NIGHT HACK IV: IT’S ALIVE

Bring your unfinished obsession.

A robot that finally moves. An agent that does real work. A playable world. A strange interface. The project you keep thinking someone should build.

On Friday, October 30, Founders, Inc. becomes a lab for things that should probably exist.

Hardware, software, or both. Five hours to ship something real. At 10 PM, the room becomes a museum of what came alive tonight.

Working demos. Curious people. No pitch decks.

The night

Friday, October 30, 2026Founders, Inc. · Fort Mason, San FranciscoAll times Pacific

  • 4:15 PM: Doors, check-in and team formation

  • 5:00–10:00 PM: Build

  • 10:00 PM: Exhibition and judging

  • Finalist demos and awards follow

  • 11:00 PM: Event ends

No re-entry after 10 PM.

What counts

Build something completely new, or add a substantial new capability to an existing project.

Existing libraries, models, APIs, infrastructure, codebases and prebuilt hardware are welcome. Tell us your starting point: judges evaluate the new work completed during the five-hour sprint.

Live demos only. Show the thing working.

Who this is for

Engineers, technical founders, researchers, designers, roboticists, creative coders, operators and people with unusually persistent side projects.

First project or fiftieth. Come solo or with a team of up to four.

Every teammate must apply individually and receive approval.

Credits & prizes

Partners, prizes and additional experiences will be announced when confirmed.

Building with hardware?

Bring a complete working rig, every component, tool, cable, charger and spare you need, plus a software or simulation fallback.

Hardware setups require advance review for space, power and safety.

We cannot supply hardware or access to the electronics lab, including its tools, soldering, fabrication or 3D printing facilities. You may bring your own 3D printer as part of an approved setup.

Everyone should bring a laptop, charger and everything their project needs.

About Founders, Inc.

Founders, Inc. backs early-stage founders in emerging tech with $100K–$250K first checks. We run programs, sprints and hackathons from our 42,000 sq. ft. campus in Fort Mason.

Accepted builders will receive the attendee Discord and final event instructions after confirming through Luma.

This event may be photographed or recorded. Builders under 18 must have parent or guardian permission to attend.

The night ends at 11. What you start here doesn’t have to.