HOIV
Robotics and real-world AI
Bring a four-legged robot to life as a welcome host for Home of Innovation.
Details coming soon
HOIV - Home of Innovation Vienna
START HACK
Vienna ’26
24 hours. Five tracks. One weekend that hits.
Join DiscordBacked by the best
What you get for showing up
Real challenges from real companies
Five case partners bring problems they actually want solved. Pick your case, get matched with a team, build for 24 hours.
Mentors always on-site
Engineers and founders from each case partner are on-site to help you make decisions and unblock your build.
20,000+ EUR prize pool
Track Winners, Overall Winner, and a crowd-voted Community Award. Plus an MIT-licensed GitHub project to take with you.
The basics
Who can apply?
Builders, students, engineers, designers, PMs, founders, operators.
Do I need a team?
Teams of 2–4. Solo? We'll match you on-site. No solo builds.
Is it free?
Yes. Free food, drinks, and tool credits. Just bring your laptop.
How does it work?
Starts Saturday, ends Sunday. Four Track Winners, one Overall Winner.
Prize pool?
20,000+ EUR total, trophies, Community Award.
Event language?
English. Vienna is international (so are you).
Tracks
Choose the challenge you want to be known for.
Start with team formation, rank your favorite briefs, then build for one partner track with mentors in the room.
Start here
START Hack
Onboarding and allocation
Find your team, rank your preferred challenges, and get allocated before hacking starts.
See team flow
Timeline
How the weekend runs
Two days, one simple rhythm: form your team, get allocated, build, submit, pitch, and close the weekend together.
June 6
Day One - Build starts
- 09:00 - 11:00June 6
Check-in at HOIV
Bring your personal QR code and check in at the venue. Cases go live at 10:00 and doors close at 11:00 sharp.
- 10:30 - 11:00June 6
Optional matchmaking
Find team members for your team. Solo applicants get different colored armbands.
- 11:00 - 11:30June 6
Opening ceremony
Get to know the schedule and hear a 5-minute pitch from each track partner.
- 11:30 - 12:30June 6
Break-out rooms
Join partner rooms, hear details, and ask questions before ranking tracks.
- 12:30 - 12:45June 6
Finalize team structure and preferences
Fill in the telli team form (link emailed at check-in), add your team members, and submit ranked track preferences.
- 12:45 - 13:00June 6
Final allocation
Teams are assigned to tracks and hacking starts at 13:00.
- 13:00June 6
Hacking starts
Code freeze is June 7 at 14:00, no matter how the start lands.
- 14:00 - 15:30June 6
Lunch slot
Food truck outside, including vegan options.
- 17:00 - 21:00June 6
VR/AR experience and flight simulator
Try on-site VR and AR experiences with Vrei.
- 18:30 - 22:00June 6
Networking dinner slot
Dinner outside, again with vegan options.
June 7
Day Two - Freeze, pitch, win
- 09:00 - 11:00June 7
Breakfast slot
Start the final day with breakfast downstairs.
- 12:00June 7
Optional draft submission
Submit a draft in case something goes wrong close to final submission.
- 12:00 - 14:00June 7
Lunch slot
Food truck lunch while teams finish their submissions.
- 14:00June 7
Code freeze and final submission
Final work must be submitted by 14:00. Track-specific requirements apply.
- 14:00 - 16:00June 7
Community Award
Optional open mic: pitch in 2 minutes, vote as teams, and compete for the Community Award.
- 16:00 - 17:00June 7
Track winners pitch
Track winners pitch to an external expert jury for the overall software and hardware winners.
- 17:00 - 18:00June 7
After-event networking
Exchange ideas, meet partners, and close the weekend together.
- 19:00June 7
Venue closes
HOIV closes and the hackathon wraps.
The crew running this
START Vienna’s organizers and HOIV, in the room with you all weekend.
Dániel Sydó
Co-organizer
Abdul Banbhan
Co-organizer
Julian Schmidt
Co-organizer
Kyrillus Mehanni
Co-organizer
HOIV
Venue partner
Ready?
Bring your laptop. Leave with a portfolio.
Applications are closed. Join Discord for participant updates, team formation, and event ops.
