Partnership · Education & Skilling

Y Combinator partners with Polaris for student hackathon

By Startup Enthusiast · 10 April 2026

What they do

Y Combinator partners with Polaris School of Technology to launch a hackathon for Indian student founders

Winning teams receive cash prizes and cloud credits while gaining direct interviews with YC partners

The winning team gets a direct interview with Y Combinator partners, bypassing the usual global application process

Y Combinator partners with Polaris School of Technology and Emergent to launch the Vibecon Student Track.
The initiative is a hackathon designed specifically for student founders across India.
Students apply in teams of two or three by sharing pitches on social media.
Applicants detail their problem statements and build plans on the Emergent platform.
Only the top five teams are shortlisted from thousands of applicants for the finals.
Finals take place at the Polaris campus in Bengaluru on April 16-17.
Finalists engage in a live build sprint and present to a panel of judges.
The winning team receives a direct interview with Y Combinator partners for an upcoming cohort.

Mukul Rustagi states this collaboration reduces the gap between Indian students and global opportunities.
The program evaluates students on real-time creation and execution of ideas.
This marks a shift away from traditional academic metrics toward practical problem-solving.
The event promotes a new model for identifying talent in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Polaris School of Technology uses a skills-first approach to computer science education.
The school focuses on practical learning including live coding and internships from the first year.
Over 40 percent of Polaris students secure internships with international organizations.
The school emphasizes real-world projects as part of its curriculum.
Emergent provides the digital platform for student applications and pitch submissions.
AWS, Anthropic, and Razorpay provide tools and cloud credits for the winners.
The partnership leverages existing educational infrastructure to identify early-stage talent.

Winners will bypass the usual global application process for Y Combinator cohorts.
The program aims to identify more student founders through this structured hackathon.