Technovation Girls Challenge 2026 Season for Girls and Young Women Worldwide

Competition in Applied Science , in Natural Science

Online, Online
Apply Before : March 18, 2026

Opportunity ID 933
Degree Non Degree Program/Certificate
Language Requirement Not Required
Opportunity Type : Fully Funded
Gender Female
Language of Instruction English
Application Fee Required No

Opportunity Description

About Technovation Challenge:

Application for the Technovation Girls 2026 season is now open! If you are a girl or a young woman aged between 8- 18 years, and willing to get the necessary skills to become a tech entrepreneur and a leader, this is a great opportunity for you. Each year, Technovation invites teams of girls from around the world to learn and apply their skills to create solutions and solve the world-real problem.

How does the competition work?

The team of (1-5) girls will identify a problem in their community and create a mobile app or AI project to address that issue and then they will be educated on how to launch it as a business. Moreover, students develop their skills and network with their peers and industry mentors, and learn problem-solving and leadership skills. After the Technovation Program, you will have learned the basic knowledge of programming and the complete prototype of a mobile application.

Details

Key Dates for 2026 season:

Registration opening date: August 8, 2026
Official Start of Season: 26 January 2026
Last Day to Register: 18 March 2026 23:59 UTC
Submission deadline: 20 April 2026 at 5 pm PDT | April 21 at 1 am WAT | 2 am CEST | 5:30 am IST
Quarterfinals (Judging Round 1): April 23 – May 26, 2026
Semifinalists announced: May 26, 2026
Semifinals (Judging Round 2): June 1 – June 15, 2026
Virtual Celebration and Finalists & Regional Winners Announcement: July 2026
Technovation World Summit: September 2026

Challenge organizer: Technovation- A global tech education non-profit

Location: Online

Duration: 12 weeks

Cost for participation: FREE

All you need is:

a team of five middle-level school or high school girls
a safe and appropriate place to meet each other (maybe online for this season)
a laptop with internet

Benefits and awards

The Technovation Challenge award structure is designed to recognize teams across three distinct divisions—Beginner, Junior, and Senior—based on their ability to solve real-world community problems through technology. The selection process progresses through multiple stages, starting with a qualification round that narrows down submissions to Quarterfinalists and then Semifinalists. From this pool, top teams are selected as Finalists and Regional Winners representing five major geographic regions: Africa, Asia & Oceania, Europe, Latin America, and North America. These top-tier teams are celebrated for their comprehensive work, which includes a pitch video, a technical demo, and a business or user adoption plan.

Financial awards and scholarships serve as the core incentives for the highest-ranking teams. Grand Prize Winners typically receive a larger educational stipend (e.g., $750 per team member) to support their future learning, while Finalists are awarded a slightly smaller stipend (e.g., $500 per team member). In addition to the top placement awards, Regional Winners receive recognition and smaller stipends (e.g., $250 per team member). The competition also presents special recognition awards in specific categories such as Technology and Social Impact to honor teams that excel in technical complexity or community benefit, ensuring a diverse range of talents and solutions are acknowledged.

Who can join this challenge?

Any girl whose age is between 8 and 18 as of August 1, 2026, can apply to this program.
All students must identify as female, trans, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming. Students who are assigned male at birth and self-identify as male cannot enter the competition.
Teams are composed of 1 to 5 students. Students can only join one team.
Competition Divisions are based on the age of the oldest student on the team on August 1, 2026.
- Beginner Division: girls ages 8-12
- Junior Division: girls ages 13-15
- Senior Division: girls ages 16-18
No pre-selection screening for participation
No prior programming experience is necessary for Technovation students.
The team should not have more than 5 members (excluding mentors)
The team owns the code and intellectual property developed during Technovation.

Mentors: Anyone willing to support and encourage the teams can register as a mentor. The mentor does not need to have prior programming experience. The students can’t ask their mentors to write the code or business plan or produce the demo video.

Parents:

Parents can check this resource page to see how they can help their daughter’s learning.

How to Apply

First, make your team of 5 persons. you and your teams & mentors need to register online by March 12, 2022 and then submit your project by April 19, 2022. It is upon participants when to meet each other and their mentor, they are free, whether they meet after school time, or at the weekends. Also, the elder person in the team will be selected as a senior person of the team. they will work together and work according to the curriculum provided for them online.

Note: If you can not find the team member from your school, you can find it from another school and country, or find it from the online platform and work with them online.

Note2: You are recommended to start working on your project in January so as to have a full 12 weeks to prepare your submission in April.

How do students find a team?

Most Technovation Girls teams meet at schools and are mentored by school teachers, industry professionals, or Chapter Ambassadors. In some cases, parents and other community leaders step up to mentor teams.

As a first step, the student should see if she has friends/classmates who would be interested in forming a team. In the case that there are enough students to form at least one team at the school, the students should then look to find a teacher(s) who can volunteer to mentor the program.

Can a team include students from different schools?

Yes, Technovation Girls teams can include students from different schools or even different countries! If you are having a hard time finding someone to be on your team, you can find other team members through your dashboard and work with them online.

Make sure if you form a team with students from outside your school, you decide early on how you will meet (example, WhatsApp, Zoom, etc).

When to meet?

Teams decide when they meet. Most students meet after school with their mentors, but there are some who meet at home on weekends. It’s up to the team to coordinate a time that works for them. Teams should always take into account COVID precautions and obey all local mandates if meeting in person!

If you are working with students from different countries, make sure to check the time zone so you can all find a time that works for you! Here is a helpful tool.

Apply NOW

You can apply online HERE and Check the Frequently Asked Question