Devpost

<h2 id="origin">Origin</h2>
<p>In 2006, Colin Nederkoorn initiated a public contest prompting programmers to develop a means for running the <a href="/facts/Windows_XP/IozrkAYS">Windows XP</a> <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a> through an <a href="/facts/Intel_Mac/1GpN0gWz">Intel Mac</a>. Programmer Jesus Lopez eventually won the competition, which had accumulated over $13,000 in donations. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> Seeing this competition, Kessler soon developed ChallengePost as a means through which similar competitions could be facilitated and promoted.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
</p><p>At first, the company allowed any individual or organization to post a competition. Over time, their scope evolved. In 2015, ChallengePost changed its name to Devpost and focused exclusively on helping software engineers participate in hackathons, and eventually to find jobs.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
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<h2 id="funding">Funding</h2>
<p>In August 2011, ChallengePost raised $4.6 million in Series A funding from investors including former Apple executive Bob Borchers of Opus Capital and <a href="/facts/Qualcomm/v54S3UgA">Qualcomm</a> founder Irwin Jacobs.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
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<h2 id="hackathons-and-jobs">Hackathons and Jobs</h2>
<p>Devpost now powers the majority of the world's in-person and online hackathons (software competitions), and helps software engineers find jobs, in service of the company's mission "To help developers find fulfilling work." After 2019, the platform saw a surge in online hackathons hosted on the platforms due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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<h2 id="notable-clients">Notable clients</h2>
<p>In 2010, ChallengePost was named the official online "challenge platform" of the U.S. federal government, previously overseeing the <a href="/facts/New_York_City_BigApps/NzrvBTIM">NYC Big Apps</a> contest in conjunction with the city of <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York</a>, as well as <a href="/facts/Michelle_Obama/W0shnydr">Michelle Obama</a>'s Apps for Healthy Kids challenge in conjunction with the <a href="/facts/U.S._Department_of_Agriculture/3PK2rx7C">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p><p>Devpost customers include Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Atlassian, Twitter, and others.
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/HackerEarth/0SLGaW2M">HackerEarth</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Kim-Mai Cutler, "ChallengePost launches problem-solving site with Wozniak, Betaworks onboard", Venture Beat, June 29, 2009 <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2009/06/29/challengepost-launches-problem-solving-site-with-wozniak-betaworks-onboard/" target="_blank">https://venturebeat.com/2009/06/29/challengepost-launches-problem-solving-site-with-wozniak-betaworks-onboard/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Lydia Dishman (November 29, 2010). "Innovation Agents: Brandon Kessler, Founder ChallengePost". Fast Company. <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1701327/innovation-agents-brandon-kessler-founder-challengepost" target="_blank">http://www.fastcompany.com/1701327/innovation-agents-brandon-kessler-founder-challengepost</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Devpost Reveals Student Hacker Preferences". www.i-programmer.info. Retrieved 2025-02-05. <a href="https://www.i-programmer.info/news/204-challenges/8833-devpost-reveals-student-hacker-preferences.html" target="_blank">https://www.i-programmer.info/news/204-challenges/8833-devpost-reveals-student-hacker-preferences.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Peter Kafka, "Crowdsourcing Platform ChallengePost Raises $4 Million", All Things D, August 8, 2011 <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20110808/crowdsourcing-platform-challengepost-raises-4-million/" target="_blank">http://allthingsd.com/20110808/crowdsourcing-platform-challengepost-raises-4-million/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Erick Schonfeld, "ChallengePost Becomes A Government Contractor", TechCrunch, May 27, 2010 <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2010/05/27/challengepost-government/" target="_blank">https://techcrunch.com/2010/05/27/challengepost-government/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Devpost open-in-new

Devpost