Seoul, South Korea: Our team won the Seoul Tech Impact Hackathon 2023 with Pocha, a geolocation app for finding street food vendors in Korea. Here’s how it went.
The Birth of Pocha#
The idea behind Pocha was simple: street food vendors in Korea don’t have traditional addresses, so they’re hard to find online. We wanted to build an app that puts them on the map—literally. It’s good for the vendors and good for anyone looking for a late-night tteokbokki spot.
The Hackathon Journey#
The hackathon was hosted by Lunit Global. Teams from different backgrounds came together, everyone working through the night building their projects. Lunit provided the office space, and the organizers kept things running smoothly.
Teamwork and Triumph#
The team was Sharon Levy, Jonothan Sue, Jared Lynskey, and Tiaan van der Riel. Everyone brought different skills, which made dividing the work straightforward. The pitch landed well with the judges—making street food vendors discoverable is a real problem with a clear solution.
Looking Ahead#
We’re working on getting Pocha into the app stores. It started as a hackathon project, but the problem it solves is real enough to keep building.
A Personal Reflection#
Hackathons are a great way to build something fast with people you haven’t worked with before. You learn a lot about how you work under pressure, and sometimes you end up with something worth continuing.