On April 11-15, 1500 people collaborated at the biggest hackathon on earth to #buidl a digital public infrastructure using blockchain, AI and robotics.

Learn more about the winning solutions: http://solutions.odyssey.org

Groningen, The Netherlands - April 23, 2019 - Odyssey, an Open Innovation Program by DutchChain which connects innovative ideas with governmental, corporate, and non-profit partners to address complex challenges using emerging technologies, has announced the winners of the third edition of the world’s largest blockchain and AI hackathon.

100 teams co-created breakthrough solutions for 20 complex challenges, within 48 hours, with the help of 200 experts, corporate and governmental challenge holders, regulatory partners, and scientists including the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands; De Nederlandsche Bank (the Dutch Central Bank); the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM); the European Union Regional Development Fund; Deloitte; Vattenfall; and KLM.

60 jury panel members elected 19 winning teams and solutions, ranging from wildlife restoration and data privacy, to cargo insurance, inclusive banking and a fossil free future. The winners of the Odyssey hackathon 2019 are; Frontier Oost , HorsePower , Habari , Kryha, VX Company , A Solid Web, ChainMix , Data5 , Delft Hackathon Team, OV Software , Tradisys , idShapers , Edgica, The Future Firefighters , SocialTec, Team GoodChain, BerChain , Circularise , and Poort8. 

Rutger van Zuidam, Founder and CEO of DutchChain and Odyssey, said, “At the Odyssey hackathon we have experienced an unwavering spirit of collaboration as well as the ability to completely change people’s perspectives on assumptions they bring with them to the hackathon. People work together, not to prove they are right, but to see how they can do things in a new way, and then come to a different understanding of the problem and potential solutions. That is what it means to not optimise for the status quo, but to find ways to break through perceived barriers. From the results we learn that this actually works.”

The four-day Odyssey hackathon, which took place from April 11 to 15, culminated with an additional closing event, Odyssey Ignite, where the winning teams moved forward into the Odyssey Incubation Program to develop, test, and launch their solutions together with their consortium over the next 100 days. At the closing event, six of the winning teams were also selected for additional mentorship by Super Accelerators. These teams receive additional support and access to networks of investors and industry experts, designed to help each team develop their solution.

QJ Wang, Executive Director for the Ethereum Community Fund, one of the six ‘Super Accelerators’ at the hackathon, said: “Odyssey is all about collaboration and welcoming new ideas that you didn’t have before. I wish I could choose 50 teams to highlight. It's not just about this hackathon — this is a big incubation program and it will also be followed up and expanded to bigger ecosystems, so it’s a whole journey.”
Speaking at the closing event, Prince Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau, Special Envoy of StartupDelta, said: "This hackathon is essential for showing the incredible potential of decentralised technologies and AI. However, there is still a gap in how to deploy many of these. Here you’re building bridges between the visions — that can’t go far enough because we have to force ourselves to think further and demonstrate tangible applications. The hackathon is just a first step. The follow up is essential to move to real impacts."