Canal Startup Sprint Hackathon

The Canal Startup Sprint Hackathon runs from July 26 to August 14, 2026, and offers $800 in total prizes for the best projects in IoT, Machine Learning/AI, and Robotic Process Automation. The Microsoft Student Club at Suez Canal University (SCU) is hosting the event, and it takes place at the Creativa Innovation Hub in Ismailia, Egypt. The hackathon is open to international participants, and 17 people have already registered. The Microsoft Student Club at SCU is a student-led community focused on technology and innovation. The club brings together students who want to build things, learn from each other, and compete in a friendly but serious environment. This hackathon is their way of creating a space where participants can collaborate across teams, share knowledge, and push each other to build working prototypes in a short window of time. The event is fully virtual, meaning you can register and submit your project online from anywhere. That said, the physical hub in Ismailia is where the organizers are based, so if you are in Egypt, you may have the option to connect with the community in person. For international participants, the virtual format removes travel costs and visa concerns, so the main commitment is your time and energy during the three-week sprint. Ismailia sits along the Suez Canal, about halfway between Cairo and Port Said. It is a planned city with a relatively relaxed pace compared to Cairo, and the Creativa Innovation Hub is part of a growing network of tech and entrepreneurship spaces in Egypt. The country has a young, tech-savvy population, and events like this one are a common entry point into the regional startup scene. If you are joining from abroad, expect to work across time zones, but the asynchronous nature of a hackathon submission window makes that manageable.