Help a shopper see a product's end of life before they buy it.
Tech partner
Most waste is decided at checkout — months before anything hits the bin.
Two products at the same price can have opposite afterlives: one has a glued-in battery, no spare parts for sale, and owners reporting failure at eighteen months; the other has a replaceable battery, ten years of parts availability, and a take-back program. None of that is on the product page. Reviews tell you how it works out of the box, not whether it becomes landfill next year. Regulators have started forcing the issue — France mandates a repairability index, and EU repairability labels for smartphones arrived in 2025 — but that covers a few categories in one region. For everything else, the evidence exists in teardowns, parts catalogs, warranty terms, and owner forums — and no shopper reads any of it in the seconds that matter.
Sep 1 26’
Challenge start
Build (31 days left)
Oct 1 26’
Deadline & Winners
What to build
Your Mission
Build an AI-powered solution that shows a shopper a product's end-of-life story — repairability, battery, spare parts, take-back — before they buy it.
From a product link or name, assemble an evidence-backed afterlife scorecard: can the battery be replaced, are spare parts actually sold, what do owners report failing first, is there a take-back or trade-in program — every point cited to its source. The demo that wins: two same-priced products side by side, one quietly built to be thrown away. How you solve it is up to you. Web retrieval — teardowns, parts catalogs, warranty pages, owner forums — is an ingredient here; the judgment layer that turns scattered evidence into an honest scorecard is yours.
How to build
Master the Challenge.
Scope
What Success Looks Like
There is no single right solution. You could take the problem in many directions — pick a specific user, a clear decision, and make that experience work well.
Tip:
Don't try to solve the whole problem at once. Pick one product category — phones, headphones, coffee machines, blenders — and make the scorecard trustworthy for it.
Support:
Discord for Q&A.Requirements
Technical Challenge
Think about how your solution will find end-of-life evidence for one exact model rather than its near-identical siblings, judge repairability from teardowns and real parts availability instead of marketing claims, surface what owners report failing first, and present a comparison a shopper can act on in the seconds before checkout. These are opportunities to explore, not requirements you need to satisfy all at once.
Tip:
Your solution doesn’t need to be production-ready. We welcome everything from early prototypes to fully working implementations and ambitious technical explorations.
Support:
Discord.
Use of tech
Recommended Tools
Exa provides a web retrieval layer that might be useful here. It can retrieve the raw evidence — teardown write-ups, repairability data, manufacturer parts and warranty pages, owner-forum failure reports — for the exact model in question. That's a small part of the stack; the scoring and comparison logic is the build. Whether Exa fits your solution is up to you.
Tip:
Whether or not you use Exa in your solution is entirely up to you.
Resources:
- Exa API / SDK to getting started
- Exa documentation for search and retrieval
- Examples and implementation patterns
- Exa.ai Discord channel for technical questions
Meet your mentors
Get a guidance from industry professionals.
Gain invaluable insights and support from seasoned experts who are passionate about driving positive change. Our mentors bring years of experience in tackling complex challenges, ready to share their knowledge and help you make a meaningful impact.
Sep 1 26’
Challenge start
Build (31 days left)
Oct 1 26’
Deadline & Winners
Jury Panel
Put your solution in front of hiring managers.
Receive valuable feedback and insights from hiring managers and industry experts.
Community recognition
Winner
The winning project will be featured on Drawerrr’s Winners page and receive support, and exposure to take the idea further.
Community recognition
Finalists
The two finalist projects will be featured on Drawerrr’s Finalists page and receive support to continue developing their ideas.
If you choose Exa as part of your tech stack, the winner and two finalists will receive Exa.ai credits, exposure through Exa’s developer community, and technical support to help develop their projects further.
Sep 1 26’
Challenge start
Build (31 days left)
Oct 1 26’
Deadline & Winners
FAQ
Everything you need to know about participating.
Who can participate?
Is there a participation fee?
How to get started?
- Create an account.
- Choose a challenge you would like to work on.
- Follow guides to solve the problem (solo or in a team).
- Submit your solution.
- Get the feedback from sustainability experts and results at the beginning of the each month.
Is there any deadlines?
Can I participate as part of a team?
How to obtain assistance from mentors?
Who will be evaluating submissions?
Are there any awards for the winners?
Can participants apply multiple times?
What happens after the challenge?
After challenge
Take it to the next level.
The Challenge graduates get the opportunity to connect with grant providers and organizations looking to pilot projects and take them to the next level.