HackFS 2022
This year’s HackFS was anything but ordinary. For three weeks this July, our Hackers pushed the envelope in web3, experimenting with the fabric of our ecosystem as it was being built. This year marked the third event in our popular hackathon series, and with 954 Hackers building 197 projects to take home $200k+ in prizes, we think it’s safe to say it was officially our biggest HackFS yet. Read our recap of our recent event below!
🚀 HackFS 2022 TL;DR
- 🙋♂️ 954 Hackers
- 🛠 197 Projects Submitted
- 👩🏫 17 Ecosystem Mentors
- 👯 18 Ecosystem Partners
- 💸 $200,000+ in Prizes
- 🌍 65 Countries + 16 Timezones
- 🏆 10 Finalists
🚀 Starting the Rockets: The HackFS Kickoff
Each year HackFS grows larger and more impactful. The first edition of HackFS saw a few hundred hackers collaborate online, and the next year’s event saw a few hundred more. This year, close to one thousand participants had joined us by the Kickoff, and who better to give the opening remarks than Protocol Labs’ own Juan Benet and Gitcoin’s founder Kevin Owocki? Their discussion on the State of Public Goods Funding gave captivated audiences a taste of the weeks to come, pushing the levels of excitement through the roof.
💨 Launching into the Event: Hacking + Workshops
By the time Kickoff had ended, Hackers had already been treated to a variety of workshops and talks centering around the potential tech they’d be building. Incredibly packed Team Formation and Project Brainstorming Sessions saw literal hundreds of Hackers join forces on Zoom calls to find partners and share ideas. Intense, optimistic energy swept through our Discord as teams started to work, with conversations starting to buzz on hot topics like Public Goods Funding, file sharing, and L2s.
Hackers quickly grouped up around strong projects, presenting their updates in the community channels to the excitement of their peers and the Partner teams. It was clear from the start that this year’s event was going to be something special, and as teams started to bury their heads in work, we prepared for a wild month.
Hacking wasn’t all that our participants were up to. On top of all of the community sessions and conversations, our Hackers attended dozens of high-level workshops aimed at giving them valuable insight into the current trends in web3. Popular talks from the Protocol Labs team as well as our many Partners drew immense crowds, pushing new levels of excitement out into the Discord as Hackers commented on their learnings and experimented with new ideas. Former HackFS Finalists, Alec Wantoch & Zachary Pelkey from Valist showcased the possibilities for decentralized game distribution, Sonr’s Prad Nukala & Michael Amoako walked audiences through the future of web3, and Protocol Lab’s Lukas Bresser offered Hackers a glimpse into what Building Post Hackathon might look like.
All of these incredible workshops drove home the point that HackFS was where passionate developers and creatives could come together to build great things. The optimistic spirit bonded our HackFS community together, and with these new learnings, each of the hackathon projects started to take flight. Catch up on all that you missed on our Youtube Channel.
🙌 Submissions and Judging
When it finally came down to project submissions, a nervous excitement could be felt in the crowd. Our Hackers raced to complete their projects in the given time, pushing their biggest ideas as far as they could go before the deadline. Those who attended the Project Feedback Session worked to incorporate the changes suggested by our Technical Mentors and Partner teammates, and many more asked last-minute questions in the community channels.
We selected 10 finalists to represent the most forward-thinking, and best-executed work out of the 197 projects submitted. These incredible projects truly impressed our judges and team and stood out amongst their peers. Check out these incredible projects below, and see all of the other submissions via our showcase.
🏗 Build3r
A multi-purpose web dApp builder platform with composable modules, similar to “legos”, that users drag and drop into a canvas for a WYSIWYG experience. Modules are composable and interoperable meaning they can talk to each other.
The Team: @gianksp
What we liked: Very well executed, forward-thinking project that allows an intuitive drag and drop experience for building web dApps. This tool will no doubt bring more developers into the dApp space, and we’re excited to see what will come!
👻GhostShare
GhostShare is the service you use to share a file in a private and decentralized way!
The Team: @JorisZierold, @jorgeolmos86
What we liked: GhostShare makes it easy to send files privately and that’s more than we can say for most services before we even get to talking about decentralized ones! Its simplicity adds to the efficiency, creating a positive user experience for even novice web3 folks.
📑 PolyDocs
NFTs & DAOs are more than just deeds & clubs. They reflect rights and terms that require protecting. PolyDocs makes it easy to create immutable, known agreements to ensure everyone is protected.
The Team: @akshayrakheja_, @ray_deck, @drewclemcr8
What we liked: This one is big. DocuSign and services like it make up millions of transactions in web2 every day, but until now a solid web3 competitor had yet to exist. Not only does PolyDocs tackle the problem of contractual agreements in web3, it recognizes the complexity and nuances of NFTs and DAOs, paving the way for future adoption.
👀 ChainLook
ChainLook is a decentralized blockchain analytics tool based on TheGraph and IPFS. You can create beautiful widgets and dashboards for Tokens, NFTs, dApps based on data from subgraphs.
The Team: @_saleel
What we liked: Have you ever wanted to display widgets and dashboards from tokens, NFTs, and dApp data? Now you can, and it’s easier than ever. Simple, sleek, and based on Subgraph data, ChainLook is a powerful analytics tool, sure to unlock significant value for teams who use it.
✅Interform
InterForm is the web3-native form builder platform. Think Google Forms or Airtable but on decentralized storage. Our mission is to democratize access to data and build a censorship-free world.
The Team: @jeongminc_, @straightupjac, @andrewkjmin
What we liked: We’re excited to see platforms like Interform sprout up at events like HackFS. Interform adds to the classic online form application by providing decentralized storage to combat censorship and increase availability. All of the features you need in a sleek package. We think we’ll be seeing some pretty cool updates from this team in the future so keep them on your radar.
🖼 Toffi·bid
Toffi is a decentralized, public orderbook for NFT marketplaces. Place gasless bids/list NFTs without relying on the web2 infrastructure of isolated NFT marketplaces!
The Team: @krd_fy
What we liked: Toffi-bid is an evolution of the NFT markets, pushing the centralized status quo out in favor of truly decentralized and public orderbooks. This project is sure to mark a turning point in what’s possible for NFT sales, and we’re stoked that it started at HackFS.
💸 Split Protocol
A DeFi protocol that lets you manage shared expenses. Unique about it is that everyone can pay their split in any token out there.
The Team: @NarteyKodSar, @_yanghakim, @jonas_wolfram, @sparacinomusic
What we liked: Microfinance is the future, and microfinance in web3 is the future of that future. Split Protocol tackles everyday financial needs with an easy-to-use, efficient user experience that puts the user in control of their needs. We’re excited to see how this project will grow!
🕶 Optik
Optik is a web3-enabled video-conferencing application. Our platform provides a place for DAO contributors, teams, and groups to host meetings, online events, and more.
The Team: @felixfpx, @dominichackett, @east9th
What we liked: Online communities only thrive when communication is frictionless. As anyone can walk away from the keyboard at no cost, reducing the effort to contribute encourages growth and engagement. Optik does just that, by creating a video-conferencing platform built for the web3 user. This project will go far, so keep this one on your radar.
📍w@y_p01nt
True interoperability for the metaverse. Build and mint a virtual world onto Polygon+IPFS, then connect them together with on-chain portals — all from the browser.
The Team: @oveddan, @MemeConscious
What we liked: w@y_p01nt simply smashes the barrier to entry for those looking to build in the metaverse. This project is the metaverse world-creating equivalent to the first no-code web builders, and we couldn’t be more excited to see how it takes off over the next few months.
💿 RipDB
RipDB is a dead simple, fast, decentralized JSON store built for web3.
The Team: @zac_denham
What we liked: Simple, and to the point, RipDB is the JSON store for web3 that we were all waiting for. It works, it’s efficient, and the team has a good sense of humor, what’s not to like?
👯♀️ Our HackFS 2022 Partners
This event would not have been possible without the support of our Partner teams, support staff, tech mentors, and judges. We owe the success of this event to the community that has supported us since the very beginning. This year’s event was our largest HackFS yet, and we’re just getting started.
The support of our Partner teams allows us to continue to provide this event (and all others) free of charge for all who wish to attend. Take a look at some of our key partners below!
🗓 Up Next: ETHOnline & ETHBogotá
Our next event starts in just a few days! Join us September 2nd — 28th for this year’s ETHOnline — an entire month devoted to the future of web3! Last year’s record-breaking event was one of the highlights of our year, and this year we’re going even bigger. Apply today and hack alongside thousands of developers and creatives just like you.
IRL events more your style? Join us in Bogotá October 7th-9th for ETHBogotá, our long-awaited IRL hackathon in Colombia. This weekend-long in-person event picks up right where ETHMexico left off. Spots are filling up fast, don’t miss your chance to be part of our next LATAM event.
Follow us on Twitter to stay in the know about future events and tag us in your project updates. We can’t wait to see what you build next!
