$12,000 AI + Startup Hackathon

$12,000 in cash prizes (and amazing food items)!

To participate and have your admittance approved, you must RSVP here AND at https://forms.gle/Kb4iq53rGGaR2Zs66

The yconic AI team has returned from Silicon Valley where they WON the AWS 2025 Artificial Intelligence / MCP Competition! Now, they are hosting their own AI hackathon in Providence for anyone and everyone interested in AI and launching a startup (idea stage or beyond).

The yc0n1c $12,000 Startup/AI Hackathon is a three-day competition in Rhode Island where teams harness AI to build, validate, and launch startup technologies that help validate traction, adoption and product–market fit.

Winners earn a share of $12,000 in cash prizes and automatic entry into yc0n1c’s $100,000 Nationwide Startup Hackathon, which includes an all-expenses-paid trip to the four-day finale in Silicon Valley for the top finalists.

The $100,000 finale will be recorded and produced in a television series-
style startup podcast.

What makes this hackathon DIFFERENT? The goal isn't just to create the coolest tech, but to build something that helps your startup or startup idea validate that there is real-world interest from customers.

Too many hackathons and coding meetups focus on building and demonstrating tech that has no validated real-world user interest.

We think that needs to change and we are putting up $12,000 and then $100,000 to make it happen.

Prize Categories:

>>> Best 48 Hour Startup Built with AI
$4,000 in cash
1 winner ($4000)

>>> Best Use of AI to Drive Revenue
$2,000 in cash
2 winners ($1500 for 1st, $500 for 2nd)

>>> Best Use of AI to Validate User Interest
$2,000 in cash
2 winners ($1500 for 1st, $500 for 2nd)

>>> Best Startup Enterprise Automation Agent (MCP)

$1,000 in cash
1 winner ($1000)

>>> Best Vibe Coding/Code Surfing Build by a Dev
$1,000 in cash
1 winner ($1000)

>>> Best Product Hunt / Hacker Rank Results
$500 in cash
1 winner ($500)

>>> Best Vibe Coding/Code Surfing Build by a Non-Dev
$500 in cash
1 winner ($500)

>>> Most Customer/Sign-ups/User Interactions over three days
$500 in cash
1 winner ($500 for 1st)

>>> Crowd Favorite
$500 in cash
1 winner ($500 for 1st)