# Hackathons and competitions: Surya Pugazhenthi

Source page: https://suryapugaz.com/missions

### Competition Series

Hackathons and pitch competitions — every entry so far has finished on the podium.

- **CruzHacks 2025** (CruzHacks, UC Santa Cruz, Apr 2025): Best Beginner Hack — later featured by Santa Cruz Works as 1 of 5 winning projects with startup potential. Project: [BenefitFinder](https://suryapugaz.com/garage/benefitfinder).
- **SlugAI Tech Startup Pitch Competition** (SlugAI, UC Santa Cruz, Feb 2025): 1st place — $500 prize. Project: [ClientSight](https://suryapugaz.com/garage/clientsight).
- **Locus Agentic Payments Hackathon** (Locus (Y Combinator FW25), Nov 2025): 2nd place overall + Stripe Prize Track. Project: [TripWeaver](https://suryapugaz.com/garage/tripweaver).
- **EF Marketing Agents Hackathon** (Entrepreneur First, Apr 2026): 3rd place — Best Use of Apify API. Project: [Credence](https://suryapugaz.com/garage/credence).