Logitech and Aspire For Her Set Guinness World Record for Largest Women-Only Generative AI Hackathon
Chennai: Logitech, in partnership with Aspire For Her, has set a new Guinness World Record title for the “Largest Women-Only Generative AI Hackathon (Multiple Venues)” under its #WomenWhoMaster initiative.
The nationwide hackathon attracted nearly 1,29,000 registrations from across India. Guinness World Records created the new award category specifically to recognise female participation in emerging technology.
The initiative focused on practical skills in Generative AI, low-code development and machine learning, along with mentorship and industry pathways aimed at supporting career development for women in STEM.
112 Finalists Reach Chennai
The Grand Finale was held at Logitech’s Chennai headquarters, bringing together 112 finalists selected from more than 15,000 colleges across 5,000+ cities.
Kritika Yadav from Ramdeobaba University, Nagpur, emerged as the national winner for “HerFinance”, an AI-powered financial resilience companion designed to help women understand their money, risks and financial choices.
Priti Kumari Pandey from Parul Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vadodara, was named the first runner-up for “RE – From Skills to Employment”, an AI-powered career companion designed to help women assess their skills, identify career pathways and improve employment readiness.
Mridul Singh Soam from GL Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Delhi NCR, was named the second runner-up for “KarigarSetu”, an AI-powered venture navigator designed to help women artisans grow their businesses by connecting marketing decisions with sales and transaction data.
The winners received prize money and a Certificate of Championship. All participants were given the recently launched MX Keypad, a programmable control device designed for developers working with AI coding tools.
More than 60% of registrations came from Tier 2, Tier 3 and emerging cities, indicating participation from locations beyond India’s established technology centres.
Hackathon Held Across Eight Regional Hubs
The nationwide programme began with an online assessment that attracted more than 26,000 women. From this group, 2,800 participants progressed to simultaneous zonal rounds conducted across eight regional hubs.
The rounds were held in:
- Mumbai: MET College, Bandra
- Bengaluru: Dayanand Sagar University, Kanakapura
- Chennai: SRM Easwari College
- Kolkata: Praxis Business School
- Noida: Amity University
- Pune: ASM College
- Hyderabad: KL University
- Visakhapatnam: Bullaya College
The 112 finalists from these rounds advanced to the Grand Finale in Chennai.
Focus on Women in AI and STEM
Speaking at the Grand Finale, Grace Lokako, Global Marketing Manager, MX at Logitech, said the registration numbers reflected growing interest among women in building solutions using AI.
She also pointed to the participation from Tier 2, Tier 3 and emerging cities, saying the programme aims to provide women with access to skills, mentorship and industry-academia pathways.
Polina Anokhina, IMEA Region Director at Logitech, said diversity of thought was important for innovation and that supporting women in STEM was necessary for developing an inclusive technology ecosystem.
According to Anokhina, the #WomenWhoMaster initiative focuses on reducing barriers, developing practical capabilities and providing women with access to tools and opportunities in the emerging AI economy.
National winner Kritika Yadav said the hackathon provided an opportunity to develop a solution addressing financial challenges faced by women.
She said the HerFinance project was designed to help women understand their finances, assess risks and make informed decisions, while also demonstrating how Generative AI can be applied to everyday challenges.
Beyond the competition, the initiative was designed to provide participants with practical exposure to Generative AI, opportunities to interact with mentors and industry leaders, and pathways to explore the wider technology ecosystem.
