Garage48 Empowering Women Hackathon
LAST CHANCE TO APPY
Application deadline extended until 16/03/2026 23:59 Eastern European Time
kood/Garage48 Empowering Women- explore coding, develop your business idea and build your future
Are you interested in tech and entrepreneurship? If the answer is yes, we have a perfect program for you- completely free of charge. You don’t have to have a prior experience in coding or entrepreneurship- just the curiosity to learn more and the willpower to set your own course in life 😎
About kood/Garage48 Empowering Women Program
kood/Garage48 Empowering Women is a collaboration between kood/Jõhvi and Garage48. It is designed for women in the Ida-Viru region, aimed at boosting their confidence by polishing their tech skills and giving them hands-on experience in starting their own businesses. This truly practical program kicks off with a beginner-friendly introduction to coding, followed by a hackathon focused on developing your first business idea into a working prototype, and an acceleration program that supports the implementation of those ideas in real life.
❣️Garage48 Empowering Women Hackathon (20-22 March 2026)
3-day hackathon aimed to help the participants to develop their first business idea to a working prototype. Participants can come either solo or with a team, with or without an idea. Participants are welcomed with all sorts of ideas as long as it has a tech component to it:)Registration is open until 16 March- register HERE!
❣️ Garage48 Empowering Women Accelerator (April-June 2026)
Best hackathon teams are invited to apply for the acceleration program, which offers workshops, mentoring, and expert support in product development, marketing, funding, and other essential entrepreneurial and tech skills. The goal is to take the hackathon idea to the next level. The acceleration program will end with a Demo Day, where all participants will present their progress, pitch their ideas, and meet potential investors interested in supporting the next steps of their product development.
PS! You can join the hackathon even if you did not attend the coding bootcamp, and attending the bootcamp does not obligate you to join the activities later. Each activity is voluntary and can be joined independently.
The entire program is free for all selected participants.
Why join?
Develop your tech-curiosity! Learn the basics of coding in a supportive, beginner‑friendly environment
Get a real feel for what working in tech and building digital products is like
Who is invited to apply?
- Women considering a career change, returning to learning or becoming an entrepreneur
The whole program will be carried out in English.
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Past Events in the Series
❣️ kood/Empower Coding Bootcamp at kood/Jõhvi 17-20 February 2026
4-day coding bootcamp designed for beginners, offering a practical, supportive introduction to coding. Participants will experiment with creating small solutions and game-like prototypes, gaining hands-on experience, and get a first insight into what it means to work as a developer.kood/Empower bootcamp is part of the kood/Women program, supported by Swedbank.
This project is co-funded by the European Union under the Just Transition Fund.
Additional support to organize the kood/Empower bootcamp is provided by Swedbank.
kood/Empower coding bootcamp
Registration and participant confirmation
Registration for the Empowering Women Hackathon is extended until 16 March on
kood/Garage48 Empowering Women | Garage48
Participants will be reviewed and confirmed on a rolling basis. All participants who register before the original deadline will receive a confirmation email no later than 11 March.
Confirmed participants will receive access to the Garage48 app/platform, where they can:
All participants must register individually via the official registration form
Idea Submission
During the idea submission stage, each confirmed participant may submit an idea via the Garage48 platform.
Participants are encouraged to submit their ideas on the Garage48 platform before the hackathon. This helps other participants and mentors get familiar with the ideas in advance and makes it easier to start forming teams.
During this stage, confirmed participants can add their ideas to the platform, describe the concept, and indicate what kind of teammates they are looking for. Participants can also explore ideas submitted by others and apply to join teams that interest them. If you already have team members who have registered individually, you may indicate during the idea submission that a team is already forming around your idea.
Submitting an idea in advance is strongly recommended. But participants are also welcome to arrive at the hackathon with their idea and pitch it during the idea pitching session. It is equally fine to join the event without an idea and instead join a team that is forming around another idea.
All solutions must include a technology component. This can be, for example, a digital tool, mobile or web application, software solution, platform, data-driven system, hardware-enabled solution, or any other tech-based innovation that addresses the challenge.
Participants may submit more than one idea during the idea submission phase. However, during the hackathon each participant may only be part of one team.
Team formation
Participants are welcome to start forming teams before the hackathon using the Garage48 platform. This gives everyone the opportunity to explore ideas, connect with other participants, and start building teams in advance. On the platform, participants can browse submitted ideas. Idea owners can also describe their idea in more detail and indicate what kind of skills or team members they are looking for.
However, the final team formation will happen during the hackathon, and final teams will be confirmed after the idea pitching session on the first evening of the event.
Team requirements: Each team must have an Idea Owner, who presents the idea and helps guide the development during the hackathon. Other roles such as developer, designer, business or domain expert are recommended but not strictly required, as teams may organize themselves according to their strengths.
Each team should have at least three members. If a team ends up being too small, the organizers may help connect participants with other teams so that everyone has a chance to collaborate and contribute.
One participant can be part of only one team during the hackathon. If someone would like to invite an additional teammate who has not yet registered, they should first register via the official registration form. After that, the organizers can add them to the platform.
Tools
The main communication channel of the Hackathon will be WhatsApp. All the selected teams are invited to join the WhatsApp group. The link will be shared via e-mail with all the participants. In the group, participants can follow the agenda in real time.
Please make sure to join the group, as important announcements, reminders, and updates will be shared there during the event. Participants are responsible for regularly checking the group and staying informed.
During the Hackathon, the Garage48 App will also be used as the main operational tool. In the app, participants can:
explore ideas and teams
see the event agenda and schedule
find information about organizers, mentors, and the jury
follow mentoring sessions, checkpoints, and pitch drills
Participants will receive an on-site briefing about how to use the Garage48 App at the beginning of the Hackathon.
MentoringFor hackathons to foster innovation and new ideas as much as possible, a fundamental part is mentoring. The main job of a mentor is to provide teams with the needed knowledge, guidance and expertise to help them achieve maximum results in 48 hours.
Throughout the Hackathon, teams will be supported by experienced industry professionals and founders who have gone through the startup journey themselves. Make the most of their know-how, challenge your assumptions, test your ideas, and actively seek feedback - mentoring is one of the most valuable parts of the Hackathon experience.
The participants will be matched with mentors by the organizers and also are encouraged to approach mentors during the hackathon.
Evaluation
Winners are chosen based on:
Impact and business potential: What tangible impact does the solution have on the problem?
Technical prototype: What work was completed during the hackathon?
Team and future plans: How likely is the team to execute this project?
Demo and pitch: Does the pitch cover all the expected topics and showcase the prototype functionality?
In addition to the main prizes, special awards will be granted to outstanding teams.
Top teams will gain access to a follow-up acceleration programme (April-May 2026), where they will receive mentorship, expert support, and practical workshops to further develop and scale their solutions.
IP of the developed product
The developed products’ IP remains the property of the team, who is participating in the program. If any outside party (investors, challenge partners, other companies, governmental organisations) wishes to proceed and acquire the prototype developed during the Hackathon, a mutual agreement must be reached, and an agreement between both parties must be signed about the IP. The organisers, partners, and sponsors of the program will not take over any rights or equity of the ideas developed at the Hackathon. The team members will agree among themselves on who owns what part of the idea. The guidelines and best practices on this will also be shared with the participants as part of the follow-up activities.
This project is co-funded by the European Union under the Just Transition Fund. Additional support to organize the kood/Empower bootcamp is provided by Swedbank.
kood/Empower coding bootcamp
kood/Empower Coding Bootcamp 17-20 February 2026
As part of the joint kood/Garage48 Empowering Women program, the kood/Empower bootcamp supports women as they take their first steps into coding, offering a focused and inclusive space to learn, grow, and connect. Program kicks off with a 4-day kood/Empower bootcamp at kood/Jõhvi where women take their first steps into coding in a focused and inclusive space to learn, grow, and connect. Bootcamp graduates are encouraged to move on to the next stage of the program, but participation remains optional.
Free of charge!
What you’ll get in kood/Empower?
- Hands-on programming in a supportive environment – no prior experience needed.
- Gain an overview of the various roles and opportunities in the tech field.
- Get a taste of the unique, self-driven learning method practiced at our coding schools.
- Meet like-minded people and gain valuable connections.
- Collaborate with others, share roles, and learn together.
- Estonian and Russian-speaking tutors on-site
- Not just coding, we also have fun - think board games, discovering Jõhvi, Just Dance sessions, and much more.
Accommodation, lunches, and one dinner are included.
This project is co-funded by the European Union under the Just Transition Fund. Additional support to organize the kood/Empower bootcamp is provided by Swedbank.
