Shipaton IRL · Chiang Mai, Thailand
Shipaton is RevenueCat's global mobile hackathon — two months, one rule: actually ship. DekPort is bringing it to Chiang Mai in person. Send an idea and a pitch video, we judge it, and the teams that get through spend 27 September in a mentored workshop that ends with judging, a trophy and a certificate.
Not entering? You can come just to watch — same room, same swag, no form. Hosted by DekPort; Shipaton and Shippy are RevenueCat's, used here as an official IRL community event.
Round 1 · online
20 September 2026, 23:59 ICT · results on the 22nd
Round 2 · Chiang Mai
27 September 2026, 12:30 ICT · Chiang Mai
Global competition
30 September 2026, 11:45pm PDT · Devpost
Poster drop
Save it, share it with your team, and bring the energy to build day. The poster brings together Shipaton, DekPort, and the city hosting our final three-day push. Round 1 entries close on 20 September — the poster is a good thing to attach when you post your pitch video.
Three things, two rounds
01
RevenueCat's global mobile hackathon. 1 August – 30 September 2026. Build a brand-new iOS, iPadOS, macOS or Android app, wire up the RevenueCat SDK, and publish it to a real store. Over $700k in prizes across 21 categories.
shipaton.comWe run the biggest listing of camps, competitions and student opportunities in Thailand. We spend all year telling people where to show up. This time we're the ones hosting.
dekport.comAn official Shipaton IRL meetup, run as a two-round competition. We judge ideas online first, then spend 27 September building with the teams that got through. Free, open to anyone, and you leave having pushed something real.
How it works
Round 1 happens online, before the event, and decides who joins the workshop track. Round 2 is the day itself. You can come to the day without entering Round 1 — you simply will not be judged.
Round 1 · online
Tell us what you want to build, who it is for, and what you think you can have running by 27 September. Then film yourself explaining it. There is nothing to pay and no code to show — the whole point of judging ideas first is that you have not built it yet.
DekPort reads every entry. We email all entrants on Tuesday 22 September 2026 — you find out either way, on the same day, before you book anything.
If you get through
You are in the workshop track on 27 September: mentors working on your idea specifically, and a judging slot at the end of the day for a trophy and a certificate.
If you do not
You lose nothing. Your seat at the build day still stands, and you can still enter the global Shipaton on Devpost yourself and compete for the real money. We are not a filter on the official competition and never were.
Round 2 · Chiang Mai
One afternoon in a room with people who have shipped apps before. The first hour is RevenueCat 101 and wiring the SDK so a purchase actually works; the rest is building, with mentors on stations. Everything we do that day is aimed at one thing: making your Devpost submission stronger before the deadline on the 30th.
This is the thing worth being blunt about, because two competitions are running at once and only one of them has money in it.
So: enter Round 1 for the workshop, the trophy and the certificate. Enter on Devpost for the money. Doing both is the point.
Already registered?
Everyone who signed up before 28 August 2026, when this format was announced, is already through Round 1. You registered for a plain build day, so we are not going to send you back to film a video. You are in the workshop track and you will get an email confirming it. If you would like to send an idea and a video anyway, you are very welcome to — it gives the judges more to work with.
Students, this one's yours
Shipaton runs a Next Gen Award specifically for student builders, and the bar to enter is lower than the main competition.
A whole prize category set aside for students — high school, college, university, bootcamp, any academic programme. You are not going up against full-time indie devs with five years of App Store history.
Students submit a video and source code instead of a store listing — so you never have to buy an Apple or Google developer account just to take part. Check the Devpost rules for the exact requirements.
This is the one that catches people out: Next Gen eligibility is checked from the email on your Devpost account, so register with your student or academic address, not a personal Gmail.
The afternoon
Doors at 12:30, everyone out by 17:00. We are not publishing a minute-by-minute timetable, because the last thing a room full of people building needs is a clock on the wall telling them they are behind. Here is the honest shape of it instead.
Name tag, coffee, a table. Food is out from the moment the doors open, because 12:30 is lunchtime and we are not monsters. Come on your own — most people do, and we will introduce you to someone.
A live walkthrough of wiring the RevenueCat SDK into an app until a purchase actually goes through, plus what makes a Shipaton submission count. This is the bit that eats people's weekends. We get it out of the way early.
The longest part of the day, and the good part. Mentors walk the room, then sit down at tables so you can go to them. Round 1 teams have one assigned to their idea already. Somewhere in the middle we stop, eat, and make everybody save a Devpost draft — the step people skip and then regret at 2am on the 30th.
Ninety seconds each, no slides, on a real phone. Round 1 teams are scored; anyone else who wants the stage can take it unscored. Then the trophy, certificates for everyone, swag, and a photo. Whoever hits submit on a real store gets the loudest cheer of the day.
Not building? Come anyway.
You do not have to write a line of code to be in the room. Walk in, see what people are making, sit in on the demos at the end and hear the finalists explain what they built and what broke. Grab swag while it lasts. Nobody will hand you a laptop and ask you to commit to anything.
This is genuinely the easiest way to find out whether this scene is for you. Plenty of people who now ship apps started by sitting at the back of a room like this one.
Watching needs no form and no idea — just the Luma RSVP so we know how many chairs to put out. Taking part in the competition is the form.
Come if
Built for people still at school or just out of it. Shipaton takes anyone aged 13 to 99 — we're aiming squarely at the younger end.
Why here
Our Chiang Mai base is The Brick Startup Space — a room for building, mentoring and the final demos.
September rolls toward lantern season. Thousands of paper lanterns going up is a decent metaphor for a room full of people shipping.
31 Sirimangklachan Rd., Lane 13, Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
On the table
Stickers and kit from the official meetup-in-a-box while it lasts, and a certificate for everyone who takes part.
Covered for the session. You focus on the build.
Mentors in the room for store review, pricing, and the parts that always break.
Ninety seconds in front of the room, judged if you cleared Round 1, and a spot in the DekPort write-up afterwards.
More than a seat
Enter Round 1 first — that is the one with a deadline. Then bring a project to the showcase, teach a useful skill, or use the starter kit to get unstuck before build day.
Submit your build to the Chiang Mai showcase with Cloudflare protection and email verification.
Open project formMove from idea to purchase test, demo video, and Devpost submission without losing the day.
Open starter kitBefore you ask
Yes, and you're genuinely welcome. Walk in, look at what people are making, sit in on the demos at the end and hear the finalists explain what they built, take swag while it lasts. No idea needed, no laptop needed, no form needed — just RSVP on Luma so we know how many chairs to set out. The registration form is for people taking part.
There isn't a published one, on purpose. Doors at 12:30, everyone out by 17:00. In between: a live session on wiring the RevenueCat SDK until a purchase works, a long stretch of building with mentors in the room, then demos, judging and awards. A room full of people building doesn't need a clock telling them they're behind.
Round 1 is online. You send a written idea and a public pitch video on YouTube or Facebook by 20 September 2026, tagged #DekPort #Shipaton #DekPortxShipaton. DekPort judges every entry and emails all entrants on 22 September. Teams that get through join the mentored workshop track at the Chiang Mai event on 27 September — that is Round 2 — and are judged at the end of the day for a trophy, a certificate and swag.
Nothing is taken away from you. You keep your seat at the build day, and you can still enter the global Shipaton on Devpost yourself and compete for the real prize money. DekPort is not a filter on the official competition — Round 1 only decides who joins our workshop track and who we judge on the day.
No. The 27 September build day is free and open to everyone who registers, whether or not they enter Round 1. Entering is what puts you in the workshop track and in front of the judges.
No. We award a trophy to the winning teams, a certificate to everyone who takes part, and swag while it lasts. All the prize money — over $700,000 across 21 categories — is RevenueCat's and is awarded through Devpost, where you have to register and submit yourself before 30 September 2026.
Two minutes or less, filmed on anything, explaining what you want to build and why. It has to be a public post on YouTube or Facebook — not unlisted, not a Drive link — captioned with #DekPort #Shipaton #DekPortxShipaton. You paste the link into the registration form.
No. Everyone who registered before 28 August 2026 is already through Round 1 and is in the workshop track on 27 September. You signed up for a plain build day, so we're not going to send you back to submit an idea and a video. We'll email you to confirm.
Yes, if you want to compete. This page is the Chiang Mai meetup; the hackathon itself is run by RevenueCat on Devpost. You can also just turn up to build without submitting anything.
Both. Talks are in Thai, materials and the official Shipaton rules are in English, and everyone in the room switches freely.
Most people arrive alone. There's a pairing round at the start, and solo submissions are completely valid.
No. The Shipaton window runs to 30 September, and Round 1 only asks for an idea and a video — nothing built. The meetup is one focused push inside that window, three days before it closes, plus the people to ask when you're stuck.
Laptop, charger, a phone to test on, and an idea you've been putting off.
Yes — Shipaton is open from age 13. If you're under 18 the Devpost rules carry extra requirements around consent, so read those before you submit. Either way you're welcome at the meetup.
Round 2 is at The Brick Startup Space, 31 Sirimangklachan Rd., Lane 13, Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. Use the Google Maps or OpenStreetMap link above for directions.
Last thing
Round 1 closes 20 September and results go out on the 22nd. Round 2 is at The Brick Startup Space.
Free, solo or with a team. One form does both, and entering Round 1 is optional. You confirm on Luma at the end.
Register for Shipaton on Devpost too — that's the one with the prize money, and it closes 30 September.
Made with
A student-run event only happens because a handful of people and organisations say yes. These are ours.
The global mobile hackathon this is an official IRL event for. Two months, 21 categories, one rule: actually ship.
shipaton.comThey run Shipaton, they make the in-app purchase infrastructure the whole thing is built on, and every baht of the prize money is theirs.
revenuecat.com
Your hosts. The biggest listing of camps, competitions and student opportunities in Thailand — this time on the other side of the table.
dekport.com
An event platform out of Thailand — event pages, applications, check-in and verified certificates. The kind of tooling a day like this runs on.
opennexia.comVenue, food, hardware to lend, mentors, swag, or a prize for the winners — if you want students in Chiang Mai building things, we would like to hear from you. A reply comes from a person, usually the same day.
hello@dekport.com
