Opportunity brief
About the Hackathon:
- Founder's Code 2026 is a 24-hour AI hackathon designed to challenge students to go beyond coding and develop solutions to real-world problems.
- Participants will:
- Identify a problem
- Build an AI-powered solution
- Develop a working prototype
- Understand the user and market
- Present and pitch the product
- The competition combines technical execution, product thinking and business innovation.
Participation Options:
-
Tech Pass
- Team Size: 1–4
- Suitable for students interested in AI/ML, software development, full-stack development, data science and coding.
-
Biz Pass
- Team Size: 1–2
- Suitable for students interested in entrepreneurship, startups, product management, business strategy, marketing and customer discovery.
-
Tech + Biz Pass
- Team Size: 1–4
- For students interested in combining technology with entrepreneurship and product development.
Competition Flow:
- Online Preliminary Round
- Evaluation & Shortlisting
- 24-Hour Offline Hackathon at Chennai
- Product Demonstration & Final Presentation
- Final Evaluation & Awards
- Students should be prepared to demonstrate a working solution, not merely a presentation.
What Students Should Be Ready to Show:
Technical:
- Working prototype
- Functional implementation
- Technical innovation
- Problem-solving approach
- Live demonstration
Business/Product:
- Problem and target users
- Product value proposition
- User adoption strategy
- Market opportunity
- Sustainability/business model
Prizes:
- Winner: ₹25,000
- Second Prize: ₹15,000
- Third Prize: ₹10,000
- Total Prize Pool: ₹1,00,000
- Additional opportunities mentioned by the organisers include Pre-Placement Interviews (PPIs), incubation access and venture-grant opportunities with partners.
Who Can Participate:
- Students and aspiring innovators interested in:
- Artificial Intelligence
- Software Development
- Product Development
- Entrepreneurship
- Startups
- Innovation
- Technology
- Business
- Students may participate individually or form teams according to the selected participation category.
Why Participate:
- Build a real product.
- Work with a team.
- Solve a real-world problem.
- Demonstrate your technical skills.
- Develop entrepreneurial thinking.
- Present before industry experts.
- Compete for a ₹1,00,000 prize pool.