CONTEST RULES
HACKATHON
WEEK
Remote & In-Person
Join our Global Hackathon to showcase your building skills, tackle unique challenges, and win a Builder's Retreat in Costa Rica! Co-Hosted by The Foundry.
We hit our Max Team Capacity, we will email you if a spot opens
1. Eligibility:
The “Code to Costa Rica” Challenge, referred to herein as the “Contest,” is open to students and residents of North and South America who are at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of entry. Employees, officers, directors, contractors, representatives, agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, suppliers, and partners of BOSS.Tech, collectively referred to as the “Contest Entities,” as well as immediate family members and/or persons living in the same household of such individuals, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, provincial, local, and international laws and regulations. Void where prohibited, restricted, or taxed by law.
2. Agreement to Official Rules:
By entering or participating in the Contest, each participant, referred to herein as “You” or “Contestant,” fully and unconditionally agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of BOSS.Tech, which shall be final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest. You represent and warrant that You meet all eligibility requirements and that your participation does not violate any applicable law, rule, regulation, employer policy, school policy, contractual obligation, or third-party obligation. Failure to comply with these Official Rules may result in disqualification, forfeiture of any prize, and/or removal from the Contest, at BOSS.Tech’s sole discretion.
3. Contest Period:
Entries will be accepted online beginning May 2, 2026, and ending May 6, 2026. All entries must be received by May 6, 2026, at 9:59 AM EST. BOSS.Tech’s computer shall be the official timekeeping device for the Contest. BOSS.Tech reserves the right to modify the Contest timeline, including submission deadlines, judging periods, Demo Day, and winner announcement dates, at its sole discretion.
4. How to Enter:
To enter the Contest, participants must complete and submit the official online entry form provided by BOSS.Tech or through the Contest site. Each entry must comply with all Contest requirements and instructions provided by BOSS.Tech. Entries that are incomplete, late, inaccessible, corrupted, non-functioning, inaccurate, fraudulent, or otherwise non-compliant may be disqualified at BOSS.Tech’s sole discretion. Participants may enter individually or as part of a 2-4 person team. Team members in excess of four may not be eligible for Grand Prize. Each participant may only be part of one submission. All team members must individually meet the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules.
Each submission must include, at minimum:
- Project/Team name
- Team member names
- Brief project description
- Demo, presentation, or other project materials requested by BOSS.Tech
Participants may not submit multiple entries using multiple email addresses, identities, accounts, devices, or any other method designed to circumvent the Official Rules. Use of automated systems, bots, scripts, macros, or other technical means to enter or manipulate the Contest is prohibited.
5. Skill-Based Contest:
This is a skill-based contest. Winners will be selected based on the judging criteria described in these Official Rules and any additional instructions provided by BOSS.Tech. This Contest is not a sweepstakes, lottery, or game of chance. Odds of winning do not apply. No purchase is necessary to enter or win. A purchase does not increase the chances of winning.
6. Judging and Winner Selection:
Eligible submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by a judging panel selected by BOSS.Tech.
Projects will be judged based on the following criteria:
- Use of BOSS.Tech technology
- Technical execution
- Creativity and originality
- Business value and usefulness of the solution
- Demo and presentation quality
BOSS.Tech reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to determine eligibility, evaluate submissions, apply judging criteria, resolve ties, disqualify participants or submissions, and select winners. The decisions of BOSS.Tech and/or the judging panel are final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest.
7. Prizes:
The Winner(s) of the Contest will receive a trip to the BOSS.Tech Developers Conference in Costa Rica, including airfare and accommodation. The specific details, timing, travel arrangements, accommodations, location, and total value of the prize shall be determined solely by BOSS.Tech. Prize includes airfare and accommodation only, unless otherwise expressly stated in writing by BOSS.Tech. Meals, ground transportation, baggage fees, upgrades, travel documents, passports, visas, travel insurance, taxes, fees, and incidental expenses are the sole responsibility of the Winner. No cash equivalent, substitution, transfer, assignment, or exchange of any prize is permitted, except at BOSS.Tech’s sole discretion. BOSS.Tech reserves the right to substitute a prize, or any portion thereof, with a prize of equal or greater value if the advertised prize becomes unavailable for any reason. If a winning submission was created by a team, BOSS.Tech reserves the right to determine how the prize will be awarded, including requiring the team to designate official prize recipient(s). All prize-related taxes and reporting obligations are the sole responsibility of the Winner. Acceptance of a prize constitutes permission for BOSS.Tech to use the Winner’s name, likeness, image, voice, statements, biographical information, team name, and submission for advertising, publicity, promotional, and trade purposes without further compensation, notice, review, or approval, unless prohibited by law.
8. Winner Notification and Prize Claim:
Winner(s) will be notified by email within five (5) days following winner selection. BOSS.Tech shall have no liability for any Winner’s failure to receive notices due to spam, junk email, security settings, inactive accounts, incorrect contact information, or other technical or human error. If a Winner cannot be contacted, is found to be ineligible, fails to claim the prize within fifteen (15) days from the time the award notification was sent, fails to timely return any required declaration, release, tax documentation, travel documentation, or other required paperwork, or otherwise fails to comply with these Official Rules, the prize may be forfeited and an alternate Winner may be selected. Receipt of any prize is conditioned upon full compliance with these Official Rules and all applicable laws and regulations. Any violation of these Official Rules by a Winner, as determined by BOSS.Tech in its sole discretion, may result in disqualification and immediate termination of all privileges as Winner.
9. Rights Granted by Participants:
Participants retain ownership of their original work, code, designs, concepts, and materials submitted in connection with the Contest, subject to any third-party rights, licenses, terms, or restrictions. By submitting a project, each participant grants BOSS.Tech, its affiliates, licensees, successors, assigns, representatives, and anyone acting on its behalf, a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to review, test, display, demonstrate, publish, broadcast, promote, and otherwise use the submission, project materials, demo materials, participant names, team names, photos, portraits, likenesses, images, voices, biographical information, and statements about the Contest for purposes related to the Contest, publicity, marketing, advertising, public relations, education, archival use, and promotion of BOSS.Tech, without further compensation, notice, review, or consent, unless prohibited by law. By entering, You represent and warrant that your submission is original or that You have obtained all necessary rights, licenses, permissions, and consents for any third-party materials, software, APIs, data, designs, content, or other assets included in your submission. Your submission must not infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any third party’s intellectual property rights, proprietary rights, privacy rights, publicity rights, contractual rights, or any other legal rights. If BOSS.Tech determines, in its sole discretion, that a submission may infringe or violate the rights of any third party, the participant or team may be disqualified. You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless BOSS.Tech and the Contest Entities from and against any and all claims, actions, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, judgments, settlements, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of or related to your submission, participation in the Contest, violation of these Official Rules, or actual or alleged infringement or violation of any third-party rights.
10. Code of Conduct and Platform Use:
Participants must conduct themselves in a professional, respectful, lawful, and ethical manner throughout the Contest. BOSS.Tech reserves the right to remove or disqualify any participant or team who engages in harassment, discrimination, abusive behavior, threats, cheating, plagiarism, sabotage, unlawful conduct, misuse of BOSS.Tech systems, or any conduct that BOSS.Tech determines, in its sole discretion, is inconsistent with the spirit, integrity, safety, or fairness of the Contest. Participants must use BOSS.Tech tools, systems, APIs, accounts, developer resources, documentation, and infrastructure responsibly and only for purposes permitted by BOSS.Tech. Participants may not attempt to disrupt, exploit, overload, reverse engineer, scrape, attack, bypass, interfere with, or gain unauthorized access to BOSS.Tech systems, data, APIs, accounts, infrastructure, users, or third-party services. BOSS.Tech reserves the right to suspend access, remove participants, disqualify submissions, or take any other action it deems necessary to protect the Contest, its systems, its users, and its business.
11. Additional Terms and Conditions:
BOSS.Tech reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend, or suspend the Contest if fraud, technical failures, unauthorized human intervention, security incidents, bugs, viruses, platform outages, force majeure events, or any other cause beyond BOSS.Tech’s reasonable control corrupts, affects, or impairs the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest. In such event, BOSS.Tech may, in its sole discretion, select Winner(s) from among all eligible submissions received prior to and/or after the action taken, or take any other action it deems fair and appropriate. BOSS.Tech reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual or team who tampers with or attempts to tamper with the entry process, submission process, judging process, Contest site, BOSS.Tech platform, BOSS.Tech systems, or the legitimate operation of the Contest. Any attempt by a participant or any other individual to deliberately damage any website, platform, system, account, API, infrastructure, or to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, BOSS.Tech reserves the right to seek damages and pursue all available remedies to the fullest extent permitted by law.
12. Limitation of Liability:
By entering or participating in the Contest, You agree to release, discharge, indemnify, defend, and hold harmless BOSS.Tech, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers, directors, contractors, and all other Contest Entities from and against any and all liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim, demand, damage, cost, or expense that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or otherwise, arising out of or related to:
1. Your participation in the Contest;
2. Your submission or project;
3. Your acceptance, possession, use, misuse, or inability to use any prize or portion thereof;
4. Travel related to any prize;
5. Technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to computer, cable, network, hardware, software, server, platform, API, or other equipment failures;
6. The unavailability, delay, or inaccessibility of any transmission, telephone, Internet, platform, or service;
7. Unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry, submission, judging, or administration process;
8. Electronic, technical, or human error in the administration of the Contest or processing of entries;
9. Any claims relating to intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or third-party rights.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, BOSS.Tech shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages arising out of or related to the Contest.
13. Disputes:
This Contest is governed by the laws of the United States of America and the State of [Insert State], without respect to conflict of law doctrines. As a condition of participating in the Contest, each participant agrees that any and all disputes, claims, or causes of action arising out of or connected with the Contest, these Official Rules, or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively before a court of competent jurisdiction located in [Insert State]. Under no circumstances shall any participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and each participant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental, consequential, special, or multiplied damages, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, other than participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses directly associated with entering the Contest. Each participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.
14. Privacy:
Information submitted in connection with the Contest is subject to the Privacy Policy stated on the BOSS.Tech website. By entering the Contest, You acknowledge and agree that BOSS.Tech may collect, use, process, and store information submitted by You for purposes of administering the Contest, communicating with participants, reviewing submissions, selecting winners, awarding prizes, complying with legal obligations, and promoting the Contest. To read the Privacy Policy, visit: click here.
15. Sponsor:
The Sponsor of the Contest is BOSS.Tech Inc, doing business as BOSS.Tech, located at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Questions regarding the Contest may be directed to: contact@boss.tech
16. No Purchase Necessary:
No purchase, payment, subscription, or other consideration is necessary to enter or win. A purchase or payment will not increase the chances of winning.
17. Acceptance of Official Rules:
By entering or participating in the Contest, You acknowledge that You have read, understood, accepted, and agreed to be bound by these Official Rules.
Participation in the Contest constitutes full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and to the decisions of BOSS.Tech, which are final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest.