Submission Guidelines

General

These guidelines outline what Future Caribbean, including its partners, sponsors, mentors, judges, and affiliates (collectively, the “Organizers”) expect from participants (selected teams) during the application, build sprint, and final submission stages. They complement our Terms, Code of Conduct, Privacy Policy, and Judging Rubric.

1. Eligibility & Application

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Application selection has begun — there is still time to apply while places remain available.

1.1 Criteria

• Applications are open to individuals, teams, founders, developers, and organizations globally.
• Must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction).
• Teams may have 1–4 members.
• No entry fee.
• Language: English.

1.2 Applications

• Only selected teams (top 40) proceed to the 21-day Build Sprint with compute access.
• Applicants must agree to the Code of Conduct and these guidelines upon application and participation.

2. Build Phase Requirements

(July 17 – August 7, 2026)

2.1 Selected participants receive

• NVIDIA H200-class GPU compute credits via Highrise AI.
• Access to workshops, advisors and institutional partners.
• Expectation to build in public where possible (share progress, experiments, and learnings on Discord, GitHub, or other open channels).

2.2 Responsible Use of Resources

• Compute and tools are for Buildathon related work only.
• Do not use for cryptocurrency mining, unrelated commercial services, or malicious activities.

3. Final Submission Deliverables

(Due August 7, 2026)

3.1 Submission package

Submit a complete, deployable (or near-deployable) Agentic AI system in one of the ten (10) tracks. Your submission package should include:

• Project Overview (1–2 pages or slides):
• Problem statement and Caribbean/global relevance.
• Solution description and key features.
• Business model and go-to-market approach.
• Technical Documentation:
• Architecture diagram and Agentic workflow (agents, orchestration, reasoning loops, human-in-the-loop, etc.).
• GitHub repository (or equivalent) with code, setup instructions, and clear open-source licensing.
• List of data sources, models, and third-party tools used.
• Demo video (3–5 minutes) or live demo link.

3.2 Open Source

• Recommended Open Source Licenses (choose based on your project goals):
• Permissive (strongly recommended for broad adoption and scalability).
• Weak Copyleft (use where necessary).
• Strong Copyleft (limit use with caution).

3.3 Compliance and Responsible AI

Compliance & Responsible AI Statement (required, 300–500 words):

• Description of how your system addresses data privacy and protection (e.g., consent mechanisms, anonymization, access controls).
• Display awareness of and approach to relevant regulations: GDPR (EU), CCPA/CPRA (California), EU AI Act (especially for high-risk systems), and other applicable laws (e.g., sector-specific rules in healthcare or finance, Caribbean data sovereignty considerations).
• Bias mitigation, safety measures, security practices, and ethical considerations.
• Any limitations or risks and how they are managed.
• Licensing choices and their implications for openness, compliance, and deployment.

3.4 Impact & Scalability

• Evidence of real-world testing or validation (even if early).
• Path to deployment and global scaling beyond the Caribbean.

Submissions must be made via the official portal/link provided to selected teams. Late submissions will be disqualified.

4. Compliance & Legal Expectations

4.1 Data Privacy & Regulations

Participants are responsible for ensuring their projects comply with applicable laws. Strong attention to privacy, consent, security, and regulatory alignment (especially in Healthcare, Finance, and Open Track) is expected and will be viewed favorably by judges under Product-Market Fit, Defensibility, and Agentic AI Excellence.

4.2 Intellectual Property

Teams retain ownership of their IP. However, you grant Future Caribbean a non-exclusive license to feature your project publicly (website, announcements, NYSE showcase, etc.).

4.3 Open Source

We strongly encourage open-source contributions to accelerate the ecosystem.

4.4 No Misrepresentation

All claims about capabilities, performance, and data usage must be accurate and transparent.

5. Judging & Evaluation

Final submissions are evaluated per the Judging Rubric.

5.1 Focus

• 50% Business Strength (Team, Innovation/Defensibility, Product-Market Fit).
• 50% Agentic AI Excellence (technical quality, novelty, scalability, real-world impact).

5.2 Submission standards

Thoughtful licensing that balances openness with deployability strengthens your submission.

6. Post-Submission & Prizes

6.1 Participation obligations

Shortlisted teams must be willing to participate in interviews/live demos.

6.2 Finalists

Finalists present at the New York Stock Exchange and receive prizes, hardware, scholarships, and investor introductions.

6.3 Alumni program

All participants who submit on time qualify for the alumni program.

7. Liability, Waiver, Release, and Indemnification

By participating in the Buildathon, you agree to the following waiver and release to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law:

7.1 Assumption of risks by participants

You voluntarily assume all risks associated with your participation, including but not limited to risks related to the use of provided compute resources, development of AI systems, data handling, third-party tools, public showcasing, and any technical, legal, or commercial outcomes. The Organizers shall not be liable for any loss, damage, injury, or claim arising from your participation.

7.2 Release and Hold Harmless

You hereby release, discharge, and hold harmless the Organizers from any and all claims, demands, actions, causes of action, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) of any kind, whether known or unknown, arising out of or related to your participation, your project, or the event.

7.3 Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and defend the Organizers against any claims, liabilities, or expenses brought by third parties resulting from your project, your actions (including violations of data privacy laws, IP infringement, or harmful AI outputs), or your breach of these guidelines or the Code of Conduct.

7.4 Limitation of Liability

In no event shall the Organizers be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any lost profits, data, or opportunities. Total liability, if any, shall not exceed the amount paid by you to participate (i.e., zero, as there is no fee).

7.5 Extent of Waiver

This waiver is personal to you and survives termination of your participation.

8. Changes to Rules, Schedule, and Guidelines

8.1 Changes

Future Caribbean reserves the right to modify, amend, or update these Submission Guidelines, the Code of Conduct, the Judging Rubric, timelines, prize structures, eligibility criteria, or any other rules or procedures at any time, with or without prior notice, as deemed necessary or appropriate in its sole discretion (including but not limited to adjustments for operational, technical, legal, or unforeseen circumstances).

8.2 Communication of Changes

Any material changes will be communicated promptly via email to the registered contact address provided during application and/or posted on the official website (futurecaribbean.com).

8.3 Acceptance

Continued participation in the Buildathon after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised terms.

8.5 No liability for changes

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Future Caribbean and/or the Organizers shall not be liable for any loss, inconvenience, or damage suffered by participants as a result of any such changes, delays, cancellations, or modifications to the event.

8.6 Conflict of Versions

In the event of a conflict between versions, the most recent version posted on the website or communicated by the organizers shall govern.

9. Questions & Support

Direct queries to email: apply@futurecaribbean.com

Community: Join the official Discord/WhatsApp channels (links provided upon selection).

We are excited to see what you build. Focus on practical, deployable systems that leverage Agentic AI for real coordination challenges.

Future Caribbean Team

Last updated: June 24, 2026