⛴️ Welcome to Shipyard: Creator Contest — an app-building challenge where real influencers enlist you to build, launch, and monetize an MVP app for their audience. In four weeks or less.

ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Shipyard: Creator Contest is about building real, monetizable apps for influencers’ and their audiences.

Rather than creating demos for judges, you’re tasked with shipping a working MVP for an influencer and their community. We’ve partnered with seven creators representing different niches, who’ve provided seven briefs about the kind of mobile app they — and their followers — are looking for.

Browse the briefs, learn about the problem each influencer’s app is hoping to solve, and get stuck into building something real for a pre-validated audience willing to try (and pay for!) your app.

Alongside our panel of judges, the influencers will pick seven winning apps. But you don’t just get cash. You gain real-world credibility, distribution through an established creator, and the opportunity to continue developing and monetizing your app beyond the hackathon.

All participants will also receive our Shipping Container 📦 a digital bundle packed with exclusive perks and offers from our partners.

Ready to cast off? Haul the anchor up and let’s go! ⚓️

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

1. On January 15 the influencer briefs will drop: read summaries here on Devpost or watch the full brief on the official Shipyard website. 
2. Choose one influencer to build an app for, and get ideating!
3. Design and build a working MVP mobile app for iOS or Android that fits your chosen brief
4. Integrate RevenueCat and monetize your app — this can be in-app purchases or subscription offerings
5. Submit your app on Devpost by February 12: include a demo video, written proposal, and access to the build (head to the Submission Requirements section for more detail)

On February 26, we’ll announce our seven winners. You’ll be evaluated not just on technical execution, but on audience fit, product quality, and monetization potential — just like a real app launch.

THE PRIZES

The 7 winning app-builders don't just get paid, they get the opportunity to build and monetize their app with the creator and unlock a primed audience.

• $20,000 per winning app
• 7 winners
• Feature on RevenueCat official channels
• Long-term credibility (and bragging rights)
• Opportunity to connect with the briefing influencer

These creators aren't just looking for a one-and-done MVP — they want a long-term, profitable app. If you ship the right thing, you might just discover a whole fleet of opportunities.

THE TIMELINE

Here's the shipping route for your challenge... 

Anchors aweigh January 15: Briefs are out and registration is open. Time to start building!

All hands on deck January 15–February 12: Four weeks to build and monetize your MVP.

Land ho! February 12: Submit your link and demo video by 11:59pm PST.

Captain's review February 12–25: Submissions are reviewed by judging panel and the creators.

Dividing the loot February 26: Winners are announced!

THE BRIEFS

Each creator has provided you with a video brief, a problem statement, and some insights on their audience. You can watch all the briefs on the Shipyard website here. We’ve summarized each influencer’s brief below:

Sam Beckman: Cross-platform power reminders

Watch the brief

Sam lives by reminders, but switching between Android and iOS means rebuilding his entire system from scratch. He wants a beautiful, fully functional reminders app on both iOS + Android* with custom snoozes from notifications, powerful recurring rules, and true sync so dismissing once clears everywhere.

*For the purpose of the hackathon, you only need to build an MVP for iOS or Android

Gabby Beckford (PacksLight): Dream-to-do challenges for ambitious women 

Watch the brief

Gabby’s community is full of smart, adventurous women who want big trips and big life upgrades, but often get stuck between inspiration and action. Build an upbeat, motivating app that turns goals into daily micro-actions, with challenges, streaks/wins, tracking, and gamified moments that make progress feel fun (yes, confetti welcome).

Josh (VisualFaktory): One portfolio to track them all 

Watch the brief

Investors juggle stocks, gold, funds, fixed income, real estate, and more across multiple platforms — messy to track and hard to understand at a glance. Josh wants a single app where users can log everything, get real-time price updates where possible, set amortization/reminder alerts for non-listed products, and unlock premium risk + diversification analysis (like country/sector exposure).

Simon (Better Creating): Minimalist AI coaching in your pocket 

Watch the brief

Simon’s audience loves productivity, great design, and building systems — and he wants to bring coaching to more people. Create a clean, minimal mobile app where users can browse, create, and share AI coaches, add personal context/values, and start chatting immediately. No complex setup, just guidance at the right moment.

Eitan Bernath: From saved recipe to dinner made 

Watch the brief

Eitan wants to help people actually cook what they’ve been meaning to make. Think tools that turn inspiration into action: an app that can generate a grocery list from a recipe video/link, organize what you want to cook, and make it simple to go from “I saw this” to “it’s on the table.”

Quin Gable: A trusted community for van-lifers to connect 

Watch the brief

Dating and making friends on the road is hard when you’re always moving—and van life is a tight, protective community. Quin wants a van-life app with nomadic dating, activity-based friend finding, and even a paid 'builder help' section for van projects, with invite-only or verified access to keep it safe and intentional.

Rebecca Louise: Money confidence for busy mums 

Watch the brief

Rebecca hears it constantly: mums are short on time, want financial independence, and need practical help. Build an app that offers everyday money-saving guidance (shopping swaps, batch cooking, cost comparisons, home reno savings) plus an approachable path into investing basics so users can grow what they have, without overwhelm.

RULES

We're keeping it simple: Build the app you want. The only catch? You must use RevenueCat and monetize through RevenueCat.

For full rules and all the Ts&Cs, go to the Rules tab on Devpost.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many briefs can I create a submission for?

You can submit up to seven submissions in total e.g. one submission per creator. You cannot submit more than one project per creator. You will not gain extra points in judging for having submitted multiple apps. We suggest focusing your efforts on one brief to make the best possible MVP!

Can my app be on an app store? Do I gain/lose points for having the app live on the app stores?

Your app does not need to be on any app store prior to submission. If it is live on an app store, this will not impact the judging of your submission (positively or negatively). However, your app cannot have been submitted to an app store prior to January 15, as all apps must have been started during the hackathon timeframe.

How does judging work? When do the creators get involved?

All submissions will go through initial judging against a technical review and review against the briefs. The partner creators will then review the top 10–15 submissions for their brief and select a winner.

Do you get extra points for submitting on both iOS and Android?

While some creator briefs specifically call out app compatibility on both iOS and Android, for the purpose of the hackathon you are only required to create the app on one platform, and will not gain extra points for submitting an iOS and Android version. If relevant to your brief, it may be beneficial to include reference to other platform compatibility in your written proposal.

Can I submit a web app?

No, all submissions must be mobile apps, for iOS or Android.

Follow RevenueCat on Twitter @RevenueCat for the latest updates. Use #Shipyard2026 to join the conversation. You can also join the Shipyard Discord community here to connect with other participants. 

• Audience Fit (30%)
  How well does the app serve the influencer's specific audience?
• User Experience (25%)
  Is the app intuitive, polished, and enjoyable to use?
• Monetization Potential (20%)
  Is the subscription model compelling and sustainable?
• Innovation (15%)
  Does the app offer unique features or a fresh approach?
• Technical Quality (10%)
  Is the app stable, performant, and well-built?