The 2024 Recap
Ninety seconds of challenge energy.
Teams forming, mentors circulating, pitches landing, and winners announced — the 2024 event, captured on film.
Since 2021, student teams have delivered award-winning solutions for cities, nonprofits, research labs, and startups across Colorado. The last event involved $8,500+ in partner-funded bounty prizes — turning prototypes into pilots.
Colorado faces a severe affordable housing shortage. A CU student team built a centralized web application using GIS data to map and analyze underused church properties — generating high-potential leads for mission-aligned affordable housing development.
A real partner problem, a defined impact domain, a concrete technical tool, and a pathway toward implementation: the clearest model of what the bounty framework creates.
▶ Watch the pitchRestaurant food-waste forecasting venture. Won the 2023 challenge — then went on to win CU's New Venture Challenge outright.
Device-and-app combo that identifies and reduces phantom energy use in homes. Highest 2024 score, with strong working-prototype evidence.
MVP-stage venture that took First Place at the 2025 Colorado Sustainability Challenge showcase.
AI-powered platform helping aging societies stay independent, connected, and thriving — with a continuation pathway to collaboration with students in Japan.
Sustainable shopping tool putting product sustainability information — and smarter delivery and return choices — at the moment of purchase.
Gamified home-energy app connecting peak usage visibility with utility and virtual-power-plant opportunities to motivate real conservation.
Data platform modeling alpine microclimates by fusing high-resolution temperature data with remote sensing — supporting climate science and water planning.
Circular-economy attack on disposable coffee cup waste, with return incentives, rewards, and sanitation logistics built into the concept.
Overfishing data and visualization app recognized for its technology stack — with broader applications for ocean health monitoring.
Home monetization concept recognized as a finalist at the 2025 challenge showcase.
Award-winning civic-tech build improving resident access to affordable-housing information using a rapid low-code tool stack.
Civic mobility project making city parking information easier to navigate — connecting to emissions, access, and user experience.
Award-winning donor "donorversary" workflows and CSR impact reporting — one partner problem, multiple winning solution pathways.
Registration and expo-booth workflows for climate convenings, built with CRM, automation, and QR tools — impact infrastructure that helps communities organize.
The next flagship project on this page hasn't been built yet. It could be yours.
From a 30-student pilot to a statewide, multi-university challenge.
Pioneering event launches at CU Boulder — yielding a donor-management CRM for A Precious Child.
Multiple nonprofit partners join; the event reaches departments across CU Boulder.
NVC partnership and sustainability focus added — FoodWise wins the hackathon, then wins the NVC.
Event grows from 3 to 7 days, with participants from multiple universities — and multiple viable energy products showcased as finalists.
Expanded to 15 days across Front Range colleges — all sessions streamed, with bounty tracks introduced.
The Challenge comes to the Colorado School of Mines — expanding its focus to innovating for the physical world.
Teams forming, mentors circulating, pitches landing, and winners announced — the 2024 event, captured on film.
2025 · Pitch night
2025 · Campus outreach
2025 · A packed house
2025 · Finals wrap
2024 · And the winners are…
2024 · Bounty winners
2024 · The winners’ lineup
2022 · Final presentations
2022 · Full house
2022 · Keynote energy
2021 · Where it started
2022 · Judges up close
2024 · Team winJoin as a student, or bring the challenge the next flagship team solves.
