Great hackathons, organized in the Benelux.

Bring your organization’s challenges to our builder community, or bring your employees together for an internal hackathon. We organize and guide both formats to explore solutions, build working prototypes, and make AI adoption practical.

Plan a hackathon with us
AI Hackathon III A weekend of building produced an AI search tool, journal, and event finder. 3 prototypes built Antwerp Tectonic Hackathon Hosted with Faktion, teams tackled real business challenges from KBC and SD Worx. Business challenge prototypes Antwerp Public AI Hackathon 80 builders turned public service challenges into working AI prototypes. Working AI prototypes Antwerp ElevenLabs Worldwide 40 builders in Ghent joined a conversational AI hackathon across 30 cities. Conversational AI prototypes Ghent Robotics Hackathon Antwerp teams built with real robots as part of a worldwide challenge. Robotics prototypes Antwerp Hack-Nation Global AI Hackathon North Star brought the Brussels hub to a global build with teams from 65+ countries. Prototypes from a global builder community Brussels Kids AI Vibecoding Hackathon Kids built with AI across six cities, supported by 80 volunteers. 100 kids · 8 venues 6 Belgian cities

Partners & supporters

North Star is a Belgian nonprofit and hackathon organizer. We organize community hackathons and internal company hackathons for businesses and public organizations across Belgium and Europe .

Our Benelux venue network includes Antwerp and Ghent in Flanders, Brussels, and Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Our experienced organizers handle everything from shaping the challenges to logistics, participant support, and final demos, making your hackathon straightforward to run and focused on useful results.

Two ways to run your hackathon

Community hackathons

North Star community hackathon participants gathered outside, waving together.

Your challenges. Our community builds. Your organization knows the problem inside out. Our community brings the technical skills, AI tools, and fresh perspectives to explore solutions.

We invite builders to form teams and prototype different approaches in one hackathon. Your organization provides the context and helps evaluate the results, leaving with a range of prototypes and ideas to take further.

Bring a challenge to our community

Internal company hackathons

Hackathon participants working together at laptops with support from an organizer.

Your challenges. Your employees build. Bring colleagues from different roles together to solve problems they know from their own work. We organize the event and guide your employees as they test ideas and develop prototypes.

An internal AI hackathon combines practical learning and team building in a shared company event. Employees explore useful applications of AI, exchange knowledge, and strengthen their collaboration through building together.

Plan an internal company hackathon

How we organize your hackathon

We take care of planning, preparation, and running your hackathon. Here’s how we guide the participants in four steps.

  1. Bring us the challenges
    A participant and builder discuss a challenge at a hackathon.

    Have a challenge in mind? Let’s look at it together.

    • What’s getting in the way?
    • Who feels the impact?
    • What would a better outcome make possible?

    Together, we choose whether community builders or your employees will tackle the challenge. We agree on the goals, whether that means exploring several solutions, learning to use AI, or strengthening collaboration between colleagues.

    Then we translate your challenge into a clear brief, giving participants the context and focus they need to prototype something useful in a day or two.

    Let’s discuss your challenges
  2. North Star organizes
    The WAT venue interior, with tables prepared for a gathering.

    We bring all the pieces together so your hackathon is ready to run.

    Bring your own venue, or we’ll find one through our partner network in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, and beyond. We arrange catering and coordinate tools and credits with partners like OpenAI, Supabase, and ElevenLabs.

    For a community hackathon, we invite builders to take on your challenges. For an internal hackathon, we work with you to prepare your employees and tailor the support to their experience.

    We create the schedule, prepare the space, and coordinate any prizes, so participants can focus on the challenge.

  3. Hackathon time!
    Builders gather at an ElevenLabs hackathon in Ghent.

    Over a half-day, one-day, or two-day event, participants work in small teams to turn ideas into prototypes. At a community hackathon, these are teams of community builders. At an internal hackathon, they are teams of your employees.

    Our organizers stay on site to guide the build, answer questions, and help participants work through obstacles. Your organization provides context and feedback as the ideas develop.

    We plan carefully and have backups ready, so when things change, the event keeps moving and participants can stay focused.

  4. Review the results
    Hackathon winners stand with their certificates and judges.

    Each participant team demonstrates its prototype and explains its approach. Your organization can compare the solutions and identify ideas worth developing further.

    If the event includes a competition, judges choose winners against the agreed criteria and award the selected prizes.

    A community hackathon gives you fresh approaches and prototypes from external builders. An internal hackathon also gives your employees practical experience with AI and a shared achievement to build on together.

Why choose North Star ?

We bring experience from past hackathons, a network of partners, and hands-on support that helps builders do their best work.

Hackathon cities in Belgium and the NetherlandsEight dots mark hackathon locations: four in Antwerp, two in Brussels, one in Ghent, and one in Eindhoven.AntwerpAntwerpBrusselsBrusselsGhentGhentEindhovenEindhoven
Hackathons hosted
8+
Partners & supporters
29

Tools and credits to build with

Our partners help us put AI tools and credits in participants’ hands. Community builders and employees get more room to try ideas, test what works, and build useful prototypes.

Spaces in four cities

We can arrange spaces in Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, and Eindhoven through our network. For an internal hackathon, we can also organize the event at your workplace.

  • Antwerp
  • Brussels
  • Ghent
  • Eindhoven

Support throughout the build

Our organizers help participants keep the challenge clear, stay focused, and work through what holds them back. We adapt the guidance to the experience of your employees or the community builders taking part.

Frequently asked questions

  • How long does a hackathon take?

    Common formats are half-day, one-day, and two-day hackathons. The right length depends on the challenge and format.

  • How far ahead should we plan?

    Count on 3–5 weeks of planning lead time. The exact timing depends on the challenge, format, and preparation needed.

  • What does our organization leave with?

    A community hackathon gives your organization a range of prototypes and perspectives from external builders. An internal hackathon produces employee-built prototypes alongside practical AI skills and stronger collaboration. In both formats, prototypes help you decide what to explore next and need further testing and development before production use.

What we believe

Organizations move forward when more people can build with AI. We use hackathons to open minds, teach practical skills, and turn ideas into tools that make people’s lives easier.

That means using AI responsibly and creating value for everyone involved: useful results for organizations, skills and opportunities for builders, and knowledge that reaches beyond the event.

Meet the people behind North Star.