​ORIGIN Hackathon - Paris Edition

​​Location: École 42, Paris & Hexa (Demo Night)

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Date: January 17–18, 2026 (at 42) & January 19-20 (remote)
Demo: January 21st, 2026 (evening)

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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.

​+5K€ Pool prize including Cash Prize

​​Format

​Friday, Jan 16th: OPTIONAL (at Ecole 42)

• ​07:00 PM – 09:00 PM | Team formation:

​This is the moment to join or form a team if you don’t have one yet + peer discussions :)

​Saturday, Jan 17th: Ideation & Launch (at Ecole 42)

• ​09:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Check-in & Team Synergy: Welcome coffee and discussions about 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:

• ​Alpic : MCP servers hosting & ChatGPT Apps infrastructure

• ​​Lightpanda : Browser for machines

• ​Lovable : No-code AI app builder

• ​​Dust : AI agents platform

• ​Full Enrich : Leads enrichment

• ​​IQ Project : Venture building & AI Education

• ​​Horizon Factory : Startup Accelerator & development agency

​​Stay tuned, others unveiling soon

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Be part of an intense weekend where ideas turn into real products, connections spark collaborations, and the next AI unicorn could be born.