Create This Year’s KMP Contest Starter Kit

Every year, students and recent graduates compete in the Kotlin Multiplatform Contest to build apps and earn a trip to KotlinConf. To support their efforts, the Kotlin Foundation is offering a new grant for the creation of a KMP Contest Starter Kit. Up to $30,000 is available to support the selected grantee in building an open source sample codebase and accompanying documentation which will be used by contest participants to jumpstart their submission. Keep reading to learn what’s expected and how to apply!

What is the Contest?

The Kotlin Multiplatform Contest is an annual event hosted by the Kotlin Foundation in which students and recent graduates are invited to show off their KMP skills by creating a new cross-platform application. Submissions are judged on creativity, ingenious use of KMP, and code quality. Winners earn a trip to KotlinConf.

Past winners include apps for running scavenger hunts, cognitive training, and clipboard syncing.

What is the KMP Contest Starter Kit?

The KMP Contest Starter Kit will be a public and open source set of resources designed to make it as easy as possible for contest participants to bring their ideas to life. A combination of sample code and educational materials, the kit should prepare them to implement the most common features and functionalities of a KMP project. How do I set up a database? How should I handle testing? What about navigation? Participants should be able to look to the starter kit for guidance on these topics and more (we’ll depend on the grantee to make calls on what capabilities are critical).

Sample Project

The cornerstone of the Contest Starter Kit will be an open source repository of sample code. This will be a sample application which participants can use as a starting point for their submission (or borrow from as needed). The sample application must meet the following requirements:

• Built on top of and complement the KMP starter template
• The sample application must support at least Android and iOS. Web, desktop and backend support would be very welcome, but not a strict requirement.
• The developer should use their experience to select and showcase the most important production application features. These should include (but not be limited to):
  • Networking with remote data service (e.g. Firestore, REST Backend, AI Service)
  • Local data persistence (database, preferences)
  • Notifications
  • Permissions
  • Testing
  • Documentation
• It must use Android Gradle Plugin version 9
• The codebase should be AI ready
  • Include an AGENTS.md (or similar)
  • Provide useful SKILLS for development
  • Support agent build and test workflows
• Open sourced under the MIT License.

Blog Posts

Alongside the sample project, you’ll be expected to produce a series of technical blog posts to be published on the Kotlin Foundation blog and LinkedIn. These companion posts will educate readers on the decisions made and the steps taken when developing the starter kit. They should further accelerate contest submissions by guiding developers through KMP recipes for things like dependency injection, platform interop, and testing.

Grant Rewards

In recognition of the technical expertise and teaching skills required to create a successful Contest Starter Kit, the Kotlin Foundation is offering a grant of $30,000 for its development. For more details about the grant process, see the terms. The kit’s developer will also be credited on contest announcements and social posts.

How to Apply

Click the button below to submit a grant application. Provide us with a summary of your KMP experience and what makes you uniquely suited for guiding contest participants. Do you have educational content creation experience?

Apply

What Makes a Submission Stand Out?

The chosen submission will be one which demonstrates capability, enthusiasm, and creativity. We will consider previous open source work, community involvement, and experience with production level KMP development.

Who’s Eligible?

Individual developers and organizations may apply for the grant provided they, or their employees, are not currently Kotlin Foundation members.