Girl Geek Carrots’s Hack Like A Girl Hackathon

This past weekend, CryptoTicker had the honor of being the official media partners of Girl Geek Carrot’s Hack Like a Girl hackathon. The hackathon took place at SAP Berlin and brought over 40 different people to participate in this annual event.  The hackathon was centered around areas of FinTech and Blockchain and how to use these types of technology for everyday problems.

Girl Geek Carrots

Girl Geek Carrots (GGC) is a global grassroots organization that was founded in Poland. Their focus is on women in technology and the empowerment of female entrepreneurs. They believe that women working in new technologies are the avant-garde of innovation and want to empower women to overcome stereotypes by bringing more diversity in the tech world. Their events, such as this hackathon, brings together women in all aspects of the technology field. From admins to analysts to programs to developers to project managers, the women at their events represent every sector of the tech world. Hack Like a Girl was no different.  

The hackathon kicked off with a spirited speech by GGC’s founder Kamila Sidor. Her keynote described her journey to the creation of GGC and her experience as a woman in the tech world. Her speech set the tone for the weekend and filled the participants with a sense of pride to be part of this event.

Hack Like A Girl 2018 Hackathon

Over the next two days of the hackathon, eight teams worked on solving real-world problems with the use of fintech and blockchain technology and finding concrete solutions. While the teams were busy coding and hacking away, CryptoTicker was able to interview some of the other sponsors and mentors of the event.  One of those was Sophia Krause, a Project Manager for Stepstone. Sophia has a background in textiles and is bringing her skills from previous experiences into new projects at Stepstone. She confessed that she is not afraid of taking risks when it comes to starting new projects, which has led her to success. When asked what advice she would give to young women who are thinking about diving into the tech world, she said,  

“Gain yourself some self-esteem, don’t take things so personally, always know your worth, and don’t be everyone’s darling. People might put you down but always know your worth.”  

The Results 

At the end of the weekend, all eight teams presented their projects to a jury and took questions from the panel and the audience. The range of diversity of the projects and the progress that was made in two days was simply amazing to see.  The use and application of blockchain in their solutions were very creative and tackled problems of contaminated food, art authentication, tipping for farmers, and many more. Hack Like a Girl was all about diversity, collaboration, meeting new friends and exchanging experiences rather than about competition. Thus, prizes were not the focus, just a bonus. In the end, the jury did assign prizes to some of the participating teams. 

Team Smarter.Vote tackled the problem of transparency and proper representation in government with an app that uses a blockchain voting system that encourages and engages people to vote. They went on to win the awards for Best Innovation and Audience Award.  Team Good Contracts won the award for Best Tech Implementation with their platform that connected freelancers with companies and allowed them to create contracts and proposals on blockchain and provide protection for both parties. Team Suppy won Best Challenge Solution and Best Project with their app that helps changes the way we shop. Their app helps consumers trace any source product, carbon footprint, and all ingredients in the supply chain.

Best Design went to team Frenzy who created a “Spotify for Art” using smart contracts for physical contemporary art and providence services for digital. The award for Best Presentation went to Team Coffee Pass who created an app which allows users to trace back the coffee journey of their coffee beans to show if their purchase is truly organic or not.

The Future of Women in Tech

The different projects were inspiring to see, and CryptoTicker is happy we were able to be a part of the event. The inclusion of women in technology is growing, and events like this help women are encouraged to take that next step. We cannot wait to see what else GGC has planned for the future.