Kochi: Team 420, the team from Government Model Engineering College (MEC), Kochi, emerged as the winner of 'Cubethon 23', the second edition of one of the largest student hackathons in the country.
Team 420, comprising Muhammed Jamal P, Jeff Prakash, Anand A and Niya Shiyas, won the top place by providing an innovative AI-powered solution that harnesses the ubiquity of WhatsApp to streamline and simplify the manual process of tracking and analysing personal daily expenses and financial matters.
The second and third places were won by team A2Z Technology and Team Sentient both from Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore. Team Tons of Tech from Prince Shri Venkateshwara Padmavathy Engineering, Chennai, and Team Heuristic Solaris from St Joseph's Institute of Technology, Chennai, respectively. were placed at the fourth and fifth positions.
The second-prize winning team, which included Vishal Chinnasamy, Sasidharan Ramachandran and Rohith Kumar B, impressed with a solution to the challenges students face in effectively utilising video lectures and study materials. They proposed an innovative app that harnesses advanced technologies to enhance the learning experience.
Team Sentient, which stood third, comprised Shrreya S R, Hari Balaji V, Vidhulaasri T and Dharshan S. They presented an AI-augmented reality companion as a way to address untreated depression and its detrimental impact on individuals' well-being.
'Cubethon 23' was organised by Cubet, a leading digital solutions provider with over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, in association with Nasscom.
Rs 1.20 lakh cash prizes, including Rs 50,000 for the champions, Rs 30,000 for the runner-up, Rs 20,000 for the second runner-up, and Rs 10,000 each for the fourth and fifth-placed teams were given away by Susanth Kurunthil, CEO, Infopark at the valedictory function attended by Jofin Joseph, tech influencer; Sharon Sebastien, Nasscom; Jaison Joseph, CEO - iLeaf Solutions; Lovegin John, CEO, Cubet and Vipin Chandran, CTO, Cubet among others.
The winning teams and the projects will be further evaluated to qualify for up to Rs 10 lakh seed funding in the coming days, Lovegin John said.
There were 124 entries received in the first stage and of these, 19 teams were selected for the live hackathon held on July 29. The top five teams were selected on August 1.
The grand finale was held on Saturday, August 5, at Reccaa Club at Kakkanad in Kochi.
Cubethon 24 will happen next year around the same time, said Lovegin John.