the coolest high school hackathon in the dmv area

crabhacks 2025

join us for a day of innovation, collaboration, and creativity. whether you're building your first project or your hundredth, crabhacks is the perfect place to bring your ideas to life.

when
december 7, 2025
where
bethesda, md
format
10 hours
85-100
participants
high school students from across the dmv
$15k+
raised
raised to power the event
0+
sponsors
supporting the next generation of builders
$0
in prizes
across multiple categories and tracks

what you get

all meals provided

breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks throughout the day

free swag for all participants

t-shirts, stickers, and more from our sponsors

$1,000+ in prizes

win cash prizes, gift cards, and tech gear

teams of 2–4

form teams of 2–4 people

completely free

no registration fees, no hidden costs

10-hour hackathon

all day sunday

workshops for all skill levels

learn web dev, ai, mobile apps, and more

experienced mentors available

get help from industry professionals

build projects in:

web development

mobile apps

ai/ml

hardware

devops

blockchain

schedule

sunday

9:00 am
student check-in & breakfast
9:30 am
opening ceremony
9:45 am
hacking begins
12:30 pm
speaker: baker bruce, founder of thea
1:00 pm
lunch (panda express)
2:00 pm
fireside chat: cory levy, angel investor founder of z fellows
2:30 pm
worktime
4:00 pm
ice cream w/ annie park, owner of sarah's handmade ice cream
4:45 pm
presentations start (early birds)
5:00 pm
hacking ends & submissions due. presentations continue
6:00 pm
dinner (dominos)
6:45 pm
closing ceremony & prizes
7:00 pm
crabhacks ends

about

crabhacks brings together the brightest high school students from across the dmv region for an unforgettable day of building, learning, and connecting. compete for prizes, learn from industry mentors, and connect with fellow builders—all while creating something amazing.

crabhacks includes elements of both tech and entrepreneurship, making it a unique hackathon incorporating startup ideologies.

located in bethesda, easily accessible by metro, car, or bus. parking available nearby.

our sponsors

we offer four sponsorship tiers: platinum, gold, silver, bronze. for more info look at the prospectus below.

tier 1

Interview Cake
Capital Workspaces
Solana Foundation
TypeOS

tier 2

Yubico
Crackd
Sentry

tier 3

Indersoft

tier 4

Sarah's Handmade Ice Cream
YRI Fellowship
Klinn
Parv

our team

sarthak pal mahajan
sarthak pal mahajan
executive director
jaden hou
jaden hou
founder/advisor
mishelle munkhbat
mishelle munkhbat
marketing lead
navya rachakonda
navya rachakonda
finance lead
kofi hair-ralston
kofi hair-ralston
tech lead
allen du
allen du
marketing lead
ishaan nanda
ishaan nanda
finance lead
catherine aixinjueluo
catherine aixinjueluo
art & design lead

frequently asked questions

ready to hack?

applications close december 3, 2025. spots are limited, so don't wait.