The annual event drew from Vista’s portfolio companies and for first time was hosted by an HBCU with student participation.
The global investment firm Vista Equity Partners held its 7th Annual Global Hackathon focusing on advancing enterprise software solutions with generative AI. Held for the first time at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), The University of the District of Columbia, undergraduate and graduate students from 12 different HBCUs participated.
“We were thrilled to once again welcome students from HBCUs to this year’s competition and are grateful to our hosts at the University of the District of Columbia for making it such a success,” said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. “Integrating these talented students into our portfolio company teams fosters an atmosphere of innovation and creativity while providing them with invaluable hands-on experience and exposure to real-world challenges and solutions – all helping to pave the way for their future success in the tech industry.”
One hundred thirty participants on 27 teams drawn from Vista portfolio companies worked to build innovative enterprise software solutions while connecting with their peers. The HBCU students joined individual company teams to gain hands-on experience to strengthen their knowledge and expertise.
“The ability to bring software developers and engineers together to innovate alongside one another is one of the greatest opportunities the Vista ecosystem offers,” continued Smith. “By connecting with each other – people who are in their shoes and have experienced and solved similar challenges – we can help to expand knowledge across all of Vista’s more than 85 portfolio companies.”
The winners in six categories are:
Bonterra, Best Overall, used Large Language Models (LLMs) to streamline the grant review process for funders, a major challenge in the grant-making space..
PowerSchool, Peer Choice Award, created a generative AI tool that enables educators to develop engaging, immersive, and effective instructional materials at scale, customized to each student’s skills, interests, and learning needs.
StarRez, Highest Customer Value, engineered an automated image-to-process system for property managers and their residents to streamline room setup, inspections, move-in/out procedures and billing.
BigTime Software, Best UI / UX, offers professional service firms instant insights into risks and opportunities for profitable service delivery carried out by AI or a staff member.
Poppulo: Most Innovative Use of New Technology, automatically generates communications tailored to employee demographics and preferences, making smart suggestions at the right time, through the most effective channels.
Avalara: Best Operational Efficiency, offers a workflow tool that automates business tasks using a network of generative LLM agents to execute complex workflows with a user-friendly interface.
UDC Chief Operating Officer David A. Franklin summed up the importance of holding the hackathon with participation of HBCU students.
“This collaboration is aligned with our vision to establish UDC as a leading national public urban university and specifically supports our ‘Delivering on the Promise’ strategic plan—positioning UDC as a national model for urban student success.”
