The best hackathons I've been to had no required APIs but did have sponsored APIs with nice prizes for the best implementations. They also had experts on the A

The best hackathons I've been to had no required APIs but did have sponsored APIs with nice prizes for the best implementations. They also had experts on the APIs running around helping reduce the learning curve. Those guys help a lot when you've only got 24 hours to get over the hump (ask the Firebase guys).