1776 Labs at Penn: 24 Hour Challenge

1776 Labs at Penn is hosting its 24-Hour Challenge from Thursday, October 22, to Friday, October 23, at Penn Venture Lab in Philadelphia. It's a startup sprint that works exactly how it sounds: government officials bring real-world problems to a virtual kickoff on Thursday, and teams have 24 hours to build a solution and pitch it in person on Friday. The challenges come from the City of Philadelphia, Montgomery County, and The Connect, and the winning team goes on to nationals at Amazon HQ2 in Washington, D.C.

The whole thing is presented by OnGov, Venture Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, the Fels Institute of Government, WIBEC, and Polis. The challenges themselves are brought by the City of Philadelphia, Montgomery County, and The Connect, and the lineup of speakers includes Omar Sabir, Chairman of the Philadelphia City Commissioners; Senzwa Ntshepe, President and CEO of The Connect; Jeannette Bruno, Chief Transformation Officer for Montgomery County; and Renee Chenault-Fattah, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and Fair Housing Commission.

If you're planning to join, the schedule is tight. The virtual kickoff runs Thursday, October 22, from 5:00 to 6:00 PM, which is when the problems are laid out. From there, you've got 24 hours to build your solution before the in-person pitches on Friday, October 23, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. The pitches take place at the Colloquium Hall, on the second floor of Tangen Hall (Venture Lab), 115 S 40th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.