When Aptos announced its global CTRL+MOVE Hackathon, it opened the doors to hundreds of teams worldwide competing online with bold new projects.

In India, the story began months earlier. Since March, we have been working with Aptos to grow a community on the ground through smaller local meetups, where developers learn together, experiment with Move, and start building their first projects.

So when the global hackathon was announced, it felt like the right moment to bring everyone together in one physical room. Bangalore became that stage. It was an opportunity to celebrate the momentum of a community that had been quietly forming for months and to provide builders with the space to turn ideas into demos side by side.

Over 150 participants joined for 24 hours of nonstop building. By the end, 35 projects were demoed, and more than 30 of them advanced directly into the global CTRL+MOVE competition.

This hackathon was not an endpoint but a milestone. The projects built here will continue evolving, and many of them are already entering the global stage.

For anyone watching from the outside, Bangalore sent a clear signal: global hackathons can achieve even more when you give local builders an IRL stage.

Bangalore Becomes the Stage

Bangalore has long been known as the tech capital of India, a city where fintech, startups, and developer communities collide. For Aptos, it was more than just a backdrop. It was the place to bring months of community building into one shared moment.

Until now, most CTRL+MOVE builders had connected online. In Bangalore, they finally sat side by side, trading ideas, sketching solutions, and coding through the night. Some traveled hundreds of kilometers just to be part of the room. Others experienced their first hackathon, learning as they went with Aptos mentors leaning in to guide them.

Every detail, from the workshops to the final pitches, reflected the same truth. India is ready, and its builders are eager to take their place on the global stage.

What We Did

• - 200+ registrations
• - 150+ active participants on-site
• - 35 projects demoed in 24 hours
• - 30+ projects advanced to the global CTRL+MOVE Hackathon
• - Hands-on workshops and mentorship directly from the Aptos ecosystem
• The result was a flow of fresh DeFi ideas, payment solutions, and infrastructure tools built on Aptos.

Winning Projects

The Bangalore edition of CTRL+MOVE produced projects that blended technical strength, creative problem-solving, UX polish, and real-world relevance under intense time pressure. Below are the standout winners, what makes them special, and why they matter to the growing Aptos ecosystem.

🥇 First Place – Splitrix & Deadlock ($350 each)

• Splitrix (Satish Chandra Chowdary Yadlapalli)
• • GitHub Repo | Demo / PPT
  • What it does: Splitrix is a DeFi solution for splitting payments and pooling assets across multiple participants. It introduces group transactions, shared wallets, and automated splits on Aptos.
  • Why it stood out: Splitrix takes a common real-world challenge, shared expenses, and makes it seamless, transparent, and trustless. By combining a clean user flow with robust on-chain execution, it delivers a tool that can serve DAOs, roommates, travel groups, and beyond.
    
    
• Deadlock (Srujan Vuyyuru)
• • GitHub Repo | Demo / PPT
  • What it does: Deadlock is a security-first module that tackles concurrency issues in Move. It introduces safer state handling and transaction ordering, reducing the risk of resource conflicts and execution deadlocks in high-throughput DeFi protocols.
  • Why it stood out: Concurrency is one of the hardest problems in blockchain execution. Deadlock addressed it head-on, positioning itself as a reliability layer for the Aptos ecosystem. For judges, the combination of technical ambition and strong execution was impossible to ignore.
    

🥈 Second Place – TesserApt & Qube ($250 each)

• TesserApt (Soumik Baksi)
• • GitHub Repo | Demo / PPT
  • What it does: TesserApt is a hybrid NFT + DeFi marketplace that enables fractionalized NFTs, staking, and marketplace trading.
  • Why it stood out: Judges highlighted its design-first approach. Beyond functionality, TesserApt showcased a polished UI and an accessible onboarding experience, proving that great UX is as critical as technical solidity for adoption.
    
    
• Qube (Tejasvi Kumar)
• • GitHub Repo | Demo / PPT
  • What it does: Qube is a trustless peer-to-peer micro-lending protocol that algorithmically matches borrowers and lenders through transparent smart contracts.
  • Why it stood out: Financial inclusion is a massive opportunity, and Qube directly addresses it. By making micro-lending safer and more efficient on-chain, the project showed both technical depth and meaningful real-world impact.

🥉 Third Place – Aptos IDE (Pritam P.) ($300)

• What it does: Aptos IDE is a browser-based integrated development environment for Move, with contract scaffolding, syntax highlighting, and instant testnet deployment.
• Why it stood out: Developer tools are multipliers. Aptos IDE lowers the entry barrier for new builders and accelerates prototyping for experienced ones, making it a cornerstone project for long-term ecosystem growth.

🎨 Best UI Track – TesserApt (Soumik Baksi) ($50)

• Demo / PPT
• Why it stood out: Among all submissions, TesserApt’s interface stood out for its clarity, elegance, and user-centered design. It proved that adoption in Web3 depends as much on how it feels to use a product as it does on what the code achieves.

✨ These projects didn’t just ship code in 24 hours; they shipped bold ideas with real potential. Each one reflects why Bangalore is more than just a tech hub; it’s a launchpad for global Web3 innovation.

Why It Matters for Aptos

In Bangalore, Aptos met a developer community that was not only talented but eager to build. The potential in the room was clear, and the energy showed how deeply India’s builders are ready to engage.

Over one weekend, more than 150 developers came together, shipping 35 projects from scratch in just 24 hours. More than 30 of those projects advanced directly to the global CTRL+MOVE Hackathon, proving that momentum does not stop at the event.

The hackathon became more than a competition. It turned into a gathering and a celebration where the community came alive. Builders shared their excitement in posts and updates, showing how much the experience meant to them.

The Aptos team was on the ground as well, spending real time with participants. They met builders face to face, gave feedback directly on projects, and got to know the people behind the ideas. For many teams, this guidance was as valuable as the hackathon itself.

By the end, Aptos walked away with more than numbers. They left with high-quality teams already preparing for the global stage, projects sharpened with feedback, and a community that is eager to keep building.

Hear From Participants

The real story of Bangalore lives in the voices of the builders. From the first posts on X, it was clear this hackathon wasn’t just about shipping code, it was about community, energy, and pride.

• - Some shared the sheer excitement of traveling long distances just to be part of the room.
• - Others posted live updates from sleepless coding sessions, where mentors leaned in and teams pushed to get their demos working by sunrise.
• - First-time hackers wrote about what it felt like to pitch their projects on stage.
• - And many reflected afterward on the friendships formed, the skills learned, and the belief that India’s builders are ready for the global stage.

You can scroll through the participant voices yourself: Tweet 1 · Tweet 2 · Tweet 3 · Tweet 4 · Tweet 5 · Tweet 6 · Tweet 7 · Tweet 8 · Tweet 9 · Tweet 10.

Together, these voices paint a picture that numbers alone cannot: the late-night energy, the joy of collaboration, and the pride of being part of CTRL+MOVE Bangalore.

Key Takeaways

• - Builders in India are ready to engage deeply with Aptos
• - Local, in-person execution creates authenticity and lowers barriers
• - Real output matters: 35 projects shipped in just 24 hours
• - Momentum continues: more than 30 projects advanced to the global CTRL+MOVE Hackathon
• - Bangalore laid the foundation for Aptos’ long-term presence in India
  
  

About the Organizers

Aptos Foundation: Dedicated to supporting the growth of the Aptos blockchain and its ecosystem, with a focus on DeFi, payments, and infrastructure innovation.

Rise In: A talent ecosystem for leading web3 protocols. With over 200,000 developers onboarded through courses, bootcamps, and hackathons, Rise In connects global protocols with local talent across Asia and the Middle East. Europe and LATAM.

What’s Next

Bangalore was one step in a much larger journey. CTRL+MOVE runs globally from August to October 2025, with 100,000 USD+ in prizes and pathways for projects to grow inside the Aptos ecosystem.

For builders in India, this was the gateway. Prototypes built in Bangalore are now entering the global stage, with the chance to secure funding and scale further.

The movement has just started. ✨

👉 Apply now to join upcoming Rise In cohorts: risein.com
👉 Already building on Aptos? Submit to the global CTRL+MOVE Hackathon: Dorahacks

✨ Bangalore showed what happens when local builders are given global pathways. The code, the projects, and the community are carrying the momentum forward.