Oracle APEX platform powers student innovation at Xcelerate 2025 Hackathon

Students from M.H. Saboo Siddik College of Engineering in Mumbai clinched the top prize at the Xcelerate 2025 hackathon. The award ceremony, held on Saturday at the Holiday Inn on the OMR IT Expressway, celebrated a new generation of developers building impactful solutions on Oracle APEX.

Hosted by the India Oracle APEX User Group (INOAUG) in collaboration with Oracle, the event showcased the winning projects built exclusively on Oracle APEX. The hackathon challenged students to leverage the platform to tackle real-world problems, from pressing social issues in India to creating innovative tools for educational institutions.

The event kicked off with a welcome from INOAUG President, Mr. Richard Dalvi, followed by keynotes focused on the Oracle APEX technology.

Mr. Roopesh Thokala and Mr. Shailu Srivastava, both Product Managers at Oracle, shared updates and the future vision for the APEX platform, underlining its growing importance in rapid application development.

Xcelerate 2025 began with a nationwide call for entries, attracting 115 teams who developed their initial concepts using Oracle APEX. Following a competitive selection process, 13 finalist teams were chosen to present their fully functional applications to a panel of judges on September 13, 2025.

The M.H. Saboo Siddik College of Engineering team was awarded the first prize of ₹1,00,000 for their APEX-built solution. The second prize of ₹50,000 went to the Government College of Engineering and Textile Technology from Serampore, West Bengal, while St. Joseph’s College of Engineering in Chennai took home the third prize of ₹25,000.

The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks from Mr. Natarajan, Secretary and Treasurer of INOAUG, who praised the ingenuity of the participants and the robust capabilities of the Oracle APEX platform that brought their ideas to life.