BusinessWire India
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 15: Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI), in partnership with Aspire For Her, today announced the successful conclusion of its nationwide all-women Generative AI hackathon under the #WomenWhoMaster initiative. Drawing nearly 1,29,000 registrants from across India, the landmark event officially earned a Guinness World Record title. Guinness World Records created a brand-new award category specifically to recognize female inclusion in emerging technology: "Largest Women-Only Generative AI Hackathon (Multiple Venues)."
A core pillar of Logitech MX’s broader #WomenWhoMaster movement, this initiative equips women with practical skills in Generative AI, low-code development, and machine learning. Designed as an end-to-end skill-building program, it provides mentorship and industry pathways to ensure applied Generative AI skills translates into financial independence and career growth for women in STEM.
The Grand Finale, hosted at Logitech’s Chennai headquarters, brought together 112 finalists selected from over 15,000 colleges across 5,000+ cities. Kritika Yadav from Ramdeobaba University, Nagpur, emerged as the national winner for "HerFinance," an AI-powered financial resilience companion designed to help women better understand their money, risks and financial choices. Priti Kumari Pandey from Parul Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vadodara, was named the first runner-up for "RE – From Skills to Employment," an AI-powered career companion designed to help women assess their skills, identify career pathways and improve employment readiness. Mridul Singh Soam from GL Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Delhi NCR, was named the second runner-up for "KarigarSetu," an AI-powered venture navigator designed to help women artisans grow their businesses by connecting marketing decisions with actual sales and transactions. The winners received prize money along with a Certificate of Championship. All participants were given the recently launched MX Keypad, a programmable control device aimed at developers working with AI coding tools.
Significantly, more than 60% of total registrations came from Tier 2, Tier 3, and emerging cities, demonstrating how ambition and technical capability in AI are expanding well beyond India’s established technology centers.
The nationwide journey began with an online assessment that saw over 26,000 women participate, from which 2,800 participants progressed to simultaneous zonal rounds across eight regional hubs, Mumbai (MET College, Bandra), Bengaluru (Dayanand Sagar University, Kanakapura), Chennai (SRM Easwari College), Kolkata (Praxis Business School), Noida (Amity University), Pune (ASM College), Hyderabad (KL University), and Visakhapatnam (Bullaya College), culminating in the 112 finalists advancing to Chennai.
Speaking at the Grand Finale, Grace Lokako, Global Marketing Manager, MX at Logitech, said, “Nearly 129,000 registrations tell us something much bigger than the scale of a hackathon, they reveal a massive wave of ambition among women ready to lead and build the AI economy. What stood out was not only the quality of ideas we saw today, but where that talent came from. With more than 60% of registrations coming from Tier 2, Tier 3, and emerging cities, it is clear that India’s next generation of technology creators will come from every corner of the country. Supporting India’s broader digital-skilling priorities, our ambition through Women Who Master is to help turn that potential into opportunity by creating access to skills, mentorship, and industry-academia pathways that translate into meaningful careers in technology.”
Commenting on the initiative, Polina Anokhina, IMEA (India Middle East Africa) Region Director at Logitech, said, "At Logitech, we firmly believe that diversity of thought is the ultimate catalyst for innovation. Supporting women in STEM is essential for building an inclusive, future-ready technology ecosystem across the IMEA (India Middle East Africa) region and globally. Through our Women Who Master initiative, Logitech is committed to removing structural barriers, fostering hands-on capability, and providing women with the tools and access they need to excel as builders and leaders in the emerging AI economy."
Kritika Yadav, National Winner, said, “Winning this hackathon is incredibly meaningful because it gave me the opportunity to build a solution around a challenge that affects women in a very real way. Through HerFinance, we wanted to go beyond simply giving financial information and help women better understand their money, assess risks, and make informed decisions with confidence. The experience also showed me how Generative AI can be used to create practical, accessible solutions that can have a meaningful impact on people’s everyday lives. I am grateful to Logitech and Aspire For Her for creating a platform where young women can experiment, build, and turn their ideas into solutions for the future.”
Beyond the competition, the initiative was designed to create pathways for women to build practical exposure to Generative AI, connect with mentors and industry leaders, and explore opportunities within the broader technology ecosystem.
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