University students are reimagining the
future of food.

Applications for the 2023

Hackathon are now open!

Rolling applications are now accepted until spots are filled. The deadline to submit your application is November 10th.

Hackathon Period: January 12 - March 22, 2023

Applications for the 2023

Hackathon are now open!

Rolling applications are now accepted until spots are filled. The deadline to submit your application is November 10th.

Hackathon Period: January 12 - March 22, 2023

2023-24 Student Application

Apply Here

Cultivate Tomorrow is the first and only student hackathon of its kind

The Hackathon provides a space for undergraduate and graduate students can explore their interest in cellular agriculture and cell-cultured food.

Driven by Students

The Cultivate Tomorrow Hackathon is developed and organized by a student leadership team.

Student participation in the flagship hackathon (2021-22) demonstrated that undergraduate and graduate students across disciplines are gaining substantial interest in cellular agriculture.

Supporting Student Development in Cellular Agriculture

Cultivate Tomorrow is a student organization that provides university students with experiential education in a collaborative, team-based setting. Students bring together their diverse interests and skill sets to compete in the engaging final event. The hackathon provides the means for students to demonstrate their innovation, passion, and drive as future leaders in cellular agriculture.

Supported by Industry

Cultivate Tomorrow prides itself on connecting industry leaders to students interested in cellular agriculture. The hackathon offers a unique environment for industry mentors and sponsors to provide an opportunity for students to develop their knowledge in the cell-cultured food space.

Work with Us

Applicatons are Open

2023 - 2024 Hackathon Track Options

Advertising Strategy

We believe marketing of alternative protein products is critical in driving consumer perception and awareness and subsequently impacting how our diets shape in the upcoming years.

We’re calling for teams to take the perspective of a company selling a sustainable future food product. The teams will be expected to prepare a low-fidelity version of an advertising campaign that effectively markets the product and presents the scientific concepts behind cultivated foods in a simplified manner.

Students in teams of 3 - 5 will be matched with an industry mentor. However, different from previous years, the student teams will decide on the product category (i.e. whole muscle cultured meat, ground cultured meat, cultured sushi grade fish, acellular breast milk, etc.) and build a marketing campaign around their selected products. In addition, teams will come up with a company name and logo. Mentors will work closely with participants to simulate what consulting for a company can look like by providing insight and direction.

Underutilized Resources & Novel Technology

We’re calling for teams to produce a proposal of an underutilized resource or novel technology that can help with cost reduction, quality improvement, environmental footprint, increase in process efficiency, or diversification of cultivated food products. The utilization of the resource proposed can address challenges at any step of the cultivated food value chain.

Teams will choose a resource or technology of interest and develop a research proposal that outlines the different experimental steps they would need to take to evaluate and validate this resource. Teams should evaluate carbon footprint, material sustainability, and material sourcing and procurement. The team will highlight the importance of their solution in the context of the cellular agriculture field by performing customer discovery and market research.

Hackathon Overview

Hackathon Objective

Cultivate Tomorrow Hackathon is a competition that asks teams of students to engage with the most pressing problems in the cellular agriculture industry.

Students participate and work with expert industry advisors to create solutions for designated hackathon tracks.

Over several months, undergraduate and graduate students develop a final project and presentation to be evaluated by a diverse panel of judges.

The goal of the hackathon is to provide an open-to-all hands-on competition for undergraduate and graduate students across the nation and beyond to tackle hurdles the cell ag industry faces.

The program fosters creativity, problem-solving, and out-of-the box thinking that will aid the understanding, development and integration of cell-based products.