Biohackathon.xyz 2026
โ๐ Awards announced!
Grand Prize: ticket to the next Vitalist Bay + priority review for Meet the Drapers Japan 2027
Special prizes: Antler Japan residency (6 weeks mentoring, $850k+ perks, investment chance) ยท Japan Landing Award by GlobalDeal ยท plus the partner grants below
โ๐๏ธ In-person schedule
๐ Mirai Tech City Coworking Space, 2-1-11 Minatojima Minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047
For remote link on Mirai telegram!
โOct 16, 10amโ1pm โ Optional: DIY bio (cultured meat) workshop with Shojinmeat Project
โOct 16, 5:30pm โ Kickoff & team forming (in-person participants: please come!)
โOct 17โ22 โ Coworking space open daily
โOct 23, 5pm โ Pitch practice
โOct 26 โ Finalists pitch to judges at Demo Day (Orbis Hall) Remote? Join via Discord and the Mirai City Telegram.
โ
โPrimordia Grants up to $3,000 for researchers working on work that really matters
โReactorfield a free, philanthropically funded 4-week accelerator that makes scientists and deep-tech startups AI-native, embedding frontier AI into projects and laboratory workflows
โbiopunk.community biohackathon teams can receive access to labs around the world via the biopunk.community
โbiopunk.house a priority review for $10k residency
โ ๐งฌ The event
โFrom bioinformatics to bioart, longevity, therapeutics, ai drug discovery to cyborg tech. Build a real bio project, then bring it to Japan. Both remote and in-person participants are submitted for all grants, fellowships and partners. But we strongly encourage you to fly to Kobe: community labs, wetlab workshops, the top science minds of Japan, PMDA regulators, investors โ all added by Mirai Tech City You won't find better excuse to fly to Japan!
โHow it works:
โ1. Sign up NOW for remote participation โ your application goes to all partner grants, fellowships and VCs
โ2. Check flights and Mirai Tech City info โ if possible fly to Japan!
โ3. End of September โ Join call to find your teammates, start building in your home/kitchen lab (micro-grants help fund this)
โ4. October โ a month in Kobe (or hack along remotely)
โ5. 26 October โ Demo Day: biohackathon winners present alongside curated frontier-bio companies
โ
โ๐๏ธ Mirai Schedule for October in Kobe
โ1โ11 Oct โ Japan Biotech Ecosystem
โExplore the Japanese biotech ecosystem, tour local labs, meet PMDA (Japan's FDA-equivalent regulators). You can even hunt for an affordable Akiya home if you want to buy one!
โ12โ18 Oct โ Longevity / Bio Week
โMeet scientists like Aubrey de Grey, writers like Cremieux, and minds from Kobe University leading fields such as stem-cell research. West and East science meeting together. Plus wetlab workshops run by Shojinmeat and BioOlympia.
โ19โ25 Oct โ Go-To-Market Week
โLearn from the top investors:
Sebastian Gero,
Patri Friedman,
Sandeep Casi,
and from Japanese regulators, on whether you can actually bring it to the Japanese market.
โYou'll also meet founders who already raised millions of dollars and can advise you on next steps:
โMac Davis from Minicircle โ plasmid gene therapies
โJuliette Humer from Muse Bio โ stem cells from menstrual blood
โDaniel Burger Eight Six Science โ brain replacement with biohybrid tissue
โ23 Oct: Longevity Biotech Fellowship day โ top experts on making radical longevity a reality โ plus Vibecoding Night, straight from the Bay Area.
โ26 Oct โ Demo Day + Fashion Show
โCurated companies on the edge of frontier bio present; biohackathon winners join them on stage. Followed by a fashion show where models present devices and technologies developed during the month.
โ๐๏ธ Tickets
โRemote: $5 โ hack from anywhere, full submission to all grants and partners
โIn-person: $0 โ plus you need a Mirai Tech PopUp City ticket for the venue hosting us. Students have it free.
โ๐ Location
โKobe, Japan โ Port Island, in the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC), as part of Mirai Tech City. Exact venue: Mirai Tech City Coworking Space, 2-1-11 Minatojima Minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe
โRemote participants: everything streamed coordinated on discord, Mirai City telegram is the main place of community
โโFAQ
โCan I really participate remotely?
โYes โ remote participants are submitted for all grants, fellowships and partner programs, same as in-person. You just miss the labs, the onsen and Japan.
โDo I need a team? What's the team size limit?
โSolo hackers and teams both welcome. Team formation happens online after sign-up and on the ground in Kobe. Teams should not be bigger than 4 people to keep it fair.
โDo I need a wet lab?
You don't need a wetlab for computational, hardware, bioinformatics and design projects are all welcome.
biopunk.community can help you access community labs across the world. The micro-grants are there to equip your home lab, and community labs + wetlab workshops will be available in Kobe, Japan.
โWhen does hacking start?
โAs soon as you sign up. The whole point of pre-hackathon grants is that you build in September and show up with something real.
โAccommodation?
โMirai Tech City offers hotel packages see their Luma. Groups are also arranging renting cheap accommodation together on the Mirai Tech City Telegram โ join and find your housemates. Some of you might even leave with an Akiya house.
โVisa?
โMany nationalities can visit Japan visa-free for short stays โ check your country's requirements. Need a confirmation-of-participation letter? Message the organizers.
โBiosafety?
โProjects must comply with the biosafety laws of wherever you're working. In Japan there will be limited access to community and university labs. biopunk.community can help you access community labs across the world.