Afore Capital Presents
EPISODE III • FEBRUARY 21, 2026 • SAN FRANCISCOEP III • FEB 21, 2026 • SF
Return of theAgents
The grand finale. Build the future of Generative AI.
The third and final installment in our trilogy of hackathons — an exclusive gathering of top founders, ambitious developers, and frontier researchers creating venture-scale products that shape the next era of AI.
Pre-Seed Investment Opportunity
$500K–$2M+ from Afore Capital
🎓 Students: Hackathon participation strengthens your Afore FIR U application
Prize Pool
Global Builders
High-Intensity
Backed by Industry Leaders
Our Partners
World-class organizations powering the future of AI
Presenting Partner
Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Interested in sponsoring the Bay Area's most exclusive AI hackathon?
Get in touchEpisode III • The Grand Finale
What to Expect
Over one high-energy day, 200+ builders from around the world will design, prototype, and deploy groundbreaking systems that shape the next era of generative AI.
Cutting-Edge AI
From state-of-the-art image and video generation to multimodal platforms redefining how we create, communicate, and collaborate.
Expert Mentorship
Hands-on technical workshops & mentorship from industry leaders, top investors, and AI experts.
Venture Opportunities
Selected teams will be considered for Afore Capital's pre-seed program ($500k–$2M+).
Fast-Track Recognition
$5,000 in prizes plus recognition & fast-track opportunities into venture-scale products.
This is where the most driven entrepreneurs will launch companies that shape the next era of generative AI
Reserve Your SpotThree-Part Series
The Hackathon Trilogy
A complete journey through the evolution of AI innovation
A New Agent
Our inaugural AI agent hackathon that brought together 200+ builders
Key Highlights
- •Autonomous AI systems
- •Pre-seed funding opportunities
- •Industry expert judges
- •Innovative AI solutions
Droids Strike Back
Build AI agents for robotics in simulation and software
Key Highlights
- •$5,000+ in prizes
- •Software & simulation tracks
- •Expert mentorship
- •$500K-$2M+ funding opportunities
Return of the Agents
The grand finale. Build the future of Generative AI.
Key Highlights
- •$5,000+ in prizes
- •Generative AI focus
- •Venture-scale products
- •Top investors & experts
Event Timeline
Event Schedule
February 21, 2026 • San Francisco, CA
February 21, 2026
One-Day Hackathon
Schedule subject to change. Additional workshops and activities TBA.
Recognition & Rewards
Prizes & Opportunities
$5,000+ in prizes plus fast-track opportunities into venture-scale products
1st Place
$2,500
- ✓Cash prize
- ✓Priority consideration for Afore Capital pre-seed program
- ✓Featured in AI Valley showcase
- ✓Mentorship session with judges
2nd Place
$1,500
- ✓Cash prize
- ✓Consideration for Afore Capital program
- ✓Featured in AI Valley showcase
- ✓Technical resources package
3rd Place
$1,000
- ✓Cash prize
- ✓Consideration for Afore Capital program
- ✓AI Valley community spotlight
- ✓API credits bundle
Afore Capital Pre-Seed Program
Selected teams will be considered for investment of $500K–$2M+ from Afore Capital's pre-seed program. This is your opportunity to turn your hackathon project into a venture-backed company.
Apply NowExpert Panel
Judges & Mentors
Learn from and be evaluated by leading experts in generative AI, venture capital, and tech innovation
AI Researchers
Pioneers in generative AI and machine learning from leading labs
Successful Founders
Entrepreneurs who've built and scaled AI-first companies
Venture Capitalists
Investors focused on AI, deep tech, and frontier technologies
YQ (Yueqing) Zhou
Investor & Head of Research
Parable
YQ (Yueqing) Zhou is an early-stage investor and Head of Research at Parable, backing founders at the frontier of AI, consumer, and prosumer. She deve...
Arya Talebzadeh
Member of Technical Staff, Production Learning & Experimentation
OpenAI
Building continuous learning loops to advance frontier model capabilities on the problems that matter most to users.
Riya
Engineering Manager
Meta
Riya is an Engineering Manager at Meta, public speaker, and community advocate. She is passionate about building technology that makes a meaningful im...
Aidan Holmes
CTO & Co-Founder
Rama
Rama is building the intelligence layer for the electronic component supply chain. Before founding Rama, Aidan was a Research Engineer at Hyperexponen...
Matt Francis
Co-Founder
Rama
Rama is building the intelligence layer for the electronic component supply chain. Before founding Rama, Matt was studying manufacturing engineering a...
Shubham Anandani
Product Engineering Lead, Identity Experiences
Product Engineering Lead, Identity Experiences at LinkedIn, leading product strategy and cross-functional teams for a suite of identity and profession...
Skanda
Machine Learning Engineer
Tinder
Building AI to help people connect more meaningfully. He works on LLMs and on-device AI that shape how people express themselves and interact with eac...
Dhyey Mavani
Software Engineer - AI Inference
Dhyey Mavani is recognized for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence and applied computational mathematics. At LinkedIn, he has led large-sca...
Hitesh
Senior Software Engineering Manager
Intuit
Senior Software Engineering Manager at Intuit leading the evolution of agentic AI experiences and mobile-first workflows. Hitesh is an experienced eng...
Lukas Esch
Strategic Partnerships
Strala
Lukas has built a track record in growth – from scaling his own marketing agency to six figures in annual revenue as a teenager to growth roles across...
Abhay Ravindran
Member of Technical Staff
Strala
Abhay combines strong engineering fundamentals with quantitative rigor. He has worked on production-critical systems at Meta, Amazon Web Services, and...
Viswesh
Co-founder & CTO
Canary (YC W26)
Specializing in applied AI and agentic systems. Currently building Canary, an AI QA that understands your codebase to catch regressions before they hi...
Rohan
Software Architect
Coursera
Software Architect at Coursera and founding member of the company's first AI engineering team, building a next-generation AI-native learning platform ...
Apurv
Senior Product Manager
Nvidia
Apurv is a Senior Product Manager at Nvidia, where he leads products in the domain of Physical AI. He specializes in bringing complex products to mark...
Ashutosh Datar
Distributed Systems Engineer
Ashutosh Datar is a distributed systems engineer with over 20 years of experience building scalable infrastructure and intelligent storage platforms. ...
Yahya Pak
Founding Engineer
Polymet AI (YC S24)
Founding Engineer at Polymet AI (YC S24), building an AI product designer that turns ideas into interactive prototypes and production-ready apps using...
Nico Hänggi
Co-Founder
Casey (YC F25)
Nico Hänggi is a CS graduate from ETH Zurich who started his career reverse engineering and automating adversarial web surfaces at scale, building the...
Maksym Kuzyshyn
Machine Learning Engineer
Meta
Machine Learning Engineer at Meta (ex-Snap), building large-scale multimodal AI systems for Facebook and Instagram Reels. His work focuses on content ...
More Judges Coming Soon
We're assembling an exceptional lineup of judges from leading AI companies, top-tier VCs, and successful founders
Judging Criteria