HackTech’25: The Big Recap. How Cyprus Fights Wildfires With Technology
The biggest annual hackathon is now over, and it’s time to look back at how it went – what stood out, what was achieved, and which ideas may soon turn into real solutions for some of Cyprus’s most pressing challenges – wildfires.
Alongside the serious research and intense 48-hour work, participants also had the chance to connect, exchange ideas, enjoy great food (we mean it!), and simply unwind for a moment.
Here’s a closer look at how this much-anticipated IT event unfolded.
About HackTech’25: The Bigger Purpose
In case you missed it, HackTech Hackathon is an annual IT competition organized by AdTech Holding. It’s the island’s major tech event, where IT specialists and enthusiasts have just 48 hours to develop a working solution to a significant social problem. Winners receive prizes, recognition, and exposure – including interviews on our blog, of course.
This year, we set the bar even higher. Instead of spreading our attention across several challenges, we chose to focus on one issue that affected absolutely everyone in Cyprus this summer: the devastating wildfires.
And it wasn’t AdTech’s idea alone – this focus grew naturally, as many people came together in response to the wildfires. Monica Polemitis (TKI), Ivan Sysoev, Tanya Romanyukha (TechIsland), Nicodemos Damianou (Deputy Ministry), and our team at AdTech Holding – all aligned around one idea: that the tech community has the power to come together, heal, and help build something meaningful for the island’s future.
This shared motivation is what strengthened the core of HackTech’25.
With the creative power of dozens of teams at our fingertips, directing all that energy toward a single, meaningful challenge felt like the right thing to do. After all, both the public and the IT community share responsibility for the nature and well-being of the island.
Alex Vasekin, CEO at AdTech Holding, comments:
“Speaking on behalf of AdTech and all our employees – the tragic events of this summer resonated strongly across the entire community. As one of Cyprus’s leading IT companies, we felt a responsibility not to stand aside. What we could do was bring people together: create a space where experts, innovators, and passionate individuals could collaborate and focus their talent on a challenge that impacts us all. That’s why hosting this event is not just an honour for us – it’s an opportunity to unite bright minds around ideas that can help shape a safer and more resilient future for Cyprus.”
Who Supported Us
As you can imagine, organizing an event of this scale is not for the faint-hearted: it demands meticulous planning, fast decision-making, and close coordination between marketing, IT, HR, and, of course, our sponsors.
That’s why we’re immensely grateful to all the partners who not only provided essential support, but also brought in valuable resources, presence, and engagement.
Their contribution – from resources and expertise to infrastructure – played a big role in creating an environment where participants could focus entirely on building impactful solutions.
Thanks to them, HackTech’25 wasn’t just possible – it became bigger, better, and more prominent than ever.
We would like to express our gratitude to the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy, Dr. Nicodemos Damianou, who kindly attended the event and shared important updates on the government’s ongoing efforts to prevent wildfires, as well as his view on how hackathon participants can contribute to this mission.
The Hackathon initiative is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, through the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan, in collaboration with the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy.
Huge thanks to Techisland – our ecosystem partner and the largest tech association in Cyprus.
And a heartfelt thanks to i-Con – another ecosystem partner of HackTech’25. i-Con is a must-attend event for professionals in high-reward online industries. i-Con generously provided exclusive tickets to the conference to all hackathon participants.
Main Sponsors
Another round of applause to this year’s Exclusive Platinum Sponsor – Mayflower – a FunTech company pioneering live entertainment at scale, from millions of users to 200,000 RPS and a top-50 global platform.
Our amazing Gold Sponsor – The Nexxie Group – deserves a special mention as well. Nexxie is a group of companies specializing in digital marketing, technology, and online business solutions.
Our In-Kind sponsor – The Warehouse. For the second year in a row, The Warehouse opened its doors to host HackTech – thank you for the warm hospitality. The Warehouse by IT Quarter is a versatile seaside venue and a cultural hotspot located in the Limassol port area.
Uptown Square Catering – our Supporter – once again kept participants energized with fantastic meals, ensuring that no one had to code on an empty stomach.
City Friends Club stood by our side with their continued support and enthusiasm.
As you can see, the hackathon gathered a large group of friends, and this circle only keeps expanding with every new edition.
Maria Yashina, Hackathon organizer and the Head of the Marketing agency at AdTech Holding, adds:
“This year, HackTech was organized in record time. What usually takes months had to be delivered in about two: from contracts and logistics to production, judges, and public-sector approvals. It came together because our partners and sponsors reacted fast, we’re truly grateful for this collaborative spirit. Thanks to them, HackTech became a shared effort with real value for Cyprus.”
HackTech’25: Teams & Projects
Selecting the Projects
Not only did the topic and the grand purpose make this Hackathon truly unique – the scale did as well. It was, by far, the biggest hackathon we’ve ever organized.
In total, 25 teams took part in HackTech’25.
Even though this year’s promo campaign was relatively short, we received an overwhelming number of both team and individual applications. This clearly shows that wildfires are an issue that brings people together – and highlights how many participants were actually ready to contribute their skills and passion.
Given the importance of the challenge, we assembled a dedicated committee responsible for selecting the most promising and practical projects. Their task was to filter out less-developed duplicates, ideas that were too raw, and concepts that couldn’t realistically be executed – ensuring that the finalists would bring forward solutions with real potential.
The committee included representatives from the government and AdTech Holding’s C-level IT professionals – a group with a wide range of backgrounds and areas of expertise. This mix ensured that the selected projects met the highest criteria.
It was a long and difficult process. Yet, in the end, it was well worth it.
Elena Dolya, CAO at AdTech, says:
“It was an exciting and truly meaningful project for us. As a member of the idea-approval committee, I reviewed every submission, and I was impressed by the number of strong, thoughtful ideas. It’s inspiring to see how many people recognize opportunities for improvement and are not afraid to step up and act.
And watching the brightest minds on our island unite to address not just business challenges, but real-world problems, shows how impactful this community can be.”
Judges
This year, our judging panel covered every field relevant to the challenge and projects – from IT and business to government officials, firefighters, and emergency response representatives.
Here’s the full list of HackTech’25 judges:
- Alex Vasekin – CEO at AdTech Holding
- Konstantinos Kleovoulou – Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy (Director of Research)
- Marios Tziapouras – Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy (Director of Cybersecurity)
- Charis Demetriou – CEO at The Nexxie Group
- Andrei Bolshakov – Senior Product Manager at Mayflower
- Christos Hadjigeorgiou – Operational officer at the Limassol fire department
- Riana Constantinou – Head of Ambulance Service Directorate
To learn more about our judges’ perspectives on the competition, their impressions of the projects, and their comments, keep an eye on our Instagram account – we’ll soon be releasing a series of exclusive interviews.
Our Honored Guests
We were thrilled to welcome many guests this year – experts who brought valuable insights and helped participants sharpen their ideas.
Some of them, along with our mentors, even sat down with the teams to explain the real-world specifics behind the challenges and offer practical guidance on how to refine their concepts.
Among the guests we were especially excited to welcome was Nicodemos Damianou, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, who not only gave us an interview (coming soon on Instagram), but also delivered an inspiring and insightful speech during the awards ceremony.
Behind the Teams: Our Mentors
And finally, we should mention the people who supported the teams throughout both days – sharing their expertise, helping them refine their presentations, and, when needed, grounding their ideas to make the projects more practical and hands-on. For most of our mentors, this wasn’t their first hackathon, so they know exactly what judges tend to look for.
Each team had an assigned mentor and the opportunity to discuss any doubts or challenges along the way.
Meet our mentors:
- Mikhail Sidelnikov, AdTech Holding
- Alexey Koshkin, AdTech Holding
- Sergey Nikolenko, AdTech Holding
- Nikolas Petrou, Quadcode
- Andrey Morozov, Exness
Mikhail Sidelnikov, Head of QA at AdTech Holding, talks about the role of the mentor:
“One of the important roles in a hackathon is the mentor team – experts who help participants develop their ideas, from the initial concept and architecture to the final prototype and demo. At any moment, a mentor can join a team and help solve both technical and organizational issues, acting as a coordinator. This experience is not only about technical skills – it also requires a strong understanding of business processes, the ability to present ideas, and knowing how to pitch a project to the jury. There’s also a bit of psychology involved: teams often feel a lot of stress before their demo, and a mentor helps them refine their presentation and prepare for their performance.”
Now that you know all the key details of the event, let’s take a closer look at what was happening during those two days of coding.
Day 1: The Coding Starts
While the registration opened at 9 AM, many teams arrived as early as 8 AM, carrying laptops, monitors, hard drives, and even team mascots.
Once everyone had settled in and set up their workstations, the grand opening ceremony began.
Our amazing hosts, Maro and Renz, walked the participants through the agenda, highlighted the sessions not to miss, covered the all-important meal schedule, and wished everyone the best of luck.
The opening ceremony also featured heartfelt speeches from Elena Dolya, CAO at AdTech, Monica Polemitis from TKI, and Ivan Sysoev, Chief AI Officer. Each of them spoke about the wildfires from a personal perspective – an important reminder that, beyond the excitement and competitive spirit, HackTech’25 is centered around a very serious issue.
As soon as the official part was over, the teams got to work – sketching on whiteboards, soldering electrical circuits, and, of course, doing the less exotic but essential things like coding and snacking.
Around 20 participants stayed at the venue for the night-long coding session – and even slept there. We truly admire their dedication!
Day 2: What It Takes to Win a Hackathon
For some, the second day started right at the venue (we salute the brave ones); others arrived for breakfast and jumped back into work immediately. After the mandatory captains’ checkpoint, teams moved on to presentation rehearsals and the final tweaks to their prototypes.
By around 3 PM, everyone was fully focused: some teams were deep in discussion, others were debating features with passion, and some were simply snacking in quiet anticipation of the Demo Fest.
Demo Fest
The most important thing to know about the Demo Fest is that each team had only five minutes to present their idea: explain the concept, introduce the team, showcase the prototype, and leave a lasting impression – all within a very tight timeframe.
Each project had to fall under one of three tracks:
Prevention – Before the fire
Protection – During the fire
Recovery – After the fire
Overall, we saw an impressive range of practical, well-thought-out solutions: from drone-based monitoring and solar-powered forest cameras to various alerting systems for people in affected areas, apps for civilians to report fires, and full-scale dashboards for dispatching firefighters, police, and ambulance units. There were also fire-risk prediction models built on multiple factors – and, of course, plenty of recovery-focused projects aimed at coordinating volunteer efforts and supporting reforestation.
The Winners
As you can imagine, the judges had a very hard time deciding which team had developed the most promising and impactful solution – the level of competition was insanely high.
And with such strong contenders, the stakes were just as impressive: the total prize pool amounted to €30,000, distributed as follows:
1st place – €15,000
2nd place – €10,000
3rd place – €5,000
Time to reveal the winners of HackTech’25!
Third Place – DasoPhylax
The team developed a system for monitoring large forest areas and providing continuous, year-round alerts. They presented two devices: an inference unit and a wireless camera, both built on microcontrollers. The devices communicate with each other, with the inference unit acting as the gateway to the internet.
Second place – Cold Reload
The team developed a community-driven platform that aggregates resources and services to connect volunteers, organizers, and people in need. It serves as a centralized hub where users can offer help, request assistance, coordinate efforts, and collaborate more efficiently.
First Place – Nexxians
The team developed a platform designed to assist and coordinate wildfire response efforts between the Cyprus government and its citizens. Their solution introduces a federated, AI-driven “Cyprus Fire Digital Twin System”, enabling more accurate situational awareness and better-informed decision-making during wildfires.
But was that it?
Of course not. We also gave the audience – the participants themselves – the chance to choose the project that resonated with them the most.
People’s Choice Award winners – Re:Earth
The team developed EchoGuard, a solution that “gives nature a voice” after wildfires. It combines satellite data and AI to predict post-fire risks and visualize forest recovery, transforming environmental data into sound and storytelling. It serves as a bridge between science and empathy, helping communities better understand the Earth’s healing process.
What’s Next?
The competition is over, but the fight against wildfires certainly isn’t. We genuinely hope the teams will continue developing their ideas and exploring their potential beyond the hackathon.
From our side, we’ll be happy to support them with exposure and help their projects reach a wider audience – because important ideas deserve to be seen.
And, of course, a huge thank-you to everyone who took part, supported, mentored, or simply followed HackTech’25. Events like this remind us that innovation, community, and shared purpose can move us forward – and we’re excited to see what the future holds.
If you’d like to dive deeper into the stories behind the event, keep an eye on our social media – we’ll soon be sharing exclusive interviews with participants, mentors, guests, and judges.
