Experiment, build, and compete while creating new Scripture-based applications using the YouVersion Platform and Gloo AI Studio
Gloo (Nasdaq: GLOO) and YouVersion today announced the Scripture in New Frontiers: A Virtual Summer Challenge, a global developer competition designed to explore how Scripture can be integrated into emerging digital experiences. Running July 6-31, 2026, on the innovation platform Kaggle, the challenge invites developers to experiment and build new applications using the YouVersion Platform and Gloo AI Studio.
Register here for the challenge.
Participants will compete for a cash prize while exploring what is possible when developers engage seriously with both Scripture and emerging technology. As AI assistants, wearable devices, gaming environments, and social platforms become primary points of digital engagement, developers are increasingly shaping how people access information, build community, and experience content. This challenge aims to ensure Scripture remains accessible and at the forefront of new digital environments.
“Developers are helping define how people interact with information in an AI-powered world, and we want Scripture to be a part of that,” said Nick Skytland, Vice President of Gloo Developers. “With both YouVersion Platform and Gloo AI Studio, we're giving participants the tools needed to experiment, build, and test entirely new types of faith-based experiences. We’re excited to see what they create.”
Gloo AI Studio is a production-grade AI development platform that provides access to values-aligned AI models, governance controls, and deployment tools for developers building faith-based and mission-driven applications. YouVersion, with more than one billion installs across its Family of Apps, makes the technology behind its widely used Bible App available for free through YouVersion Platform. Through its APIs and SDKs, the platform enables developers to build new Scripture-centered applications and experiences with access to 1,475 Bible versions in 1,244 languages.
The virtual challenge is open to developers building across a wide range of domains, from immersive gaming experiences and faith-integrated narratives to tools for teachers, creators, and communicators working with Scripture every day. Builders working in wearables, ambient computing, social platforms, and emerging spatial interfaces are equally welcome. This challenge is designed for anyone imagining a new way for people to encounter and engage Biblical Text, wherever they are.
A webinar introducing both platforms and answering questions will be held on June 29. The competition officially opens July 6. Submissions close July 31, followed by judging from August 3–7.
Scripture in New Frontiers: A Virtual Summer Challenge serves as a lead-in to the Gloo AI Hackathon, taking place October 6–8, 2026, at the Limelight Conference Center in Boulder, Colorado. The Hackathon will bring together more than 700 mission-driven developers to compete for more than $200,000 in prizes across categories, including Agents (powered by Gloo), Ministry Resourcing (powered by Masterworks), and Bibles (powered by YouVersion). Together, the challenge and hackathon represent one of the largest collaborative efforts to engage developers in building Scripture-centered experiences for the AI era.
“These competitions are designed to create a community where developers can experiment, collaborate, and help shape the next generation of faith-based and Scripture-based experiences,” said Gaylen Washington, Head of YouVersion Platform. “As digital experiences continue to evolve, we’re excited to see how developers use these platforms to help people engage with the Bible in entirely new ways.”
To register for the Gloo AI Hackathon, click here.
About Gloo
Gloo (Nasdaq: GLOO) is a leading technology platform serving the faith and flourishing ecosystem. Gloo helps missional organizations amplify their impact by powering their technology and expanding their reach, so that people flourish and organizations thrive. The company’s values-aligned AI platform modernizes systems, workflows and data, while its marketing and donor solutions expand reach, awareness and long-term giving for mission-based organizations. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Gloo serves over 140,000 faith, ministry, and nonprofit leaders.
About YouVersion
Created by Life.Church, YouVersion designs free, biblically centered experiences that encourage and challenge people to seek God throughout each day. The YouVersion Family of Apps—including the Bible App, Bible App Lite, and Bible App for Kids—has been installed on more than one billion devices worldwide with the vision to bring God’s Word to everyone, everywhere, every day. For more information about YouVersion, visit youversion.com.
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