Hackcache '26 | Cachedinfo

At a glance

• ₹80,000 Cash Prizes
• ₹1.22L Total Value
• 2 Day Trip Fully Sponsored
• 48 Hours THINK | BUILD | WIN

Key dates

• Aug 24, 2026: Registrations Open
• Oct 20, 2026: Registrations Close — Last date to register — no extensions
• Oct 22, 2026: Problem statements out — Problem statements, the prompt pack and the rest of the resources go out to everyone registered.
• Oct 23–24, 2026: HackCache '26 — 48-hour hackathon — build, pitch, win

Prizes

1st place — ₹27,000

• 3 Paid Internships (₹15k total)
• Fully Funded 2-Day McLeod Ganj Trip with the Founders
• Free Mock Interview
• Resume Building Session
• Rec. Letters from All 6 Judges
• Branded Hackathon T-shirt

2nd place — ₹21,000

• Free Mock Interview (1-on-1)
• Resume Building Session
• Rec. Letters from All Judges
• Branded Hackathon T-shirt

3rd place — ₹17,000

• Free Mock Interview (1-on-1)
• Resume Building Session
• Rec. Letters from All Judges
• Branded Hackathon T-shirt

For every team

• Verified Certificate on Submission
• AI Prompts & Strategy Guides
• Pitch Deck Templates
• Support Access During Hackathon
• n8n pro membership worth $60

Win a Paid Internship.

Your CV will never look the same. The winning team gets 3 real, paid internship spots — not just a certificate, actual work experience with actual pay.

• 3 Spots — One per team member
• ₹5,000 Per Person — Real pay, not tokens
• ₹15,000 Team Total — Distributed equally
• 1 Month Duration — Flexible, remote-first

A paid internship, not a certificate.

The winning team joins CachedInfo as paid virtual interns — assigned tasks, tracked on a dedicated platform, and paid out monthly via UPI. A role that goes on your LinkedIn and earnings that land in your bank.

• How it works: Winners get a unique login to our internship platform with tasks, deadlines, and a submission system
• Payout: Paid monthly by UPI. You withdraw your stipend yourself, with no middleman.
• Certificate: Official CachedInfo internship certificate — digitally signed, shareable on LinkedIn
• Reference: All 6 judges aware of your win — your rec letters carry full context of this achievement

Not a Prize. An Experience.

Win the hackathon and you are not going home — you are going to the mountains. Two days, no agenda, just altitude and real conversations.

• Where: McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh · 1,457m

Mountain air. No deadlines. Just founders and you.

McLeod Ganj sits at the foothills of the Dhauladhar range — pine trees, Tibetan monasteries, mountain cafés, and air that does not smell like a classroom. The winning team stays at King Castle, McLeod Ganj for 2 days and 2 nights with the CachedInfo founders. Travel is arranged from Jammu (bus tickets covered) and from anywhere else (earliest bus, train, or cab — on us).

"The kind of conversation you cannot have in a classroom or an office — but you can have over dinner at 1,400 metres."

• Travel: From Jammu: bus tickets arranged. Outside Jammu: earliest available bus, train, or cab — whichever gets you here first.
• Hotel Stay: King Castle, McLeod Ganj — 2 nights, hill-view property
• Breakfast + Dinner: Every day of the trip — local food, mountain cafés
• With the Founders: The people who built this platform, in person
• No Hidden Cost: You bring yourself — we handle everything else

Tracks

• Reimagine Government: Rethink how citizens interact with government websites and digital services. Redesign outdated experiences, simplify access, and build interfaces people actually want to use.
• Social Impact: Build technology that tackles real-world problems and creates meaningful impact for communities, accessibility, education, healthcare, sustainability, or everyday life.
• Banking & Finance: Reimagine how people save, spend, invest, borrow, and manage money. Build simpler, smarter, and more accessible financial experiences.
• Open Innovation: No predefined box. Bring your boldest idea, solve a problem you care about, and build something genuinely useful, unexpected, or new.

Why can’t I see the problem statements?

Because that’s the challenge.

HackCache is a 48-hour build sprint. The actual problem statements are revealed on 22 October, giving every participant the same amount of time to understand the problem, plan their solution and build.

Until then, explore the themes above. Every problem statement will be built around one of them.

Themes are live. Problem statements unlock on 22 October.

Problem statements and guides

• Your first hackathon — Never done one? What the 48 hours are really like, how to find a team or enter solo, and how to finish with something you're proud of.
• Finding your idea — A two-hour method for turning a problem statement into one clear idea you can build in 48 hours, with a worked example and starting points for every theme.
• Your working demo in 48 hours — A plan for the whole weekend, whether or not you code: pick a problem, build it with AI tools, and hand in all four things the judges ask for.
• Tech resource library — The tools, data and building blocks worth using, what each plan actually allows, and how to keep your demo link alive until judging ends.
• Pitch deck template — A finished 7-slide sample deck you copy in one click and turn into your own pitch.

What every team gets

• AI Prompt Packs: Curated prompts for ideation, prototyping, and pitching — use AI to build faster.
• Problem-Solving Playbooks: Step-by-step frameworks to go from a raw idea to a working demo in 48 hours.
• Ideation Guides: How to spot real problems, validate them fast, and shape them into a hackathon project.
• Tech Resource Library: Curated links, tutorials, and no-code tools — no CS degree required to build something great.
• Pitch Deck Templates: Judge-ready templates so your presentation is as strong as your product.

Rules

What to submit

• A public GitHub repository of the project
• A live working URL of the project
• A 5-minute demo video of the project
• A short pitch deck explaining the project

Time commitment

48 hours, fully online. You do not need to be at your desk the whole time — only the final submission deadline is fixed.

Using AI

Yes, use AI. We send every team prompt packs and no-code tool guides. Just be able to explain what you built.

Who can take part

Anyone — in school, in college, working or in between, from any background. You do not need to know how to code.

If the dates change

If we postpone, your entry carries over to the new dates. If we cancel outright, you get a full refund.

How you are judged

• Innovation
• Technical Execution
• Design & UX
• Impact
• Presentation

Every submission is scored independently by all six judges against the same five criteria. Averages decide the ranking — no single judge can swing a result.

Every team that submits gets a verifiable certificate immediately on submission.

Judges

• Shubham Gaur — Product Manager, Metropolis Healthcare. Product professional with a background spanning technology, product development, and problem-solving. An IIT Jammu and IIT Jodhpur alumnus, Shubham brings an industry-focused perspective to evaluating innovation, usability, and real-world impact.
• Dr. Nitigya Sambyal — Assistant Professor, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology. Assistant Professor at Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology and former Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research focuses on deep learning, computer vision, and medical image analysis, with extensive work in AI-driven solutions and deep learning applications.
• Dr. Simmi Dutta — Head — Department of Computer Engineering, GCET Jammu. Academic leader and Head of the Department of Computer Engineering at GCET Jammu, with extensive experience in computer engineering education and academic leadership. Dr. Dutta brings an institutional and academic perspective to evaluating student innovation and technical solutions.
• Rutvik Gupta — Product Owner, Aditya Birla Capital. Product professional focused on building and scaling digital products, with experience across technology, finance, and product management. Rutvik brings an industry and product perspective to evaluating ideas, execution, and real-world value.
• Dr. Yugaanshu Sanjay Ticku — Assistant Professor — Data Science, Sharda University. Data science educator and analytics professional passionate about turning complex data into actionable insights. Yugaanshu brings an academic and analytical perspective to evaluating technology, data-driven solutions, and innovation
• Ankush Kapoor — Project Engineer, C-DAC INDIA. Technology professional and Project Engineer at C-DAC, bringing an engineering-focused perspective to problem solving, implementation, and technical execution.

About CachedInfo.

CachedInfo is a student resource platform: past papers, PYQs, roadmaps and competitive exam prep, used by students across India. HackCache is our first hackathon, and the prize pool, the paid internships and the McLeod Ganj trip are funded by us.

Sponsors

• In Kind Sponsor - n8n.io
• In Kind Sponsor - Geeks For Geeks
• In Kind Sponsor - Code Crafters
• In Kind Sponsor - Mastra
• In Kind Sponsor -OSEN

Community partners

• IEEE Student Branch – CGC COE — Student Community
• CGC College of Engineering — College
• CEC-CGC, LANDRAN, MOHALI — College
• CEC, CGC ,Mohali IEEE Student Branch — Student Community
• Eventopia — Media Partner
• Sai Vidya Institute of Technology (SVIT) — College
• NULL BANGALORE — COMMUNITY

No team? Come anyway.

Teams are 1 to 3 people, so you can absolutely enter solo or find teammates before the event starts.

Frequently asked questions

Is this online or offline?

Fully online. Everything — submission, judging, and results — happens remotely. You build from wherever you are. No travel required to participate.

Who can participate?

Anyone — in school, in college, working or in between, from any background, branch or stream. If you have an idea and the drive to build it, you belong here.

How big can my team be?

Up to 3 members. You can also register as a team of 1 or 2. The entry fee is ₹600 regardless of team size.

What will we be building?

Problem statements are released to all registered teams on October 22 — the day before the hackathon. You get 48 hours to build your solution from scratch.

How does the referral discount work?

Share your referral code with a friend. They pay ₹500 instead of ₹600, and you get ₹100 credited back. Your friend gets discount applied directly on checkout and you can claim your credit from the dashboard

Is the registration fee refundable?

No — once payment is confirmed, registrations are non-refundable. Slot transfers to another team member are allowed.

How are cash prizes paid out?

Directly via UPI/bank transfer within 7 working days of the hackathon. Internship payouts follow the monthly structure detailed in the internship section above.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. The hackathon is open to everyone, whatever you study or do. You'll receive AI prompt packs, no-code tool guides, and pitch deck templates before the event. Design, business, and research roles are just as valuable as engineering.

Entry fee

• Base Ticket Price: ₹500
• 18% GST: + ₹90
• 2% Platform Fee: + ₹10

Prize pool

• 1st Place — Cash Prize: ₹27,000
• 2nd Place — Cash Prize: ₹21,000
• 3rd Place — Cash Prize: ₹17,000
• Top Team Internships: ₹15,000
• McLeod Ganj Retreat: ₹33,000
• Mock Interviews: ₹4,500
• Resume Building: ₹4,500

More from this event

• HackCache '26 leaderboard
• Become a campus ambassador
• The HackCache '26 crew
• Partner with us as a creator