Hack Your Way Into the Hacker House - powered by OnlyExit

​📋 Event Description

​Spend one day building at the frontier of AI and then pitch it to real VCs.

​This is a one-day, in-person hackathon at Fordham University, co-hosted by OnlyExit Hacker House and localhost:nyc, where NYC's sharpest young AI builders ship something real and defend it live in front of a panel of seed-stage investors.

​This is the NYC scouting funnel for OnlyExit Hacker House Cohort One - build well here and you skip straight to the front of the line to be part of a hacker house backed by top Silicon Valley Investorss.

​⚡ The Frontier

​We're not looking for another CRUD app. Build at the edge of applied AI:

• ​AI agents and multi-agent systems

• ​Applied / vertical AI for real industries

• ​On-device and AI infrastructure

• ​AI for hard, regulated, or high-complexity domains (defense, health, energy, robotics, science)

​🗓️ What to Expect

• ​10 am – 7 pm, one high-intensity build day at Fordham University

• ​Solo or teams up to 4 - your call

• ​~100 of NYC's most obsessive AI builders in one room

• ​VC judges arrive mid-afternoon; live demos to the panel in the evening

• ​Food and drinks to fuel the full day

​🏆 What Winners Get

​Access, not merch. The prize is the pipeline:

• ​Fast-track OnlyExit Hacker House interview - top teams get a guaranteed in-person scouting interview for Cohort One in Seattle, skipping the cold-application line

• ​Warm VC intros - standouts get direct introductions to the judging partners for their raise

• ​Visibility - recognition to the OnlyExit and VC network as one of the strongest builders in the room

​⚖️ Judges

​A panel from our VC network:

• ​TBD

​🎯 Who Should Attend

• ​Founders and technical builders working on frontier tech and applied AI

• ​Pre-seed or earlier - haven't raised, or only a small check

• ​People with deep domain expertise or ex-unicorn / hard-tech experience

• ​Fast, obsessive builders who can ship something real in a day

​You don't need a co-founder or a finished idea, just show up ready to build at the frontier.

​Credit Sponsors

• ​Tavily: Connect your AI agents to the web.

• ​Verdict turns your pitch deck into a brutally honest investment memo, in about ten minutes.

• ​Lovable - Your AI website builder.

​🤝 Hosts

• ​Somya Gupta - The face of the NYC startup ecosystem.

• ​OnlyExit Hacker House - A ten-week, live-in Seattle program for frontier-tech and AI founders, ending in a Demo Day at 40,000 feet.

• ​CASTGNY: Since 1992, providing platform for learning, networking and mentoring for technology professionals and entrepreneurs.

• ​Pulse NYC AI - A community, incubator, and venture fund built for founders, researchers, and technologists shaping the future of AI in New York City.

• ​ConnNext is a next-gen mobile app and community built for career growth.