and ambition of young developers, co-founders Saran Kumar and Prashanth BM noticed something troubling.
Despite the sheer talent in the room, the event was mired in disorder—poor coordination, scattered tools, and a glaring lack of structure that stifled the very innovation it was meant to foster.
That moment of clarity was pivotal.
“We realized we weren’t just dealing with a broken event—we were looking at a broken system,” says Saran.
“Hackathons were everywhere, but the experience was disjointed, and the outcomes often faded as quickly as they came.”
The duo envisioned a platform that would do more than just digitize events, it would redefine them. What began as a solution to streamline execution quickly evolved into a broader mission: to build a decentralized hackathon infrastructure that could direct deep-tech talent toward globally recognized, high-stakes opportunities.
At its core, 0xDay is a decentralized social infrastructure for innovation. It empowers developers to take charge of their “BUILD” journeys, offering a streamlined experience from ideation to execution while giving organizers, mentors, sponsors, and institutions the tools to run structured, transparent, and impactful hackathons.
Additionally, the company itself has grown steadily from its grassroots beginnings. Originally a three-member team, 0xDay has now expanded to 10 full-time members and over a dozen interns, all working toward scaling the platform globally. Remarkably, the startup has remained bootstrapped so far, but it is now preparing to open its first external funding round to accelerate its next phase of growth.
0xDay’s Full-Cycle Innovation Engine
While most hackathon platforms are content offering a list of events or a basic registration system, 0xDay aims far higher. Drawing from first-hand experiences in organizing hackathons, the team envisioned something more complete—a platform built not just for the event itself, but for the full innovation journey before, during, and long after the hackathon ends.
“Think of 0xDay like BookMyShow for hackathons, but designed by people who have actually run them,” says Saran Kumar.
“We wanted to take the chaos out of the system and give every stakeholder—organizers, developers, sponsors, mentors—a single, clean backend that just works.”
From end-to-end event hosting and real-time judging dashboards to on-chain hacker profiles that verify a builder’s contributions, 0xDay has created a seamless experience tailored for innovation sprints. The platform even extends its services post-hackathon, validating projects, tracking outcomes, and helping builders continue their journey beyond a weekend of coding.
Adding a technological edge to their offering, 0xDay has developed its own patented blockchain-based payment gateway, the Crypto Payment Interface (CPI), which dramatically reduces the cost and time associated with hackathon remittances.
In just a short span, the results speak for themselves:
- 32 hackathons executed across 12 states and 3 countries
- 11,500+ users and 400+ projects published
- Support for over 1,500 organizers
- Major successes like Hack $Day (500+ hackers, 118+ projects) and Ton HackerHouse (140 hackers, 32 projects)
But the 0xDay team isn’t stopping there. Over the next 12–15 months, the startup plans to host 100-150 hackathons and onboard between 75,000 to 100,000 hackers into their ecosystem.
Saran envisions scaling this growth globally by focusing on partnerships with international sponsors and organizations, incorporating regional insights, and leveraging their tech infrastructure to handle larger, more complex hackathons across different industries and regions.
“Our goal is simple but ambitious,” Saran explains. “We want to be the global infrastructure layer where impactful hackathons are launched and scaled, and where developers earn verified, on-chain proof-of-work that opens real-world doors.”
Grind Behind the Growth
Behind every fast-scaling startup lies a series of quiet battles—moments of uncertainty, pivots, and big leaps taken with limited visibility. For the team at 0xDay, one of the earliest challenges was finding clarity in direction. Without a playbook for building decentralized hackathon infrastructure, the co-founders had to rely on intuition, rapid iteration, and community feedback.
Once their initial thesis was shaped, the next step was validating it at scale. Within just eight months, 0xDay’s beta version was deployed across 12 Indian states, a litmus test to assess if the platform was truly solving something systemic. The response was overwhelmingly positive, affirming their approach to turning chaotic events into structured innovation sprints.
But scaling wasn’t just about expanding events, it was about building a system that could grow without breaking. To do that, the team engineered a three-layer architecture: Launch, Execution, and Impact. This allowed them to not only streamline event management but also enable long-term value creation for participants.
“We didn’t want to stop at registration or submissions. We wanted to carry developers all the way to recognition and opportunity,” says Saran.
Beyond a platform, 0xDay’s culture mirrors its mission: structure, transparency, empowerment, and measurable impact. Every team member, intern, and collaborator is aligned toward one shared goal—turning hackathons from chaotic, isolated events into structured innovation pipelines that connect talent, technology, and opportunity on a global scale.
Yet, perhaps the most fundamental challenge was reshaping what a hackathon could be. Moving from short-term bursts of creativity to verifiable, blockchain-recorded innovation journeys required both technological ambition and cultural change. It meant educating stakeholders, convincing sponsors, and empowering developers to see value beyond the weekend sprint.
Looking back, Saran reflects on the journey and offers practical advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. He emphasizes the importance of starting with a mission rather than a feature. Technology, he believes, should always serve that mission.
According to him, adopting this mindset is key to adapting, surviving, and growing in the fast-paced startup environment. Saran also highlights the need for rapid iteration and market validation to ensure that the problem being solved is genuine.
“Test quickly, and make sure you're solving a real problem. The sooner you get feedback, the better,” he advises.
Furthermore, Saran credits much of 0xDay’s progress to the duo’s complementary strengths. While Prashanth leads the technical vision and architecture, Saran steers the business and operational strategy. This synergy between tech and execution has helped 0xDay evolve from an idea to a rapidly scaling platform with real-world traction across 11,500+ users and three countries.
As 0xDay launches its first funding round and sets its sights for the future, one thing's certain: their mission extends past throwing better hackathons. They're creating a global operating system for organized innovation—one that bridges talent, technology, and opportunity in a single stream.
In transforming hackathons, 0xDay is not merely orchestrating events. It's redefining how the world will construct the future through innovation, collaboration, and tangible, lasting impact.
Edited by Harshajit Sarmah
