How Austin’s Context.io is challenging the nation to an online hackathon

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With a burgeoning tech community like Austin’s, hackathons aren’t exactly hard to find. But sometimes creating or bettering a product may be too tough under the tight time constraint of a couple hours or even a day. Context.IO is reinventing the traditional hackathon and launching their own version with the Context.IO App Challenge.

 

The international online hackathon began in May and will be judged by high-profile venture capital executives Fred Wilson, Brad Feld, David Cohen, and Matt Blumberg. The judges will award a total of $125,000 in cash prizes to the winners when the contest ends in September.

 

But how does such a small company (they’re currently at 18 employees) have the time and money for something like this? It all aligns with Context.io’s culture. 

 

Context.io has always put a huge emphasis on company culture, creating an environment for everyone to work together to achieve great results. It’s something the company has been built on since after its founding in Montreal in 2009, and was something the company was dedicated to maintaining after it was acquired by Return Path in 2012 and moved to Austin. Luckily, it’s not hard to keep up great company culture when your parent company boasts amazing perks and being ranked second in FORTUNE’s “25 best medium-size companies to work for” list.

 

“We’re a people first culture,” ‎Product Marketing Manager Desiree Schillinger said. “If you put people first, that will create great products that will satisfy customers.”

 

That means putting themselves first, too. The company recently hosted a cocktail making contest, a tiki bar outing and even a Top Chef happy hour where employees were challenged to cook food with limited resources and a mystery ingredient. 

 

They’re also proud users of Know Your Company, a service dedicated to keeping employees connected through weekly emails. Constant correspondance makes sure even remote employees feel connected to team members and the overall mission of the company. 

 

At their new office on the top floor of the historic Scarborough building, Context.io has been able to renovate a unique space with an amazing view of the Capitol, South Congress, and the downtown skyline. They’ll have room to grow to up to 50 people and they’re currently hiring for engineering positions.

 

And it wouldn’t be a cool Austin startup without great perks. Context.IO employees enjoy unlimited vacation, educational opportunities, catered lunch, and fitness classes among their many perks.