[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

UniHack 2026: Sri Lanka’s Inter-University Cardano Hackathon

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

59000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

4

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

UniHack 2026 is Sri Lanka’s national inter-university blockchain hackathon engaging across 20+ universities to build exclusively on Cardano, onboard developers & expand Cardano adoption nationwide.

[Proposal Summary] Supporting Documentation

Supporting links

• https://coinceylon.com/unihack2025/
,
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ95oPwmaZM
,
• https://x.com/Coin_Ceylon/status/1945492706223866126
,
• https://fct.kln.ac.lk/news/unihack-2025
,
• https://www.coinceylon.com/events/

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

Please provide details on the intellectual property (IP) status of your project outputs, including whether they will be released as open source or retained under another licence.

All participating teams must publish on the set public GitHub repositories with code, documentation, and demo videos under the open source MIT license.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal

Hackathons

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Who you’re targeting, how you’ll reach them, and why this matters for Cardano?

Who We’re Targeting

We are targeting university students across Sri Lanka, especially those studying:

• Computer Science & Software Engineering
• ICT / Information Systems
• Data Science & AI
• Engineering disciplines

This group forms the country’s largest and most underexposed pool of future potential blockchain developers.

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How We Will Reach Them

We will reach students through:

• Faculty partnerships and lecturer engagement
• Computer Science societies, IEEE branches, and tech clubs
• On-campus promotions (flyers, hall announcements, events)
• Coin Ceylon’s strong digital presence (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, X)
• National media coverage (TV, radio, print)

This multi-channel outreach model successfully onboarded 18 universities in UniHack 2025.

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Why This Matters for Cardano

Sri Lanka has 40,000+ ICT undergraduates, but very few receive structured exposure to Cardano.

By engaging them directly, UniHack 2026:

• Brings hundreds of new wallets and active users
• Produces open-source Cardano projects
• Builds a sustained pipeline of future developers to enter Cardano ecosystem
• Expands Cardano’s presence across mainstream academia

This creates real grassroots adoption and strengthens Cardano’s long-term ecosystem growth.

Provide a list of key activities of your project:

Key Activities

• National hackathon outreach targeting 20+ universities and 500+ student developers
• Pre-hackathon onboarding & suppot: 3 technical workshops (Blockchain fundementals, Aiken, Blockfrost, Mesh/Hydra).
• Participant activation: WhatsApp group onboarding, resource kits, mentor Q&A.
• 4-week build sprint: weekly mentoring, guidance, and project support.
• Hackathon final event: Top 10 teams, live demos, judging panel, media coverage.
• Certificates & recognition: certificates for all valid submissions; awards for winners.
• Post-event support: mentorship for top teams and guidance to Catalyst pathways.

Education & Awareness Measurement

• Workshops delivered: 3
• Students trained: 300+ (goal)
• Hackathon participation: 500+ developers targeted
• Retention: workshop attendance → build sprint → valid submissions
• Knowledge improvement: measured through pre/post surveys

What are your success metrics?

Success Metrics & Rationale

1. Community Engagement & Growth

• 500+ developer sign-ups for UniHack 2026

Rationale: Expands Cardano’s presence in Sri Lanka’s university ecosystem and builds a future developer base.

• 20+ universities engaged (up from 18 in 2025)

Rationale: Increases geographic and academic penetration for Cardano adoption.

• 300+ workshop attendees during pre-hackathon onboarding

Rationale: Direct educational exposure creates long-term ecosystem contributors.

2. Hackathon Participation & Retention

• Minimum 50 valid final submissions

Rationale: Demonstrates high-quality engagement, learning retention, and real project output on Cardano ecosystem.

• Top 10 teams at the final event

Rationale: Supports deeper ecosystem bonding, mentorship, and media visibility.

• 70%+ workshop-to-sprint retention rate

Rationale: Measures the effectiveness of onboarding and sustained engagement.

3. Community Building & Activation

• 200+ new members onboarded into WhatsApp community communication channel

Rationale: Converts students into long-term Cardano ecosystem participants.

• New campus-based blockchain interest groups activated

Rationale: Creates self-sustaining Cardano communities inside universities.

4. Events & Meetups

• 3 technical onboarding workshops delivered

Rationale: Standardizes Cardano technical education nationwide.

• 1 national-level demo day

Rationale: High-impact event generating real visibility, adoption, and media outreach.

5. Media, Visibility & Outreach

• National media coverage across TV, radio, and print

Rationale: Expands Cardano’s reach beyond online-native audiences.

• 5,000+ social media engagements across platforms

Rationale: Measures awareness growth and campaign effectiveness.

• Mailing list / community channel sign-ups

Rationale: Ensures long-term continuity and follow-up engagement.

6. Qualitative Metrics

• Participant satisfaction scores > 75% (survey-based)

Rationale: Ensures educational impact and future program refinement.

• Student testimonials and feedback

Rationale: Captures qualitative value and impact narratives.

Why These Metrics Matter

These KPIs ensure the hackathon delivers not just a single event, but a sustained pipeline of new Cardano developers, stronger university ties, and an expanding national ecosystem directly aligned with Catalyst’s goals for grassroots growth, education, and onboarding.

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

UniHack 2026 is a nationwide 4-month hackathon program building exclusively on Cardano designed to activate Sri Lanka’s large pool of university talent. Building upon the success of UniHack 2025 (18 universities, 225+ students, 61 teams), this edition expands into a structured, scalable builder pipeline.

The program includes:

1. National Outreach & Registration

• A dedicated landing page, nationwide media coverage, and university society engagement (Computer Science Societies, IEEE clubs, ect.) will drive registrations from 20+ universities.

2. Structured Technical Workshops

• Three full online/hybrid workshops covering:
• Blockchain Fundamentals & Building on Cardano
• Aiken smart contracts, Wallet Integrations
• MeshSK, Hydra dApp development
• Recordings and a public Developer Starter Kit will be published.

3. Four-Week Build Sprint

Teams receive:

• Mentor support
• Weekly Q&A
• Resource access

All valid submissions must include:

• Submission to Public GitHub repo
• Documentation
• Demo video
• Self hosted Demo Link (optional)

4. National Final Event

• Top 10 teams are invited to Colombo for a full-day competition with judges, media, and guests. The event will include live demos, interviews, and awards.
• 1. Post-Event Support
• Top teams receive structured mentoring and guidance toward project incubation, or further development & catalyst pathways.

Evidence of Prior Delivery

Coin Ceylon successfully organised UniHack 2025:

• Event Page/ gallery - https://coinceylon.com/unihack2025/
• National News Coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ95oPwmaZM
• Winners: https://x.com/Coin_Ceylon/status/1945492706223866126
• National press: https://coinceylon.com/media
• UniHack 2026 is a proven, low-risk, high-impact scale-up.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

UniHack 2026 expands Cardano’s presence into mainstream education and mobilises hundreds of young developers.

Key ecosystem impacts

• Creates a repeatable annual builder pipeline
• Introduces Cardano to thousands through national media and online media
• Produces 50+ open-source Cardano projects
• Strengthens university relations across Sri Lanka
• Supports future Catalyst teams
• Enhances Cardano’s brand presence beyond Web3 circles

Adoption Pathway

UniHack integrates direct on-chain engagement:

• Workshop onboarding → wallet creation
• Training → testnet integrations
• Build sprint → dApp prototypes
• Finalists → mainnet-ready concepts
• Post-support → Catalyst submissions + governance awareness

Output Sharing

All materials, repos, demos, videos, and reports will be made public on:

https://coinceylon.com

GitHub (official Coin Ceylon Org)

YouTube + social media channels

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Capabilities

Coin Ceylon is Sri Lanka’s pioneer blockchain innovation company (est. 2021), specialising in Cardano outreach, education, product development, and community growth.

Our track record:

• Delivered UniHack 2025, Sri Lanka’s first Cardano exclusive inter-university blockchain hackathon. 225+ developers across 18 Universities took part in the Hackathon
• Operates the CoinCeylon X Intersect Sri Lanka Community Hub, 1st in South Asia , 2nd largest in the world.
• 500+ active local community members
• Hosted multiple governance training sessions, Education workshops
• Held repeated university programs to educate about building on Cardano
• Strong national media access, PR and production capabilities
• Developed multiple products & services on Cardano
• Hosting Monthly Town Halls for the region
• Multiple in-person community meet-up events
• Showcased Products built on Cradno at local/ International Blockchain & Technology events
• Team behind the First Stake pool in Sri Lanka, 1st multi-purpose cnft collection, 1st blockchain forum in Sri Lanka

Our Event Track Record

https://www.coinceylon.com/events/

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Coin Ceylon Execution Team

Experienced in:

• Event operations
• Technical workshops
• Media & video production
• University relations
• Hackathon management

Feasibility

UniHack 2025 has already validated the model and reduced risk. Universities and students have demonstrated significant demand for continued Cardano programs.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

Milestone 1 – Registration Launch, Awareness & University Engagement

Milestone Outputs

• UniHack 2026 landing page published
• Official announcement posts, graphics and videos released across all social platforms
• Promotions & adversing campaigns activated
• Outreach to 20+ universities & student societies
• Registration for the hackathon portal launched

Acceptance Criteria

• Landing page for the hackathon event accessible to the public
• Registration for the hackathon system functional
• At least 100+ early university student sign-ups
• Confirmed engagement with university societies (CS societies, IEEE, tech clubs)

Evidence of Completion

Live URL of hackathon event landing page

Screenshots/links of social media posts / videos

Registration dashboard snapshot

University liaison partnerships for the event announcements

Social media advertising reach campaign analytics

Delivery Month

1

Cost

15000

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Milestone 2 – Technical Workshops & Onboarding Activation

Milestone Outputs

• Delivery of 3 technical workshops:
• Blockchain & Cardano fundamentals
• Aiken Smart Contracts + wallets
• Mesh SDK + Hydra
• Developer Starter Kit published
• Workshop recordings uploaded
• WhatsApp community group onboarding for students

Acceptance Criteria

200+ pre-hackathon technical session workshop attendees

Recordings publicly available

Starter Kit published

Community channels active with 200+ members who is taking part in the UniHack hackathon

Evidence of Completion

Technical Session meeting snapshots

YouTube links for recorded sessions

Starter Kit PDF/URL

Screenshots of WhatsApp channels

Delivery Month

2

Cost

12000

Progress

50 %

Milestone Title

Milestone 3 – Build Sprint Execution

Milestone Outputs

• Full 4-week build sprint conducted
• Weekly mentor calls + Q&A sessions
• Technical support available throughout

Project submissions received with:

• GitHub repo
• Documentation
• Demo video
• Testnet/mainnet deployment

Acceptance Criteria

• Minimum 50 valid final project submissions on the GitHub Repository
• All submissions must meet the required checklist to qualify as a valid entry and be eligable for participatory certifications
• Weekly support calls delivered

Evidence of Completion

• GitHub organization links of the projects
• Submission summary sheet of all submitted teams
• Mentor Q&A session screenshots

Delivery Month

3

Cost

10000

Progress

80 %

Milestone Title

Milestone 4 – Final Event, Awards, Media Coverage & Final Report

Milestone Outputs

• Top 10 finalist teams selected
• National final event held in Colombo
• Judging, scoring, and awards
• Participatory Certificates issued to all valid submissions
• Post-event highlight videos published
• National Media Coverage on TV,Radio and Press
• Final public report + follow-up mentoring for top teams

Acceptance Criteria

• Final event executed successfully
• Winners publicly announced with Prizes / Awards
• Media coverage on Television, Radio and Printed Press published
• Final report delivered
• Mentorship provided to top 5 teams

Evidence of Completion

• Event photos/videos
• Press links and media coverage visuals
• Winner announcement posts
• Highlight video link
• Final report PDF/URL
• Mentorship session captures

Delivery Month

4

Cost

22000

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

1. Publicity, Media & Promotion — 10,000 ADA

• TV & radio / print press coverage
• Social media ads
• Promo videos, animations, posters
• On-campus promotional materials

1. Workshops & Training — 8,000 ADA

• Instructor compensation
• Recording & editing
• Documentation & starter kits

1. Build Sprint Support — 6,000 ADA

• Mentorship
• Admin & coordination
• Judging preparation

1. National Final Event — 20,000 ADA

• Venue + hall setup
• Stage, sound, lighting
• Catering & logistics
• Photography & videography
• Media PR
• Transportation costs
• Printing and Branding for venue

1. Prize Pool — 10,000 ADA

• 1st / 2nd / 3rd + special awards

1. Certificates & Participation Merchandise — 5000 ADA

• Cardano-branded lanyards/stickers/ Merchandise gifts / Awards for winners (<15% rule)
• Certificates for all teams submitting valid projects

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

This proposal offers extremely high ROI for Catalyst:

• High Impact
• 500+ engaged students
• 50+ open-source Cardano projects
• Hundreds of wallets created
• Mainnet/testnet deployments
• Long-term developer onboarding

High Visibility

• National media coverage
• University-wide penetration
• Social media amplification

Low Risk

• Proven team
• Proven event model
• Existing institutional relationships

Long-Term Value Creation

• Annual repeatability
• Future Catalyst-linked project pipeline
• Growing university-level adoption of Cardano

This is a strategic investment in one of Cardano’s fastest-growing emerging markets.

[Self-Assessment] Self-Assessment Checklist

I confirm that the proposal is a non-technical initiative, with ≤20% of the budget for tech support.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal provides verifiable evidence (portfolio, links, reports) of the team's ability to deliver the project.

Yes

I confirm that the proposer and all team members are in good standing with prior Catalyst projects.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal includes clear objectives with both Output Metrics (what proposal did) and Adoption-Focused Metrics (what effect proposal had).

Yes

I confirm that the proposal clearly explains the user journey and provides a credible plan for how the project will equip and motivate users for future on-chain activity.

Yes

I confirm that the initiative clearly demonstrates how it will grow the Cardano ecosystem or onboard users.

Yes

I confirm that the project plan and timeline (≤ 12 months) are realistic and well-defined.

Yes

I confirm that the proposal commits to public outputs and justifies any exceptions.

Yes

I confirm that the budget adheres to all policies: it is for future work, follows the merchandise rule, and excludes establishing local treasuries, incentives/giveaways, re-grants.

Yes

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

I Agree

Yes