Polaris is the system we run our hackathons on. Teams sign up and submit their projects through Discord, an AI judge reads every submission and builds a shortlist for the jury, and the audience votes live from their phones while the results play on the big screen. It’s named after our polar bear.
Why we built it
Running a hackathon by hand means spreadsheets for teams, forms for submissions and a jury trying to watch thirty demo videos in an hour. We wanted our own tools to take care of that, so organisers can focus on the people in the room.
The AI judge watches the demo, reads the code and the description, and scores each project against a clear checklist. It builds a shortlist. People still pick the winners.
Where it’s going
Polaris started in 2025 as a small Discord bot for our first hackathons. By Hackers & Ravers at Wintercircus in May 2026 it ran the whole event, from submissions to the live vote. Every hackathon since has changed it a little.
We’d like other organisers to use it too. If you’re running a hackathon, write to [email protected].