Everything You Need to Know About the Technovation Challenge
- Stephen Turban
- Apr 14
- 5 min read
Updated: 16 hours ago
If you want to gain a head start in your STEM trajectory as a high school student, consider participating in a STEM competition! STEM competitions can help highlight your academic interests and show your ability to take initiative, work in teams, and solve complex problems in the field.
Challenges like these can also boost your college admissions profile, as they demonstrate an advanced skill set in STEM, the ability to work well under a tight timeline, and motivation to explore the subject outside of the classroom!
In this blog, we'll be reviewing one such STEM competition for high school student - the Technovation Challenge.
What Is the Technovation Challenge?
The Technovation Challenge is an international competition for young students to create mobile apps that solve real-world problems in their communities. Technovation is a global tech education nonprofit. The competition aims to inspire girls aged 8-18 to explore careers in technology and entrepreneurship. Over the years, Technovation has engaged tens of thousands of participants from more than 100 countries.
In the Technovation program’s app development challenge, educators or industry professionals guide teams to conceptualize, code, test, and launch a mobile application that solves a community problem. In this challenge, you will learn how to code, develop business plans, conduct market research, and refine your presentation skills. This experience helps you understand how to turn an idea into a viable product.
Is the Technovation Challenge prestigious?
Yes, the Technovation Challenge is widely regarded as a prestigious competition. Each year, thousands of teams from across the globe participate, competing at regional, national, and international levels. In the past, the competition had participants from over 60 countries. While the competition isn’t as selective as some academic contests, the level of involvement and depth of learning make it highly valuable. The experience is rigorous: You’ll learn to code, create a pitch, and develop a business model. Past winners have presented their apps at events like the UN’s Global Innovations Summit and launched startups based on their ideas. Competing in Technovation signals that you can manage long-term projects and are committed to addressing global challenges—qualities valued by college admissions officers.
Who is eligible to participate?
To participate in the Technovation Challenge, you must meet these requirements:
Age: 8-18 years old. The challenge is divided into 3 divisions:
Beginner Division: 8-12 years old as of August 1
Junior Division: 13-15 years old as of August 1
Senior Division: 16-18 as of August 1
Team size: 1-5 members per team.
Gender: All members must identify as female, trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming.
Mentorship: Teams must be supported by at least one mentor (teacher, parent, or industry professional).
No coding experience is required.
How is the challenge structured?
It spans nine months and involves multiple milestones, each focusing on a different skill set and deliverable. First, you and each of your team members will have to complete your profiles. Here’s how the rest of the year goes:
1. Program launch
The season begins on October 11, and you have until December to recruit your team, find a mentor, and register.
2. Ideation Phase
From the submission phase starting on January 27, you have the time to:
Identify the problem you want to solve.
Get started with the initial user and market research you need for your idea.
Practice the coding skills that will be required for your solution.
Create a simple paper prototype to understand what your project demands.
Start putting things together and use your dataset to begin coding.
3. Development Phase
By March, you should be:
Coding your app.
Training your AI model if your app incorporates one.
Solidifying your business plan or user adoption plan (for Senior and Junior division teams, respectively).
Make sure you are registered by the deadline of March 17.
4. Submission Phase
By the submission deadline of May 5, make sure to:
Finish debugging your app.
Get all your deliverables ready.
Submit the project online.
The deliverables for Senior Division teams are:
Project name & description: A 100-word explanation of your project.
Pitch Video: A 3-minute video where you explain the motivation behind the app, the approach, what makes it effective, and how it will make a positive impact. Make sure to include a few key features of the app, and English subtitles are mandatory if the spoken language is not English.
Technical Video: This is another 3-minute video in which you must demonstrate the app and its code base, user feedback, and any future features you intend to implement.
Business Plan: A comprehensive 5-10 page document explaining the app’s business model, including target audience, scalability, and financial feasibility. You can find a helpful checklist for structuring it here.
Technovation Learning Journey: A 200-word essay discussing what you learned, how you and your team overcame technical and operational challenges, and what resources you used to bring your idea to life.
Mobile or Web App Source Code: You’ll need to submit your source code, depending on the language you’ve used to build the app:
MIT App Inventor — .aia file
Thunkable — Project Detail Page Link
Other programming languages — zip file
Web app — submit a zip file
Team Photo & Summary: A short paragraph on your team and a photo.
5. Judging Phase
In May and June, the judges shortlist winners based on the judging rubric. You will be judged on the relevance, clarity, and quality of your:
Project description
Pitch video
Technical video
Business plan
Learning journey
If you make it this far, you will be invited to the Technovation World Summit in October!
Pros and Cons of the Technovation Challenge
Pros:
It is inclusive and beginner-friendly: No prior coding experience is required, and Technovation provides plenty of resources to assist you on your journey.
You can make a real-world impact: Your apps are intended to solve actual problems in your community and let you see the tangible results of your work.
You will receive global exposure: The Technovation Challenge invites international participation, and you will have the opportunity to interact with peers and mentors from around the world.
It offers a holistic learning experience: The deliverable combines technical skills (coding) with soft skills (presentation, teamwork, and critical thinking).
Cons:
It is quite time-intensive: Making a strong submission requires significant commitment over several months, which may conflict with schoolwork.
It is a team event: The competition does not allow solo participants, so if you are unable to find a team in time, you may not be able to participate!
It is super competitive: The competition is super competitive, with teams from all over the world competing over the span of a year. If you're looking for a shorter, easier contest where you can work on your STEM skills, consider other competitions.
Wrapping Up
The Technovation Challenge offers a pretty comprehensive introduction to coding, entrepreneurship, and problem-solving for high school students, with a strong emphasis on real-world impact and global collaboration. It is beginner-friendly and provides a well-rounded learning experience, but it also requires a significant time commitment and teamwork. As a participant, you should be prepared to balance this alongside other academic responsibilities and work in a team.
One other option—the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re interested in pursuing independent research in STEM, consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4,000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Image Source - Technovation Challenge Logo
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
