Research circles
Small standing groups reading papers, reproducing results and publishing notes together. Two circles have co-authored preprints this year.
Online hackathons · research circles · build nights
A home ground for young builders. Online everywhere, headquartered nowhere.
InspireNavada is where young developers compete, climb a public leaderboard, and end up building with strangers who become teammates. No office, no gatekeepers — just deadlines, rank points, and people who get it.
STANDBY
ONLINE
Open hackathons
Every event is scored in public. Winners take the prize; everyone takes rank points.
| Status | Hackathon | Track | Prize pool | Entries | Closes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | The Offline-First ChallengeShip software that works with the plug pulled | Engineering | $12,000 | 642 | — |
| Open | Small Models, Big IdeasDo something useful with a model under 3B params | ML / Research | $8,000 | 417 | — |
| Opens Jul 28 | The 48-Hour Game JamOne weekend, one theme, one playable build | Games | $5,000 | — | Aug 09 |
| Opens Aug 04 | Tools for One PersonBuild the utility only you need — then find out you're not alone | Product | $6,500 | — | Aug 30 |
| Opens Sep 01 | Reproduce the PaperPick a published result, make it run, publish your notes | ML / Research | $10,000 | — | Oct 04 |
Prizes paid in full within 14 days of judging · rank points on every scored submission
The leaderboard
Borrowed from the best of competitive ML: every submission is scored the moment it lands, and the standings are public. You always know exactly where you are — and who's half a point ahead.
| # | Δ 24h | Team | Members | Score | Subs | Last entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ▲ 2 | null pointer club | KARGTO | 94.821 | 37 | 18m ago |
| 2 | ▼ 1 | two grads & a laptop | MBJN | 94.377 | 51 | 2h ago |
| 3 | ▼ 1 | cache me outside | DFALPSYW | 93.940 | 44 | 55m ago |
| 4 | ▲ 6 | solo: @tunde_builds | TA | 93.104 | 29 | 3h ago |
| 5 | — | the sleep deprived | CNEOLB | 92.688 | 61 | 7h ago |
… 214 more teams · median score 71.4 · full standings ↗
Rank is earned, never bought
Points from every scored submission, review and published write-up accumulate into a permanent rank. It follows your profile everywhere on the platform — and it's become a thing recruiters quietly check.
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Tier I
Novice
Sign up, enter anything
8,102 builders
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Tier II
Contributor
3 scored entries · 1 write-up
4,317 builders
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Tier III
Artisan
Top-40% finish · 10 peer reviews
1,466 builders
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Tier IV
Architect
Podium finish · led a team
289 builders
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Tier V
Luminary
3 podiums · published research
34 builders
Between the deadlines
Hackathons are the heartbeat, not the whole body. Most of what happens here happens between them.
Build nights
Tuesdays & Saturdays, open voice rooms, cameras optional. Bring the thing you're stuck on; someone in the room has been stuck there before.
Review exchange
Trade code reviews with builders one tier above you. Reviewing well earns rank points — so the feedback is actually good.
Team finder
Filter by timezone, stack and rank, then form a team in two clicks. 71% of podium teams last season met right here.
“I joined for the prize money, honestly. Eighteen months later I've shipped nine projects, co-written a paper with my research circle, and my whole group chat is people I met on a leaderboard.”
Next deadline
The Offline-First Challenge closes in —
A free account is all it takes. Enter solo, or find a team by Friday.
Create your account
free forever for individual builders