Gen Z Web3 builder community Moonshot Commons launches winter hackathon

Following the success of hosting one of the largest Web3 hackathons six months ago, Moonshot Commons launched its winter hackathon themed “Rethink, Restate, and Recharge” on Dec. 17, 2022.

This weekend, Moonshot Commons, a global Generation Z Web3 builder community backed by 10+ top-tier investors, kickstarted its biannual hackathon, where hundreds of participants develop Web3-themed projects in three weeks and battle it out under the spotlight.

The hackathon is co-organized by KuCoin Community Chain(KCC), Blockchain Academy, RSS3, Aspecta, Hkust Crypto Fintech Labs, IOSG Ventures, Signum Capital, ZettaBlock, Mirror World and other partners.

From Dec. 19, 2022, to Jan. 9, 2023, 60 selected teams out of hundreds will be challenged to “rethink, restate, and recharge” and build in fields such as infrastructure, open finance, emerging languages, developer onboarding tools, and decentralized society.

Moonshot Commons announced that participating teams would be supported by guests and mentors, including Sequoia China partner Xing Liu, Mina Protocol CEO Evan Shapiro, Hong Kong University of Technology and Science vice president professor Yang Wang, Oasis Labs CEO Professor Dawn Song, IOSG Ventures founding partner Jocy Lin, IoTeX founder Raullen Chai, Mirror World CEO Chris, Mask Network founder Suji, Hash Global Founder KK, EthSign co-founder Potter, and HashKey Capital partner Chao Deng.

Throughout the three-week event, all founders and investors are also invited to attend 10+ “closed-door workshops” led by industry mentors.

On Jan. 14, 2023, 20 teams will be selected to enter the final battlefield “Apollo Demo Day” and showcase their creativity and innovation to 50+ VCs, funds and media companies from across the globe.

All Apollo Demo Day participants will also receive Moonshot Hacker SBT and the opportunity to join the Moonshot community as batch 5 members, with access to support from program mentors, alums and peer entrepreneurs from “day 0 to ∞.”

Building on previous success

523 teams participated in Moonshot Common’s summer hackathon, making the event one of the largest Web3 hackathons in the world.

In one month, selected teams were invited to nine closed-door workshops, over 60 group office hours, and pitch opportunities to 50+ VCs and funds.

YC-backed Chataverse founder Leo, a Moonshot batch 4 member, said, “I think what makes Moonshot Commons special is the people — everyone I met and interacted with is sincere and visionary.

Leo credits the hackathon for accelerating the growth of his startup team: “Each workshop featured in the hackathon is carefully prepared and personalized for startup teams. The mentors put forward many pertinent and practical suggestions.”

Many members of the Moonshot Community have experienced the journey of “zero to one” with Moonshot Commons as well, notably Kevin, co-founder of Bain Capital-backed Curio; Jack, founder of HashKey-backed Aspecta; Potter, co-founder of Sequoia Capital-backed Ethsign; Luffy, founder of GGV-backed Reborn; Steven, founder of Big Brain holdings-backed SaaS3; and Leo, co-founder of YC-backed Chataverse.

Where Gen Z learns, builds and scales

In addition to hosting its biannual hackathons, the Gen Z Web3 builder community curates events, such as Mafia Mastermind sessions (past speakers include founders of StepN, EthSign, Dodo, Mask Network and RSS3), brings industry leaders together through Fellowship program, and maintains a talent network led by over 50 campus fellows from more than 30 universities in the United States, Singapore, China and Europe.

MetaMail founders Suneal and Colin, who won first place at ETH Shanghai as batch 4 Moonshot community members, said:

“At Moonshot Commons, we met a group of attentive and immensely knowledgeable mentors and reliable and scrappy friends. We really found a sense of belonging in this community dedicated to founders of our generation.”

Since its inception in 2021, Moonshot Commons has rapidly scaled to become a global builder community for Gen Z. With a network of more than 6,000 members, 200 founders, 50 mentors and partnerships with academia, Moonshot Commons has incubated more than 30 founders, raising a total of over $100 million.

Looking forward

Echoing the theme of the hackathon, the Moonshot Commons team believes that it is time for founders, investors and the whole Web3 community to rethink, restate, and recharge.

The founding team expanded upon the team’s vision to Cointelegraph:

“Amid the tipping point of Web3, we need to rethink the narrative of the crypto world and ponder the line between hype and need.

We need to restate the spirit of Web3, such as decentralization, community and ownership.

As practitioners and believers of Web3, we are confident that the development of the industry will spiral upward. After the gale passes, we need to recharge and continue to preach and build.

With Moonshot, our goal is to become the public educational infrastructure for smart, scrappy, globally minded builders, founders and researchers in the crypto space.”

About Moonshot Commons

Moonshot Commons, based in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York, we’re a global Gen Z Web3 builder community backed by HashKey Capital, ChainIDE, Mask Network, Hash Global, Zhen Fund and more. Within two years, our founders raised over $100 million from VCs — with many more launching soon.