Wilmington will host a coding competition in November with one of the country’s largest single cash prizes.
Meet {OpenBracket, among the first in a growing slew of efforts to bring top-flight software developers to Delaware. It’s an event with two parts that aims to become an annual tradition.
- First, on Oct. 15, {OpenBracket will feature an open call, online coding competition on HackerRank, a third-party platform. As many as 10,000 participants will vie for $10,000 cash and subsidized trips to battle for the grand prize.
- Then, on Nov. 5, 100 finalists from the online competition will square off in a team environment for the chance at that $15,000 grand prize, in an event that we at Technical.ly are helping to produce.
Between those two top prizes, plus awards for second and third place, travel stipends and other support, at least $50,000 will be on the line, according to an official press release.
Sign up to compete
The initiative was kicked off by Ben duPont, the connected Wilmington-based investor and cofounder of Zip Code Wilmington who wanted to help corral the dollars and dealers necessary to push Delaware into the national conversation. Tapping into an informal coalition of various economic development groups that go under the Reinventing Delaware banner, duPont called on Zach Phillips of The Kitchen, Tariq Hook of Zip Code, nonprofit First State Innovation, consultant Kirsten Wolfington and, full disclosure, Technical.ly Delaware, including this reporter.
(Our friends at the Wilmington News Journal wrote about the event here, though we at Technical.ly didn’t make it into the piece.)
The event is largely bankrolled by a collection of notable corporates with substantial Delaware presences. {OpenBracket’s title sponsor is Chatham Financial. Others include Christiana Care, Capital One, WSFS, M&T Bank and JPMorgan Chase. Their interest? Branding Wilmington and Delaware as a place where technologists work, so they can scoop up great talent to compete in the competitive hiring landscape.
That goal aligns with much of the state’s tech, startup and economic development efforts. The challenge is competing in a crowded national landscape of events. The big draws here? Cash prizes, in the short term; then, big corporations with cybersecurity and fintech challenges, a burgeoning East Coast tech scene and easy Delaware living.
{OpenBracket will lead into the second annual Delaware Innovation Week.
Before you go...
Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.
3 ways to support our work:- Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
- Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
- Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!