

MakersLounge Toronto Tech Week #11: Innovation Hackathon π
βMakersLounge Toronto #11: Innovation Hackathon π
βToronto's biggest innovation hackathon is here. We're bringing together 100 of the best AI builders in the city to compete across multiple challenge tracks β with industry leaders judging live.
βThis is a week-long build competition that kicks off the week before May 26th and culminates in a live demo night during Toronto Tech Week.
βπ HOW IT WORKS
βPART 1 β Kickoff Night (May 19th, 8PM-9PM)
βMAKERSLOUNGE X AUCCTUS HACKATHON KICKOFF Tuesday, 19 May Β· 8:00 β 9:00pm Time zone: America/Toronto Google Meet joining info Video call link: https://meet.google.com/fzp-wzvs-oyg Or dial: βͺ(CA) +1 289-948-7712β¬ PIN: βͺ388 964 701β¬# More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/fzp-wzvs-oyg?pin=1372223852774
βChallenge tracks are revealed, teams form, and the clock starts. Solo builders are welcome β you'll get matched with a team.
Join our discord channel here: https://discord.gg/mzv4Jae7
PART 2 β Deadline for hackathon submission video (Sunday May 24th 11:59pm)
βPART 3 β Demo Night (May 26th) Come back and present what you built. Judges evaluate live. Winners announced on the night.
βπ Demo Night β May 26th, 5:30PMβ8:30PM
β5:30β6:00pm β Arrival
β6:00β6:30pm β Food, meet with teams
β6:30β7:30pm β Live demos
β7:30β8:00pm β Judges Deliberation
β8:00β8:30pm β Winners Announced + Connect
ββοΈ How It Works
βRSVP to lock in your spot. Attend the Kickoff Night to meet your team and get the challenge. Build for a week. Come back on the 26th and demo it live.
βChallenge tracks, judges, and prizes will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event β follow along and stay tuned.
βπ Hackathon Tracks
1. Validating a Business Idea
βInnovation teams collect thousands of ideas every year, far more than they can evaluate. Build an AI agent or tool that streamlines the innovation pipeline from raw idea to commercialized product.
β2. Continuous Market Monitoring
βThe business landscape is changing fast, and separating signal from noise has become critical. Build an agentic AI tool or platform that continuously monitors the market for signals relevant to a company's innovation function.
β3. Synthetic Customers
Real customer studies are slow, expensive, and often fail to surface what customers actually want. Build an AI tool or platform that simulates synthetic customer feedback on new product ideas.
π₯ Who Should Apply
βBuilders: Founders, engineers, designers, and makers with hands-on AI experience who can ship something real in a week.
βJudges: Industry leaders and innovators evaluating for real-world impact. More details coming soon.
ββ How to Join
βRSVP on Luma β spots are limited to 100 builders
βAttend Kickoff Night (May 19th) to form your team and get the challenge
βSubmit your project by Sunday May 24th 11:59pm
βBuild for a week, finalists demo May 26th
βSign up for our app: https://www.makerslounge.ca/
βUse #MakersLounge + #TorontoTechWeek and post on socials to help us grow.
βSpace is strictly limited to 100 builders. If you don't get in this time, keep applying β we appreciate every submission and look forward to seeing you soon.
βLet's build something that matters. See you at MakersLounge.
βWe're so grateful for our sponsors of this event
- Google Cloud
- Aucctus
- Disruptive Edge
- Pingram
- Scelta
βCommunity Partner: The AI Collective The AI Collective is a global non-profit building the human layer for the AI age. We unite 150,000+ leaders, builders, and stakeholders across 100+ forums worldwide. Participating solely as a community partner β does not handle payments, ticketing, or receive any portion of event fees.
βAll attendees and organizers at events affiliated with The AI Collective agree to our privacy policy and are subject to our code of conduct. Toronto Tech Week is a citywide celebration of the people building what's next. From May 25β29, 2026, founders, investors, and builders come together for hundreds of community-led events across Toronto, connecting tens of thousands of people around Canadian tech. Torontotechweek.com.