As we grow older, we gradually realize that the world around us wasn’t static; it was crafted by the people with distinct visions who worked diligently to bring their ideas to life. Whether it was a hardware project, a passion project, or building a startup, each represented their projects born from the determination and creativity of individuals.

Our prospective shifted as we saw the world not just as a collection of places, but as a living museum showcasing the dream and efforts of those who dared to build something extraordinary.

In this report, we will share our progress of Astra and our community.

Our Rebranding:

Over the past months, we have been meticulously crafting a new identity for Spark that better reflect our values, vision and commitment to our community.

Spark is now Astra.

This rebranding represents our commitment to enhancing our ecosystem to empower builders. Our core mission remains unchanged, the goal of this organization’s rebrand is we aim to build an ecosystem that empowers builders, not only remains intact but we've also added excellence and freshness to it through the culture of always aiming for the star.

Our Mission is aimed to equip the next generation of creatives and builders by creating a vibrant community for sharing ideas, imparting practical skills, and exploring the potential of emerging technologies through hackathons.

New Website Design:

As part of Astra's recent rebranding initiative, we are pleased to introduce our newly redesigned website - the very site you are currently reading this report on.

This update reflects our commitment to innovation and user empowerment. The redesigned site features Astra's refreshed visual identity, including a modernized logo, and updated color scheme.

We have also optimized content to better communicate our vision, integrated new features such as blog posts on community stories, hacker narratives, and engineering blogs, and showcased community projects for greater visibility.

Builder Spotlight:

This initiative aims to highlight the creativity, ingenuity, and passion behind each project by sharing the personal journeys and insights of the builders.

Through "Builder Spotlight," we celebrate the diverse range of innovations and solutions developed within our community, offering a platform for members to share their experiences, challenges, and successes. The stories are featured on Astra’s social media channels and the blog section of the website.

Premier Career Opportunities:

If you're looking for your next internship, full-time/part-time roles, freelancing opportunities, or bounties, we have exclusive opportunities for all our members.

Introducing the #coding-jobs channel:

The bot provides you with all available job roles directly within our community. Job postings are made in this channel every hour so you won’t miss out on any opportunities.

Numbers

• Total number of members in Q2 2024 - 603 (+4.33% growth since Q1 2024)
• 14,600+ messages
• Average message: 457
• $60k+ raised (+50% since Q1 2024)

General Update:

• New Astra Logo
• Total 5 hackathons hosted
• Say gm! channel
• New Projects channel for visibility
• The most consistent channel #😀〡gm channel

Astra X Beeloud AI Hackathon 🎉

The Astra X Beeloud AI Hackathon, held in partnership with Beeloud from May 10-12, was Astra’s largest hackathon to date, taking place in Vancouver, San Francisco, London, and virtually.

More than 300 participants teamed up to submit 24 final projects to judges and investors. This global hackathon featured over $60k in prizes and attracted participants from around the world.

The mission of this Hackathon was to bridge major startup hubs like San Francisco, New York City, Bangalore, London, and others, by bringing together exceptional talent from these regions.

The winners of the hackathon have been announced on our site:
theastra.org/blog/astraxbeeloudwinners

Thank you to everyone who participated in our hackathon! Your creativity, dedication, and hard work made it a huge success.

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Thank you for joining us on this journey through the latest updates and developments at Astra.
Your continued support and engagement are what make our community thrive. Keep building, keep innovating, and remember, the sky's the limit!