OpenBracket goes into its second year with more than $100,000 in prizes. The figure doubled from the previous year.
Organized by a coalition of Delaware tech leaders, OpenBracket has two parts – more than 10,000 participants trying to qualify online for the opportunity to compete in the in-person championship, Oct. 21-22.
The in-person finals will be held at the Queen Theater in downtown Wilmington and feature 200 software programmers. The top prize for the head-to-head, round-robin style algorithmic tournament includes a $10,000 cash prize.
Throughout the competition, more than $100,000 will be given out, double the total from its inaugural year in 2016, including travel stipends for online winners to attend the in-person finals in Wilmington.
The October championship will be a head-to-head tournament, modeled after the online qualifying round. Ultimately one participant will be crowned the OpenBracket champion, with two runners-up.
OpenBracket Delaware was formed with the support of Zip Code Wilmington and First State Innovation. The nonprofit’s mission is to bring world-class software developers to Wilmington for an elite coding competition that will highlight Delaware’s growing tech business climate.
The event series is being produced with the support of an array of Delaware tech community leaders, including representatives from Short Order Productions, a Wilmington creative agency, and local tech news network Technical.ly.
Registration for the competition is open to anyone 18 and over, who is eligible to work in the United States.
The in-person event will be open only to those able to complete an online coding challenge – including those who performed well during the online competition. The event will have two groups of competitors, those who ranked highly in an online competition this summer and others accepted to participate as Walk-On Challengers.
To apply to be a Walk-On Challenger, apply here
“We are honored to host this event, and help make Wilmington, Delaware, a center for software excellence,” said Ben duPont, Board Founder of OpenBracket Delaware.
OpenBracket sponsors include major partners Barclaycard, JPMorgan Chase & Co, TD Bank and Christiana Care, in addition to WSFS, M&T, CSC, CapitalOne and the Buccini/Pollin Group, Inc.
“We’re very excited to sponsor OpenBracket in Wilmington again this year,” said Shelton Shugar, CIO of Barclaycard. “Last year, the team met a lot of high caliber talent and it was a great opportunity to network with a large pool of outstanding candidates who are passionate about new technologies and innovation.”
The aim of the event is to bring even more top-flight technologists to the First State.
“We are proud that Delaware is home to one of our global technology hubs,” said Mike Zbranak, managing director of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and head of the firm’s Delaware Technology Center. “We are thrilled to support an activity like this that celebrates technology and the community.”
“TD Bank is thrilled to be part of this year’s Open Bracket competition,” said Janice Withers, CIO of TD Bank. “We’re committed to supporting events that contribute to the communities , and provide development opportunities for emerging technology leaders and innovators.”
Various Delaware homegrown sectors are involved too.
“At the Health & Technology Innovation Center at Christiana Care, we are committed to serving our community by developing innovative, creative solutions for healthcare challenges that help our neighbors achieve optimal health,” said Catherine Burch, MSM, CXA, director of the Health & Technology Innovation Center at Christiana Care. “Our partnership with OpenBracket is a great opportunity to build relationships and inspire some of the world’s best and brightest programmers to contribute their talents to solving complex health care issues for their communities.”
“Without many of us realizing it, the technology sector has become the growth sector in the Wilmington economy. From the burgeoning FinTech sector that is creating more startups than ever in Delaware history, to the fast-growing financial services tech jobs, technology jobs are at the core of Wilmington’s future,” said Chris Buccini, managing partner of the Buccini/Pollin Group, Inc. “OpenBracket is yet another amazing sign that Wilmington is becoming a technology hub.”
The OpenBracket Delaware Advisory Board includes the following members: Melanie Augustin (Zip Code Wilmington), Ben duPont (Chartline Capital), Jeff Fetterman (First State Innovation), David Gates (First State Innovation/Gates and Co.), Tariq Hook (Zip Code Wilmington), Mark Hutton (M&T Bank), Skip Pennella (First State Innovation/CAI), and Tim Savery (Chatham Financial).
