Hacking for Homebuilding

Hacking for Homebuilding is a statewide competition offered in partnership by Boise State University’s Venture College, a program in the College of Innovation and Design, and College of Engineering.

This is a ‘reverse pitch’ competition, which means you don’t have to bring your own idea. Participants will choose a problem provided by industry partners and propose a solution in the form of a new venture. Our industry partners will identify challenges they face and pose these as problem statements. There will be a wide range of problems to solve, relating to: Software, Human Resources, Supply Chain, and more!

Participants refine their solutions into ventures through research, customer discovery, and idea validation. Teams will pitch their ideas and compete for cash prizes.

2023 Problem Statements

Student Track

Open to higher education students across the state of Idaho.

If applying as a team, at least one member of your team must be a registered student at a college or university in Idaho.

We encourage participants to work on interdisciplinary teams, bringing together engineers, marketers, construction managers, artists, and a host of others. We will also encourage students to look beyond their own institution to find the right partners for their team.

If you are applying as an individual, Venture College will help match students to teams when the program begins.

1. Sprint

During the first phase of Hacking for Homebuilding, participants:

• Learn more about the problem they are solving
• Work with mentors assigned to their teams
• Develop an idea for a solution
• Build and test their prototype

While the majority of the sprint is done outside of the classroom, including reviewing on-demand entrepreneur and start-up content, participants can expect the following meetings:

• Welcome meeting (1 hour)
• Interview with your problem sponsors (1 hour)
• Meeting with your mentor (1 hour)
• Pitch practice (30 minutes)

2. Preliminary Pitch Competition

Teams will compete for their spot in the final competition and chance to win cash prizes by pitching their solutions to industry experts, community leaders, and experienced entrepreneurs. The top 3 teams will advance to the final pitch competition.

3. Final Pitch Competition

Hacking for Homebuilding will culminate with a pitch competition at Boise Entrepreneur Week (BEW).

BEW is Idaho’s largest community-driven, entrepreneur-focused event. Each year, thousands of people come together to learn, support, and celebrate Idaho’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The top 3 teams will pitch to judges made up of industry experts, entrepreneurs, and investors, providing connections to a network that will last well beyond this competition.