⚡ DCU Whopathon | Online Business Hackathon
🚀 Can you build an online business in three hours?
This event is only for current DCU students.
Join the DCU Whopathon and go from “I could build something…” to a live online business in one evening.
You’ll choose an idea, figure out who it’s for, package something people might actually pay for, build your storefront on Whop and work towards getting your first customer.
No coding required. No startup idea required. Just bring your laptop and be ready to build.
🗓️ Event Details
📍 Location: The Spark, Albert College, DCU, Glasnevin
📅 Date: Thursday, November 12th, 2026
🕑 Time: 5:30 PM – 9:00 PM GMT+1
🎟️ Capacity: 100 people (free, but limited – RSVP fast)
⚡ What to Expect
A Whopathon is a fast, hands-on build challenge where the goal isn’t just to come up with an idea — it’s to actually launch something.
Over three hours, you’ll move from idea → customer → offer → website → product → launch.
Here’s how it works:
5:30–6:00 PM · Pizza + Team Formation 🍕
Arrive, grab some pizza, meet the other builders and form your team before we kick off.6:00–6:30 PM · Whopathon Kickoff + Challenge Brief
We’ll introduce Whop, explain the challenge and walk you through what you’ll be building over the next few hours.6:30–8:20 PM · Build + Launch 🚀
Pick your business idea, define your customer, create your Whop, set your price and build the product, service, membership or community you want to sell.
Then work out how you’ll reach customers and push towards getting your first real user or sale.8:20–8:40 PM · Rapid-Fire Pitches 🎤
Building stops and the judges come to you. Each team gets 60 seconds to pitch what they built, who it’s for and why someone would pay for it.8:40–8:55 PM · Judging
Judges compare the strongest projects and select the winners.8:55–9:00 PM · Winners + What’s Next 🏆
We’ll announce the winners — and show you how you can keep building with Catalyst afterwards.
🏆 Prizes
To be confirmed.
🚀 Keep Building with Catalyst
Teams that want to continue can plug into DCU Innovate Catalyst afterwards for coaching, connections and the chance to apply for €200–€1,000 in Catalyst grant funding to keep building.
💻 Please bring your laptop + charger!
What is Whop?
Whop is a platform for building, launching and selling digital products and online businesses.
You can use it to sell things like digital products, paid communities, memberships, courses and services, giving you the tools to package something you know or can create into an actual business.
The idea behind the Whopathon is simple: don’t spend weeks writing a business plan.
Pick something. Build it. Put a price on it. Launch it.
By the end of the evening, the goal is for teams to have a live business, a live website and a clear idea of what they could launch next.