What we run
A deadline and a room full of people who ship produces things that months of solo work does not. That is the whole idea, and the reason every event is a day or a weekend: doors in the morning, building until the end, then demos and judging. No slides.
Every event has:
- A theme narrow enough that the judges can genuinely be specialists in it.
- A date, a place, and rules published before the event.
- The judging rubric published before anyone writes a line of code.
- Working demos, shown live to the panel.
- Judges who work in that field, appointed in writing.
- Results published afterwards, with the panel named.
Who is behind it
Julius Olsson organises the events. hackathons.team is not incorporated, has no staff and is not backed by anyone; it is an initiative run by one person, with the venue, the sponsors and the judges of each event doing the rest. If that changes, this page will say so.
Registration, submissions and scoring run on BuilderBase.
For sponsors
Your product in the hands of people building on it against a deadline.
Sponsors fund what makes the day possible, prizes, venue, food and the tools people build with, and in return get direct, working contact with the builders in the room. What that looks like depends on the event; we scope it with you from your enquiry.
- Your name and logo on the event page, on the day, and in the published results.
- A sponsor-defined challenge track with a prize in your name.
- Your product, API or credits as one of the tools people build with.
- A workshop or office-hours slot during the build.
- Opt-in introductions to participants who want to hear from you, and recruiting on the day.
- A short report afterwards: who took part, what was built on your product, and the results.
What sponsorship does not include
Any say in who judges. Any access to judge applications, to submissions before the demos, to scorecards, or to who wins. Sponsor-defined tracks are judged by the same panel against the same published rubric: the sponsor sets the challenge, not the outcome.
Your employees are welcome to apply to judge. They are assessed on exactly the same standard as everyone else, their affiliation is shown on the panel, and they recuse from any project built on your product or by anyone they work with.
We do not publish packages. Tell us about your company and what you would like to contribute, and we will come back with a proposal for a specific event.
For judges
Evaluate real work in the field you work in.
Judges are working professionals in the event's field: engineers, researchers, founders, security practitioners and other people with substantial experience in it.
What you do on the day:
- Watch the demos.
- Score each project assigned to you against the published rubric, on your own, before the panel talks.
- Decide the winners with the rest of the panel.
What you get:
- A written appointment naming the event, the field and the judging window.
- Your name on the published panel, with a short profile if you want one.
- After you have scored, a completion letter stating what you judged and when.
There is no fee to apply or to serve. Applying does not mean you are selected, and an appointment does not produce a completion letter until your scorecards are done.
How judges are chosen
The organiser appoints judges against this published standard, and the organiser does not score projects.
- Substantial professional experience in the event's field.
- Demonstrated work in it: things built, published, shipped or broken.
- Availability for the full judging window, in person.
- No conflict of interest that cannot be handled by recusal.
Whether an applicant's employer sponsors the event is not a factor in either direction. Applicants who are not selected are told, and can apply again for a later event.
Judging independence
Policy
Sponsorship does not buy a seat on the panel.
Sponsorship funds prizes, the venue, food and the tools people build with. It does not buy or guarantee a place on the judging panel, and it gives no say over who judges, which projects they see, how they score, or who wins. Sponsors do not see scorecards. Sponsor employees may apply to judge like anyone else: they are assessed on the same standard, their affiliation is shown on the panel, and they recuse from any project built on their employer's product or by anyone they work with. Every judge, sponsor-affiliated or not, recuses from projects involving their employer, clients, investments or close collaborators.
Records
We keep a factual record of who judged each event: the written appointment, the panel as published, and the scorecards each judge completed. On request we will confirm those facts in writing to a judge or to their attorney. We do not give immigration advice, and we do not select judges for visa reasons.
Platform
BuilderBase
Our hackathons run on BuilderBase, the infrastructure for running world-class hackathons at scale. Registration, submissions, judge assignments and scoring sit on their platform, which is also where the scorecards are kept.
Next event
Saturday, November 7, 2026 · San Francisco
Anything Applied Agentic Hackathon
One day to build an agent that does real work. Any domain, any stack; the only rule is that it has to do something. Solo or teams of one to five, all levels. Free to enter. Judge applications for this event are open.
Event details → Apply to judge →Questions
Does sponsoring get me or my staff a place on the panel?
No. Sponsorship and judge selection are separate. A sponsor's employees may apply to judge and are assessed exactly like everyone else.
Can I pay to become a judge?
No. There is no fee to apply or to serve, and no payment, sponsorship or donation of any kind results in an appointment.
Does applying guarantee selection?
No. Panels are small and specific to each event's theme. Applicants who are not selected are told, and can apply again for a later event.
Can sponsors see submissions or scores?
No. Sponsors see the demos with everyone else and the published results afterwards. Judge applications and scorecards are not shared with sponsors.
Will you confirm to my attorney that I judged?
Yes. On request we confirm in writing what you judged and when, as recorded in your appointment and scorecards. We do not write opinion letters or give immigration advice.
Is hackathons.team a company?
No. It is an initiative run by one organiser, Julius Olsson, started in 2026 in San Francisco. If that changes, this page will say so.
Contact
Judge applications go through the judge application form and sponsor enquiries through the sponsor enquiry form. Venue offers and everything else: