How to make a bank understandable for the whole family: Space Hackathon with MTbank at Hi-Tech Park

The three-day Space Hackathon with MTBank, organized by Hi-Tech Park, MTBank and the public association "Youth Innovation Community 'Startup Space'," has concluded at the Hi-Tech Park Startup Center. More than 250 registered participants competed for the prize fund, finding like-minded people right on site: students from Belarusian universities ready to spend 48 hours figuring out what the future of child-and-family banking should look like. Not everyone made it to the final pitches – only 12 teams, and they had to defend their solutions before the expert commission.

A challenge that concerns everyone

The case from MTBank sounded simple only at first glance: to develop an innovative package of banking services for children and families, or a solution integrated into the Moby mobile app. In reality, participants had to combine the seemingly incompatible – financial logic, technological sophistication and clarity for a young audience. In the final, the expert commission assessed not only the technical implementation but also how much the product is genuinely needed by people and whether it has the potential to reach the market.

Time that isn't about sleep

The intensive at the Hi-Tech Park Startup Center did not stop for all 48 hours: teams generated ideas, consulted with mentors, attended lectures by the bank's experts and learned to present their products. The organizers bet on practice: not abstract tasks but a real product that will, after some time, become part of the service package for the bank's clients.

The final: pitches, debates and the top three

The strongest teams reached the final presentations, presenting fully developed solutions to the expert commission – with a business model, economics and visual component.

At the opening of the final day, Anna Ryabova, Head of Hi-Tech Park, addressed the participants. Thanking the partners who consistently support Hi-Tech Park's youth initiatives, she noted: "The number of hackathon participants is growing: this time another record – more than 60 teams, and 12 in the final. For us this is part of a big effort – building the path from a student idea to a real product and company. Here you can try, make mistakes and get feedback from business. You gave it your all – but there is much more ahead: surprise us, win and stay in our ecosystem."

Results

The hackathon prize fund amounted to 7,000 BYN. After heated debates, the expert commission identified the top three teams that proposed the most viable and original solutions for child-and-family banking.

1st place: Yaroslav Golubovich's team (BSU).

2nd place: Arseny Rusak's team (BSU, BSU Lyceum).

3rd place: Vladimir Belous's team (BNTU, BSU).

In addition to prizes and new contacts, participants took away the most important thing – experience working on a real challenge from a major bank and an understanding of how the path from idea to product works. For Hi-Tech Park, this is another step in its work to involve young people in technological entrepreneurship: the Park provides a venue, mentoring support, connections with business and a clear path from a student project to resident status.

Talents don't need to wait for "someday." You can try, make mistakes, refine and win here and now – in 48 hours, with a real partner and real challenges.