AI Coding Hackathon

What is the AI Coding Hackathon?

An intensive 48-hour hackathon where you build working AI prototypes – learning by doing, supported by experienced practitioners and a community of builders.

Instead of months of solo trial-and-error, you'll build alongside experienced practitioners and like-minded builders:

Hands-on building sessions with focused pattern introductions (Agentic Coding, OpenClaw, n8n blueprints) – just enough theory to start, then straight to implementation
Peer sparring while you build with other developers, founders, and innovation teams – learn by doing, together
Mentors available when you're stuck – not scheduled teaching slots, but real-time support when your code breaks
Real APIs and data from day one – no toy examples, but actual auth, schema validation, and production-ready patterns

By the end, you'll have a working AI prototype built with patterns you can immediately apply in your own projects – because you've already applied them here.

Who Is This Hackathon For?

You're already using AI tools and looking for structured peer sparring, best practices, and solid end-to-end proofs? Then you're in the right place.

Founders

Build your MVP yourself without waiting months for a technical co-founder.

Developers & Tech Leads

Deep dive into Agentic Patterns, guardrails, and n8n integration – structured hands-on.

Product Owners & Managers

Validate demo concepts without waiting for dev sprints. Working prototypes in hours.

Automation Engineers

n8n blueprints for LLM integration, retry strategies, and rate-limit handling.

Students

Gain hands-on experience with AI tools and build a real prototype as a team – beyond the classroom.

Requirements

Laptop (your own)
Interest in AI-assisted development

Drive to build something real in 48 hours
Optional: Experience with Agentic Coding, Claude Code, OpenClaw, n8n

What You Can Build in 48 Hours

No theory workshops, no slide decks – just hands-on building with solid results.

AI-Powered Sales Assistant

A prototype that qualifies leads, creates personalized outreach drafts, and updates your CRM – combining real API integrations with agentic decision-making.

Smart Content Automation Pipeline

Build an n8n workflow that takes input (blog posts, docs, transcripts), generates social posts, and schedules them – end-to-end automation with LLMs.

OpenClaw Personal AI Agent

Set up your own OpenClaw agent – a self-hosted AI assistant controllable via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Slack, with persistent memory and custom skills for your workflows.

Your Idea, Actually Built

Go home with a functional prototype of the solution you wanted to build – validated, tested, and ready for next steps.

Network of Fellow Builders

Connect with developers, founders, and innovators tackling similar challenges – partnerships often start here.

On-Demand Expert Guidance

Mentors who have shipped productive AI systems help you when you're stuck – no scheduled lectures, just help when you need it.

Battle-Tested Patterns Applied

Learn by implementing: agentic workflows, OpenClaw skills, n8n automations, real API handling – because you've used them in your own project.

Program & Schedule

48 hours of hands-on building with mentor support and peer sparring.

Friday, March 20, 2026

16:30 – 24:00

16:30

Doors Open & Registration

Check-in, registration & networking

17:00

Kick-off & North Star

Welcome, team building

18:00

Team-Building & Projekt-Pitches

Pitch ideas, form teams, or define solo projects

19:00

Dinner

Pizza

20:00

Hacking & Deep Dives

Let's go! Optional Agentic Coding 101 Deep Dive (Ben Sufiani)

Saturday, March 21, 2026

09:00 – 24:00

09:00

Breakfast & Check-in

Start the day together, project status updates

10:00

Hacking & Optional Deep Dives

Build your project with mentor support (optional deep dives available)

12:00

Lunch Break

13:00

Hacking Continues

Afternoon building sessions with mentor support

15:00

Optional: Deep Dives or Office Hours

Join a deep dive session or get individual support from mentors and speakers

18:00

Dinner

Pizza

19:00

Evening Hacking

Continue building, mentors available

Sunday, March 22, 2026

09:00 – 16:00

09:00

Breakfast

Start your day with breakfast and coffee

10:00

Final Sprint

Final optimizations, testing, demo preparation

12:00

Lunch

13:00

Demos & Pitches

Each team/solo presents their prototype (3-5 min per presentation)

16:00

Wrap-up & Networking

Feedback, lessons learned, next steps, community building

Important Notes

24/7 Access: You can stay and work at STARTPLATZ around the clock
Catering included: Breakfast and dinner are included in the ticket. For lunch, we recommend the nearby restaurants and cafés.
Bring Your Own Laptop: Own laptop required

Deep Dive Sessions

Optional focused sessions to level up your skills – join when it fits your project needs.

Friday Evening (optional)

Agentic Coding

Agentic Coding 101

Speaker: Ben Sufiani

Introduction to the fundamentals of AI-assisted development – perfect for starting with the right mindset and workflow patterns.

Saturday (optional)

No-Code AI

No-Code AI: From Idea to App with Base44

Speaker: Ore Segal

Natural language app development with Base44
From prompt to working product
Live demo: Build an MVP in minutes

Agentic Coding

Agentic Coding - The New Power of Disposable Tools

Speaker: Danny Gerst

Agentic approach with Cursor and other IDEs
Rapid prototyping through AI assistance
From idea to working tool

OpenClaw

OpenClaw: Your Own AI Agent

Mentors: OpenClaw Team (ClawCon NRW Community)

Setup & onboarding of your own OpenClaw agent
Build custom skills for your workflows
Hands-on: WhatsApp, Telegram, or Slack as interface

Emerging Deep Dives

Additional deep dive sessions may be added based on participant needs and emerging topics during the hackathon. Follow the on-site announcements!

Who Will Guide You?

Learn from practitioners who work with these tools daily and build real products.

Ben Sufiani

Founder Pirate Skills, Agentic Coding Expert

15 years of startup experience as serial founder (9 ventures). Since early 2025 deeply into AI-assisted development – launched his own SaaS product CaptAIn with paying customers within 3 months. Founder of the Agentic Coding Cologne Community.

Agentic Coding Growth Marketing Agentic Patterns

Ore Segal

Venture Development Lead, Base44

AI builder and product developer focused on no-code and AI-powered software development. Through his work with Base44, he enables founders and creatives to turn ideas into working applications via natural language – without traditional coding.

No-Code AI Base44 Product Development

Danny Gerst

CTO Linvelo, Managing Director bizness rocket

Over 30 years of experience as software developer, IT consultant, and IT project manager. Specialized in AI integration for mid-size companies. As an experienced startup founder, he combines deep technical know-how with entrepreneurial practice.

AI Integration Agentic Coding Digital Transformation

Title Sponsor

Base44 in Focus

From idea to finished web app in minutes – Base44 is the fastest way to build AI-powered applications. At the hackathon, Base44 is available to all teams as a development platform.

⚡

Rapid Prototyping

Describe your app idea – Base44 generates frontend, backend, and database in one step. Ideal for the hackathon sprint.

🛠

Full-Stack in One

Authentication, database, API integrations, and deployment – all built in. No setup, no boilerplate.

🚀

From Prototype to Product

What you build at the hackathon, you can keep running afterwards – custom domains, scaling, and team collaboration included.

What You Get at the Hackathon

✓ Base44 Credits for all teams – start building immediately
✓ On-Site Mentoring from Ore Segal (Base44 Venture Development Lead)
✓ Deep Dive Session on Saturday – live demo and best practices
✓ Growth Plan for the winning team (6 months per member)

Base44

Learn more

Open Source AI Agent

OpenClaw in Focus

OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant that you can self-host, extend, and integrate into your own workflows. At the hackathon, you'll build your own OpenClaw agent – supported by 7 experienced mentors from the ClawCon NRW community.

🤖

Personal AI Agent

Build your own AI assistant that knows your data and runs on your infrastructure.

📋

Kanban & Knowledge

Control project boards and knowledge bases via natural language – from Trello to Notion.

🏢

Enterprise Automation

Connect OpenClaw with ERP, printers, and reports – automate real business processes.

📱

Cross-Channel Agent

One agent, many channels – Discord, web, terminal, mobile. Persistent memory included.

Technology Partner

HybridClaw – From OpenClaw to Enterprise Product

What starts as an open-source experiment can become an enterprise-ready product with HybridClaw. HybridClaw is the enterprise version of OpenClaw, developed by Stephan Noller and his team at HybridAI. The platform extends OpenClaw with everything enterprises need: persistent memory across sessions, RAG integration for company knowledge bases, comprehensive audit trails, and multi-model orchestration with 10+ LLMs.

HybridClaw runs entirely on the EU stack – GDPR-compliant, with no data flowing to US servers. As a cross-channel AI digital coworker, it operates across Discord, web, and terminal while maintaining context. For hackathon teams, this means: your OpenClaw prototype has a clear path to production.

HybridClaw Open Source HybridAI Enterprise

50+ participants at ClawCon NRW Meetup – the community is growing

7 OpenClaw Mentors On-Site

Thomas Jansen

OpenClaw on Android

15 years at the intersection of business, product, and tech. Uses agentic development flows and makes AI agents usable on Android.

Daniel Brammertz

Kanban & Knowledge

Controls Kanban boards and knowledge bases via OpenClaw – natural language workflow automation.

Marijn van der Werf

Enterprise Use Cases

Deploys OpenClaw in real business processes – from ERP to printers to reports.

André Machon

FlowCon AI · Claude Code

Founder of FlowCon AI. AI strategy, business process automation, and practical LLM integration in enterprise contexts.

Andreas Spannagel

AI Engineering & Evals

Freelance AI Consultant & Engineer. Specialized in LLM evaluation, RAG systems, and fullstack AI development.

Robin Janke

AI Builder

Mentor in the OpenClaw/AI Builder track at Doppelt Digital.

Robert Jänisch

AI Coding · ramp.app

Mentor in the OpenClaw/AI coding context. Builds AI-powered products at ramp.

Organized by

STARTPLATZ

Largest coworking space and leading startup incubator in North Rhine-Westphalia. Community of 1,000+ startups & entrepreneurs, 200+ events per year.

Cologne & Düsseldorf

Multiple award winner

AI Hub

Specialized initiative within STARTPLATZ for AI startups and AI adoption. Expertise in LLM applications, agentic AI, and MLOps.

AI-Engineering

AI-Community

Pirate Skills

Growth Marketing & AI-Coding Community. Founders of the Agentic Coding Cologne Community. Expertise in data-driven growth and AI-assisted development.

Growth Marketing

Agentic Coding

Our Partners

Title Sponsor

Base44

Base44 is an AI-powered platform for building complete web applications in minutes – from idea to production-ready prototype. As Title Sponsor, Base44 supports the hackathon with credits, mentoring, and prizes for the best projects.

Visit Website

Bronze Sponsor

n8n

n8n is a German workflow automation platform from Berlin that connects over 400 apps and services. The visual, node-based tool enables complex automations with a low-code/no-code approach and optional script extensions – GDPR-compliant and self-hostable.

Visit Website

Technology Partner

HybridClaw

HybridClaw is the enterprise version of OpenClaw – a cross-channel AI digital coworker with persistent memory, RAG integration, and audit trails. GDPR-compliant, EU stack, multi-model orchestration with 10+ LLMs. Our OpenClaw mentors are supported by HybridClaw.

Website

Prizes & Awards

Win valuable software licenses and credits from our partners! All participants receive premium access, and the best teams are recognized with exclusive awards.

For All Participants

Base44

Base44 Starter Credits

For all teams

All teams receive Base44 credits for building during the hackathon – start immediately, no setup needed.

n8n Cloud Pro

1 Monat kostenlos

140 licenses available

Professional workflow automation with advanced features and higher limits.

Base44 Credits & Mentoring

Credits + Support

Base44 credits for your projects plus exclusive on-site mentoring from Ore Segal (Base44).

Main Prizes

🏆 Winning Team

Base44

Base44 Growth Plan

6 months per team member

Wert: $49/Monat

The winning team receives the Base44 Growth Plan – unlimited app creation, custom domains, priority support, and advanced integrations. Perfect for turning your hackathon prototype into a real product.

🏴‍☠️ Pirate Skills Forge Experience

Top 3 Agentic Coder

Total value: €6,000 (€2,000 per winner)

The three best agentic coders each win a complete Pirate Forge Experience – spots in Builder Forge and Growth Forge (January–March 2026), each valued at €1,000 per workshop.

🧱 Builder Forge

6-week live workshop: Learn AI-assisted agentic coding for your first SaaS product – from idea to working version.

Learn More

📈 Growth Forge

6-week growth program: Learn to scale predictable MRR through growth experiments and product-market fit signals.

Learn More

🎯 STARTPLATZ AI Hub Community Access

For Winning Teams

1-year access for 5 people

The winning teams receive five 1-year accounts for the KI Campus Skool Community with free access to all STARTPLATZ AI Hub Masterclasses and direct access to domain experts.

Judging Criteria

Innovation

Execution

Practicality

Presentation

The Venue

STARTPLATZ Cologne

Cologne's Startup & Coworking Hub

Address

Im Mediapark 5

3rd Floor, Room Cologne/Bonn

50670 Cologne, Germany

Event Details

Time: Friday 4:30pm – Sunday 4:00pm

Capacity: Limited to 110 participants

Getting There

Public Transport: Hansaring (S-Bahn), Christophstraße/Mediapark (Bus 140)

Parking: Media Park underground parking available

STARTPLATZ on Google: 4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (367 reviews)

Frequently Asked Questions

No, you don't need programming experience. The hackathon explicitly welcomes non-developers such as founders, product managers, and others who want to work with AI tools like Claude Code or Cursor. If you already have 3-5 months of experience with such tools, that's ideal – but beginners are welcome and will be supported.

Both options work! You can come alone and either work solo or join a team during the kick-off. Many participants use the team-building phase on Friday to find collaborators for their idea. We recommend teams of 3-5 people for optimal collaboration.

Required:

Your own laptop (charged + charging cable)
Interest in AI-assisted development
Drive to build something real in 48 hours
Optional: Experience with Vibe Coding, Claude Code, n8n

Provided:

High-speed internet
Workspaces & meeting rooms
Breakfast & dinner included
Mentoring & support

You can work continuously at STARTPLATZ 24/7 during the event – many teams code through the night. However, there are no sleeping facilities on-site. If you want to rest, you'll need to book a hotel nearby. The location remains open so you can come and go as you please.

You retain all rights to your project! The prototype belongs to you or your team. Many participants continue developing their hackathon projects after the event – and STARTPLATZ offers opportunities for further development as an incubator if you wish.

Yes, there will be prizes and awards! Details will be announced in the coming weeks. All teams will present their results on Sunday, and winners will be selected based on criteria such as innovation, implementation, and practicality.

You're completely free to choose your tools! Popular options include:

AI coding tools: Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot
Automation: n8n (covered in deep dive session)
Frameworks: React, Next.js, Python, FastAPI, etc.
APIs: Your own or provided test APIs

Address: STARTPLATZ Cologne, Im Mediapark 5, 50670 Cologne

Public Transport:

S-Bahn: Hansaring
U-Bahn: Lines 16, 18 – Stop "Christophstraße/Mediapark"
Buses: 122, 127 – Stop "Mediapark"

Parking: Mediapark parking garage #5 (paid)

The training sessions will be conducted in English. This allows us to include international participants and experts and optimally convey the latest AI coding techniques. Team work and informal conversations can naturally take place in the language of your choice.

Ready for 48 Hours of AI Coding?

Secure your spot now at the AI Coding Hackathon at STARTPLATZ Cologne.

Secure Your Ticket

Only 150 spots available

Build AI-Powered Productsin 48 Hours

What is the AI Coding Hackathon?

Who Is This Hackathon For?

Founders

Developers & Tech Leads

Product Owners & Managers

Automation Engineers

Students

Requirements

What You Can Build in 48 Hours

AI-Powered Sales Assistant

Smart Content Automation Pipeline

OpenClaw Personal AI Agent

Your Idea, Actually Built

Network of Fellow Builders

On-Demand Expert Guidance

Battle-Tested Patterns Applied

Program & Schedule

Friday, March 20, 2026

Doors Open & Registration

Kick-off & North Star

Team-Building & Projekt-Pitches

Dinner

Hacking & Deep Dives

Saturday, March 21, 2026

Breakfast & Check-in

Hacking & Optional Deep Dives

Lunch Break

Hacking Continues

Optional: Deep Dives or Office Hours

Dinner

Evening Hacking

Sunday, March 22, 2026

Breakfast

Final Sprint

Lunch

Demos & Pitches

Wrap-up & Networking

Important Notes

Deep Dive Sessions

Friday Evening (optional)

Agentic Coding 101

Saturday (optional)

No-Code AI: From Idea to App with Base44

Agentic Coding - The New Power of Disposable Tools

OpenClaw: Your Own AI Agent

Emerging Deep Dives

Who Will Guide You?

Ben Sufiani

Ore Segal

Danny Gerst

Base44 in Focus

Rapid Prototyping

Full-Stack in One

From Prototype to Product

What You Get at the Hackathon

OpenClaw in Focus

Personal AI Agent

Kanban & Knowledge

Enterprise Automation

Cross-Channel Agent

HybridClaw – From OpenClaw to Enterprise Product

7 OpenClaw Mentors On-Site

Thomas Jansen

Daniel Brammertz

Marijn van der Werf

André Machon

Andreas Spannagel

Robin Janke

Robert Jänisch

Organized by

STARTPLATZ

AI Hub

Pirate Skills

Our Partners

Base44

n8n

HybridClaw

Prizes & Awards

For All Participants

Build AI-Powered Products
in 48 Hours