Yearlong programming designed to build technical founders and grow Louisiana’s tech community.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Nexus Louisiana today announced its 2026 program calendar, featuring a yearlong lineup of technology competitions and community programming designed to grow Louisiana’s tech talent pipeline, support founders, and connect industry with real-world innovation.
At the center of the calendar is DevDays, a quarterly, challenge-based technology competition that engages college students in solving Louisiana-specific problems alongside industry partners. DevDays will take place on March 20, June 19, and September 25, with the first competition hosted in partnership with The Water Institute. Unlike traditional hackathons, DevDays exposes students to real-world problems. Teams are paired with experienced developers to coach them towards building industry-grade solutions.
“College students represent one of the strongest and most repeatable pipelines of tech talent,” said Tony Zanders, President and CEO of Nexus Louisiana. “Many of today’s most successful technology companies started when their founders were still in college. DevDays allows us to engage that talent early—before ideas fade and before students leave the state. Last year, more than 200 students across Louisiana engaged in building new technology through our competitions, and we’re expanding that impact in 2026.”
The first DevDays competition on March 20 will focus on digital wildlife habitat monitoring, an environmental challenge centered on Louisiana's rapidly changing coastal ecosystems. Louisiana’s coast is experiencing ongoing land loss, stronger storms, and rising waters, reshaping coastal habitats and altering the availability of critical nesting grounds. Restoration and wildlife management teams need faster, more accessible data to make informed decisions.”
Student teams are challenged to develop technology solutions that help experts better understand how habitats are changing and how wildlife is responding. Using an archive of more than 400,000 aerial images, participants will explore ways to convert visual data into actionable insight for conservation planning and restoration efforts.
Ten finalist teams from across the state will compete live, with $10,000 in total prize funding awarded to first-, second-, and third-place winners.
“Louisiana’s most pressing challenges are also some of its greatest opportunities for innovation,” said Beaux Jones, President and CEO of The Water Institute, an independent non-profit organization founded in the wake of devastating hurricanes and oil spills to help reduce the vulnerability of people, ecosystems, and economies. “Through this partnership with Nexus Louisiana on DevDays, students are invited to tackle these challenges—moving ideas beyond the classroom and into real-world solutions that help our coastal communities, ecosystems, and economies be more resilient for years to come.”
In addition to DevDays, Nexus Louisiana announced the return of its flagship Technology Cup, December 14–16. The multi-day competition brings together experienced developers and builders from across the state to showcase advanced software and hardware solutions and compete for $150,000 in cash prizes.
The 2026 calendar also signals an expansion of Nexus Louisiana’s community programming following its move to a new downtown Baton Rouge headquarters, reinforcing Nexus as a physical and cultural hub for Louisiana’s innovation ecosystem.
New programs launching this year include Nexus Nights, a monthly speaker series beginning in August featuring candid, behind-the-scenes insights from founders and technology leaders, and Founder Fridays, a first-Friday monthly meetup at Nexus HQ designed for meaningful, low-pressure connection among founders and industry leaders.
This fall, Nexus will also host Tech Tailgates, networking events aligned with major LSU home football games against Clemson (September 5), Texas A&M (September 26), Mississippi State (October 17), and Alabama (November 7).
"Nexus Louisiana is a home base for people building technology in this state,” said Zanders. “Whether you are a founder scaling a company, a professional developing an idea outside of work, or a college student deciding what comes next, Nexus is the launchpad. We create spaces and opportunities that turn ideas into momentum and momentum into impact.”
Additional details about Nexus Louisiana’s 2026 programming will be released in the coming weeks. To receive updates and be the first to know, visit nexusla.org and sign up for the Nexus mailing list.