HTS 2026 · Building bridges in the ummah

Brandathon

Build a product. Market it. Serve the ummah.

One prompt, one week, and a team that ships something real. You build it, you put it in front of people, and the attention you earn turns into money for families Ethar Relief serves. Every entry is pitched live on the Summit stage in New York on September 26, and one team walks off it with $5,000.

Enter your teamHow it works
Entry is freeSummit ticket requiredSeptember 26 · Civic Hall, Union Square, New York City

$5,000

The prize

To the single highest combined impact score, awarded on stage on the night.

7 days

To build it

The prompt lands September 17 and the sprint runs to the Summit. Mentors and office hours the whole way.

1 stage

To finish on

Every entry pitched and judged live, in the room, during UN General Assembly week.

What the Brandathon is

Build something real. Put it to work.

The prompt drops September 17 and every team gets the same week. You ship a product, you find it an audience, and you turn that audience into support for a cause the whole room shares. It ends on the Summit stage on September 26.

01

Build

The prompt lands and you ship a real product against it. Not a deck, not a mockup, a thing somebody can use.

Sprint week

02

Market

Launch it and put it in front of people. Followers, views, shares, a real audience built in public.

Sprint week

03

Serve the cause

Turn that attention into money raised for Ethar Relief. This is the part scored on what actually moved.

Through the sprint

04

Summit stage

Pitch live in front of the room on the day, and one team walks off with $5,000.

September 26
You start prepared

Three creator-led shorts land before the prompt does, on shipping with AI tooling, finding your first users, and turning a build into a story that spreads. Every team gets the same playbook, so you do not need an engineering team and you do not need to have done this before.

On the day

A camera crew is in the room all day, so the footage you need is the day you are already having.

How it is judged

Scored on impact, not slides.

Every entry is measured on what it actually achieved: a real idea, a real audience, a real product, and real progress against the prompt. The rubric is published here because a rubric anyone reads after the fact is not a rubric.

1

Originality

Is the idea fresh, bold, and genuinely creative?

2

Reach and engagement

Followers, views, shares. Did it build a real audience?

3

Product and UI/UX

Is the build usable, polished, and real?

4

Effectiveness

How well does it solve the prompt and move real impact?

$5,000

Awarded to the highest combined impact score, crowned live on the Summit stage on September 26.

Who is behind it

Three partners, one engine.

Each brings a piece. Together they turn a week of building into support that reaches the people it was raised for.

Steers the ship. The stage, the audience, and everything on the day.

Runs the programme. Innovation workshops built for Muslim nonprofits.

Owns the mission. Official charity sponsor of the Summit, and where the money goes.

Entry closes when the prompt drops

Enter the Brandathon

Solo builders or squads of up to five. Entry is free and always will be. Every builder needs a Summit ticket, because the finale is judged live on that stage on September 26, so we check for you when you submit and tell you exactly who still needs one.

  1. 1Team
  2. 2Builders
  3. 3You

Your team

The name goes on the screen behind you when you pitch. It can change later.

Next: who is building

Who is building

Everyone on the team, including you. Up to five. Their own address each, because it is how we check their Summit ticket, and one address is one person.

01YouTeam lead

Filled in from your details below, so you do not type them twice.

Every builder needs a Summit ticket. The finale is judged live on the Summit stage on September 26, so competing means being in the room. Entering costs nothing and we do not check at the door. We check now, and tell you who still needs one. Get Summit tickets.

Next: how we reach you

How we reach you

You are the team lead. The curriculum, the prompt and everything on the day comes to you.

What is actually true

  • Entry to the Brandathon is free. There is no fee to compete and there will not be one.
  • Every builder needs a Summit ticket. The finale is judged live on the Summit stage, so competing means being in the room on September 26.
  • Somebody reads every entry. There is no automatic yes and no automatic no.
  • The curriculum lands before the prompt does, so every team starts from the same playbook.
  • The prompt is revealed to every team at once, on September 17. Nobody sees it early.
  • $5,000 goes to the single highest combined impact score, awarded on stage.
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