After five years successful years, the Steel City Codefest is sunsetting.

When Steel City Codefest began in 2013, it was the one of the first hackathons in the city. It allowed a partnership between technologists and local nonprofits or government agencies to create sustainable technology solutions for local challenges. Codefest, along with the technology boom in Pittsburgh, has helped catalyze the space for more hackathons and startup weekends to emerge, allowing us to now take a step back.

Over the years, the Codefest has changed in format but the mission has remained the same. When the hackathon started in 2013, it was just a weekend, but it quickly grew into a week-long format, allowing for more people to participate, and more impressive apps to be built. With the success of Codefest, and the emerging interest in STEM for youth, Codefest Jr. was created in 2015 to allow youth the chance to test their coding skills. Codefest Jr. is now led by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

In its five-year run, Codefest had over 460 participants, who worked on 30 challenges across 84 teams. Eleven apps went on to be funded to completion though a partnership between the Codefest, BNY Mellon Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and The Forbes Funds.

More than 40 people have participated as volunteer committee members over the years to make this event happen. What began as a partnership between the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, City of Pittsburgh, University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR), MAYA Design, and Google, quickly grew to include: The Forbes Funds, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, American Eagle Outfitters, Work Hard Pittsburgh, Walnut Capital, Uber, Pittsburgh Code & Supply. All of which supported their employees in their participation on the planning committee.

It has been an amazing five years.

We would like to thank the Codefest team, all the participants, challenge organizations, and the community members who have participated in Codefest over the years, it would not have been possible without you.

Sincerely,

Steel City Codefest Team