ORIGIN AI Hackathon

ORIGIN Hackathon - Paris Edition Location: École 42, Paris & Hexa (Demo Night) Date: January 17–18, 2026 (at 42) & January 19-20 (remote) Demo: January 21st, 2026 (evening) Join the ORIGIN AI Founders Hackathon and connect with the brightest minds across AI, development, and entrepreneurship. Over an intense weekend, you’ll turn ideas into real, revenue-generating projects. This edition is focused on ChatGPT Apps & MCP Servers. Because this is where products meet users, and where real businesses start. This isn’t just a hackathon, it’s a launchpad for the next wave of AI startups. Cash prizes + Credits prizes, unveiling soon 👀 Format Saturday, Jan 17th: Ideation & Launch (at Ecole 42) 09:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Check-in & Team Synergy: Welcome coffee and speed-matching to finalize teams around the most promising concepts. 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM | Opening Keynote: Challenge presentations, partner tech demos, and a deep dive into excellence criteria (Tech & Business). 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Design Sprint: Initial iteration. Design thinking workshops and flash mentorship to validate feasibility. 12:30 PM – 01:30 PM | Networking Lunch: Open discussions between participants and mentors. 01:30 PM – 07:30 PM | Build & ship: Developing & iterating 07:30 PM – 08:30 PM | Fuel-up Dinner: Team bonding before the night session. 08:30 PM – Late | Build & Ship: Intensive hacking Sunday, Jan 18th: Consolidation & Prototyping (at Ecole 42) 09:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Breakfast: Night debrief and goal setting for the day. 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Technical Sprint: Developing core features and integrating mentor feedback. 12:30 PM – 01:30 PM | Networking Lunch: Best practice sharing and progress updates. 01:30 PM – 06:00 PM | V1 Finalization: Final push to stabilize the prototype. 06:00 PM | Phase 1 Wrap-up: End of the on-site session at 42. Monday, Jan 19th & Tuesday, Jan 20th: Dev & Sales (Remote) Product & Sales Sprint: Teams do more than just code. They must simultaneously stabilize their MVP and seek traction (real users, customer feedback, or Letters of Intent). Strategic Online Mentorship: Access to experts via Discord. Technical coaches for the build and business coaches for acquisition and closing. Tuesday, 06:00 PM | Submission Deadline: Final submission including the product and "proof of traction" (KPIs, user feedback). Wednesday, Jan 21st: Demo Night (at Hexa) 07:00 PM – 07:30 PM | Check-in and networking with entrepreneurs, VCs, and French Tech builders. 07:30 PM – 08:30 PM | Grand Jury Pitch: Presenting solutions and traction results to a panel of renowned experts. 5min Pitch & 3min Q&A. 08:30 PM – 09:00 PM | Jury Deliberation & Awards: Winners announcement and prize ceremony. 09:00 PM – 10:00 PM | Strategic Networking: Networking and feedback. During the Hackathon Real-time mentorship Direct access to cutting-edge AI tools Food included Participant Selection Spots are extremely limited (50 in total) and applications will be carefully reviewed to ensure a balanced mix of skills, experience, and entrepreneurial mindset. Organizers: EDGE: A collective of students and young entrepreneurs from top engineering and business schools 42 AI: AI association of École 42 Partners: Lightpanda: Browser for machines Lovable: No-code AI app builder Dust: AI agents platform IQ Project: Venture building & AI Education Horizon Factory: Startup Accelerator & development agency Stay tuned, others unveiling soon Be part of an intense weekend where ideas turn into real products, connections spark collaborations, and the next AI unicorn could be born.