Antler and Austin Hardtech are teaming up to run Austin's inaugural, week-long Hardtech Hackathon!
Multidisciplinary teams will spend the week building a working prototype that meaningfully interacts with the physical world through hardware. We've got maker spaces to build in, mentors (in-person and virtual) for office hours, and a community that shows up. This is the week to get stuff done!
➡️ APPLY HERE ⬅️
Here's the deal:
🗓️ Monday: Kickoff at Antler, team formation, challenge briefs, hardware handoff, breakfast snacks & coffee
🛠️ Tue-Thu: Build days across Assembly and HiCam, with mentor office hours all week
🏁 Friday: Submission deadline at noon, final integration and demo prep
🏆 Closing showcase on Friday: Live demos and awards will be at the Deep Tech Week closing event
Who's this for?
🧑🔧 Firmware, electrical, mechanical, robotics, energy, AI, and software engineers🎓 Engineering students from UT, A&M, Texas State and Rice🚀 Makers, founders, and newcomers to hardtech who want in
Apply solo or as a pre-formed team, we'll balance experience levels at kickoff.
The details:
👥 Up to 10 teams, 4-6 people each📝 Application-only, so we can build a strong, balanced cohort🏅 Judging weighs technical completeness, creativity/frontier factor, and practical potential, a working prototype is the bar💡 Teams keep full ownership of everything they build, including IPCome build with us 🔥
Keep an eye out for more communication and exact timelines to come!
Your Hosts:
Antler is an early-stage venture capital firm with a focus on inception stage founders and a community of resident tech entrepreneurs and operators. Residents are immersed in a community with everything they need to build and scale at lightning speed.
Austin Hardtech is the founding chapter of Hardtech Texas, connecting founders, manufacturers, investors, and mentors building hardware across sectors like robotics, aerospace, and clean energy. They run networking events, factory tours, and founder roundtables to help hardtech companies go from prototype to scale.
Our Partners:
AITX Community — AITX is a community for AI Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and Explorers across Texas. Our mission is to make Texas a better place to build engineering-focused companies and hire engineering talent. Since launching in 2023, AITX has hosted demoes from 100+ local startups, big tech companies like NVIDIA, Google, Meta, and Cloudflare, and grown to over 9,000 members with chapters in Austin, DFW, and Houston.
