In an era where joint forces are the key for successful innovation and to redefine the user experience, Epson is taking the next step forward in building a robust developer community that thrives on co-creation and collaboration. Epson is expanding its third Innovation Challenge, held Oct. 26 through Nov. 3, to welcome innovative developers and startups from the United States, Canada and Mexico. Applications are open now through Oct. 15.

"The relevance of home and office printers continues to play a pivotal role in our digital society," said Junkichi Yoshida, COO, Epson Printing Solutions. "Epson is on a mission to provide an attractive platform that presents an enriching opportunity for developers to utilize the power of our secure cloud service for remote scanning and printing through Epson Connect, with access to millions of users worldwide."

The unique one-week hybrid hackathon series, spearheaded by Epson America's Digital Innovation Team, includes cash prizes, Epson product prizes, the opportunity to pitch to Epson's global executive team, as well as the opportunity to work with Epson to launch their solutions in the North American market.

"We're very excited to kick off the third edition of the Epson Innovation Challenge that will be held in San Francisco, San Jose and remotely," said Tim Nguyen, manager business development and partner innovation, Epson America Inc. “Our team is especially interested in solutions that compliment customer needs of sizable user populations, such as social media users, media subscribers and e-commerce users. Desirable ideas will demonstrate a creative mix of scanning, data processing and printing to address untapped opportunities in both consumer and commercial use cases."

Epson has built a global reputation for user-friendly precision hardware products that can be found anywhere, including consumer homes, in education, small and medium businesses, and government agencies. This Innovation Challenge gives developers a unique opportunity to integrate the Epson Connect API with their existing products or to build new solutions utilizing the power of the secure cloud service for scanning and printing. Sectors that can benefit from such solutions could include social media, health care, proptech, hybrid work or to provide secure printing and scanning in govtech, insurtech and fintech.

“We are excited to engage the developer community for this third challenge and look forward to seeing the creative solutions that demonstrate a competitive advantage for the user experience compared to a standard print or scan function," said Jack Rieger, director of digital innovation, Epson America Inc. “Using next-generation technology, participants are encouraged to generate compelling use cases, such as automated printing workflows and generating personalized content."

Epson is working with San Francisco, California-based Foundry 415 Innovation Group, an experienced operator for startup accelerator and corporate innovation programs, to host the event. 

"We witnessed an overwhelming response from the developer and startup community for our past two challenges and are looking forward to seeing creative ideas for our third edition," said Christian Litsch, head of corporate innovation services, Foundry 415. “We've planned an exciting week packed with insightful workshops, including with renowned demo pitch coach Nathan Gold, known to help Shark Tank appearances, TED talks and various startup teams deliver impactful presentations."

Interested developers can find more information on the Epson Innovation Challenge website and can prepare by registering for an Epson Connect account. Terms and conditions can be found here.