From Setbacks To Spotlight: Our Winning Journey Of EY Techathon 5.0

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“Don’t worry man, we’ll win the next one for sure.”

That line became almost a ritual for us. After every hackathon or competition where we gave it our all but ended up just short, sometimes by a mark, sometimes by a better pitch, we reminded ourselves that our moment was still waiting.

When the email popped up saying, “Congratulations! You’re in the grand finals of EY Techathon 5.0,” it felt different. This time, the stakes were higher, our preparation was stronger, and our determination was unshakable. We had promised ourselves that if there was one competition where we’d give absolutely everything, it would be this one.

The Spark That Pulled Us In

Our EY Techathon journey started back in October, almost by accident. We stumbled upon the event on LinkedIn, and the theme, Financial Inclusion, instantly caught our eye.

It wasn’t just another broad tech problem. It spoke about something real:

How rural women in India face challenges in managing money, budgeting, accessing loans, and even understanding financial terms.

For us, this wasn’t a theoretical challenge; it was a chance to solve something meaningful. Our team, CaseWizz, came together naturally. We, Siddharth Asthana, Sanyam Jhuria, and Ayush Sikarwal, have been the closest of friends and have been working together for years. We were already battle-tested from multiple hackathons, bonded by a mix of late-night brainstorming, last-minute debugging, and, of course, repeated near misses. Each loss had built our resilience, and by the time EY Techathon 5.0 came around, we were ready to turn that persistence into success.

Listening Before Building

When we saw the problem statement, our instinct wasn’t to code; it was to listen. We knew that designing for someone whose daily reality is very different from ours meant stepping out of our bubble.

So we took the old-school route. We visited Midnapore village, not far from our IIT Kharagpur campus, and spoke to the women there. We didn’t go in with fancy surveys or structured forms; we just had conversations.

We asked:

• What confuses you most about banking?
• What scares you when you think about loans?
• What do you wish were simpler when it comes to money?

Their answers changed everything for us. We realised that financial literacy wasn’t about throwing numbers at people. It was about trust, language, confidence, and access. Many women knew how to save, but they lacked the confidence to approach a bank. Some feared being judged for asking “basic” questions. Others were simply locked out by language.

Barriers. That clarity shaped our Executive Summary submission. Instead of highlighting “cool tech features,” we highlighted the real problems and how our solution would meet users where they were — in their own language, with simplicity at the core.

Building V.A.R.U.N: Our Digital Companion

From those conversations, our idea began to take shape. We called it V.A.R.U.N. — Voice Assistant for Rural Users’ Needs.

At its heart, V.A.R.U.N. was a voice-based digital companion. It didn’t assume users were tech-savvy or fluent in English. Instead, it adapted to their literacy level and spoke in their language.

We packed it with features that mattered most:

• Multilingual News: breaking down financial developments into easy-to-digest stories.
• Budget Assistant: helping users track daily expenses.
• Loan Assistant: guiding them through the process of borrowing confidently.
• Investment Recommender: suggesting simple, safe ways to grow savings.
• Community Chat: creating a safe space where no question was “too silly.”

The beauty of V.A.R.U.N was its simplicity. It wasn’t about showing off advanced AI; it was about building trust and making finance less intimidating.

Growing Beyond an App: The Birth of FABs

As we refined our solution for the detailed round, a big realization hit us: what about those who don’t own smartphones or have reliable internet?

If our solution was truly about financial inclusion, it had to include them, too. That’s when we came up with FABs—Financial Assistance Booths.

Think of them as ATMs, but instead of dispensing cash, they dispense clarity. Users could walk into a booth, ask their queries, and get answers in their local language — no typing, no apps, no jargon. FABs made our idea bigger, more inclusive, and more practical.

The Semi-Finals Experience

When we reached the semi-finals, we felt the real pressure. Presenting in front of the EY jury wasn’t just about showing slides—it was about proving that our idea was feasible, scalable, and impactful.

The jury’s questions were tough:

• How will these booths be maintained in rural areas?
• How will you ensure data privacy and trust?
• What partnerships would you need to make this work?

It wasn’t easy, but their challenges pushed us to think deeper. We weren’t just pitching a project; we were shaping a product that had to stand up in the real world.

Mentorship That Transformed Our Pitch

One of the biggest turning points came during the mentorship sessions with EY experts. They didn’t just critique our solution; they helped us refine it. They encouraged us to:

• Simplify the pitch: focus on the problem and impact, not just the tech.
• Highlight trust as a core pillar: because adoption depended on it as much as
• features.
• Balance vision with reality: show ambition, but also practicality.

Those mentorship sessions helped us transform from “hackathon builders” into “solution designers”.

The Grand Finale: A Dream Realized

Finally, the big day arrived—the Grand Finale in Bengaluru. Standing on stage in front of the EY jury and an audience filled with brilliant minds was surreal. We had rehearsed countless times, but nothing prepares you for the adrenaline of that moment. We walked them through our journey—from Midnapore village conversations to the vision of FABs. We spoke not just about features, but about the women who inspired our work.

And then came the moment we’ll never forget. The announcement: “The winner of EY Techathon 5.0 is… CaseWizz.”

In that instant, every late night, every failed attempt, every near miss came rushing back — and it all felt worth it.

Lessons That Will Stay With Us

Looking back, here’s what we carry with us from EY Techathon 5.0:

• Failure is part of the journey. Every loss prepared us for this win.
• Keep it simple. The best solutions are those people actually use.
• Listen to users. Their stories are worth more than our assumptions.
• Mentorship is gold. Experts can help you see what you can’t.
• Teamwork is everything. Divide the work, but multiply the belief.

To Future Builders and Dreamers

If you’re planning to participate in hackathons or competitions like this, here’s our advice:

• Solve for people, not for judges. When your idea is rooted in real impact, it shows.
• Keep your solution simple but powerful. Complexity doesn’t win hearts. Clarity does.
• Trust your team. Lean into each other’s strengths and push through the lows.
• Never underestimate persistence. Every “almost win” is training for your big one.

For us, EY Techathon 5.0 wasn’t just about winning a trophy. It was proof that persistence, purpose, and empathy can come together to create something truly impactful. V.A.R.U.N may have started as a competition idea, but we dream it will grow into a tool that genuinely helps people in villages across India make confident financial decisions — in their own voice, on their own terms.

Interested in competing and building experiences of your own? Check out the latest competitions on Unstop.

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