How developer talent builds tomorrow’s companies in 12 hours with AI coding

A new type of hackathon is coming to Stockholm this February. BuildArena is a twelve-hour build marathon where 24 teams of Europe’s leading developer talent compete to solve real, predefined challenges from major corporations. Finalist teams will pitch live on stage in front of thousands of spectators. The result is finished, launch-ready products.

“Hackathons have long been about simple demos that at best inspire and show what’s possible. We’re turning that around. The goal is to build companies, products, and businesses based on real problems where willingness to pay and the need have already been validated,” says Omid Ekhlasi, CEO and founder of Techarena.

BuildArena is organized by Techarena, Lovable, Project Europe, Inflection, European Defense Tech Hub (EDTH), and BuilderBase. The format builds on experiences from previous hackathons where concrete business results have already been achieved.

In-Event Pitches and Award Ceremony

During a hackathon in Stockholm in August 2025, a company was sold the same day it was built. Another team later received funding at a unicorn valuation. More than 50 European defense tech startups have emerged from EDTH-hosted hackathons alone. 

“It’s exciting how the entrepreneurial journey is evolving thanks to the developments in AI. What used to take years to build can now be done in a day,” says Anton Osika, Founder, Lovable.

Each industry partner defines a concrete problem that eight teams will compete to solve. The partner selects a finalist who pitches on Techarena’s stage on February 12 in front of thousands of spectators. An expert jury selects the winner.

“What’s unique about BuildArena is that we gather Europe’s best developers and give them predefined problems to solve and the tools to solve them,” says Kitty Mayo, CEO, Project Europe.

Facts about BuildArena:

• Date: February 11–12, 2026
• Location: Strawberry Arena, Stockholm (part of Techarena 2026)
• Format: 12-hour hackathon, three industry tracks predefined by major corporations and partners, 24 teams compete with Europe’s best developers
• Organizers: Techarena, Lovable, Project Europe, Inflection, European Defense Tech Hub, and BuilderBase
• Previous results: Company sold for $20,000 the same day, startup that reached unicorn valuation, ShiftNex to $1M ARR in five months

About the organizers:

• Techarena is Scandinavia’s biggest tech and business event, gathering 10,000 attendees in Stockholm.
• Lovable is a Swedish AI platform for building web applications via natural language. Unicorn status.
• Project Europe is an investment fund with the goal of finding Europe’s next major tech company.
• Inflection is a boutique venture capital fund investing in non-consensus engineering moonshots at the idea stage.
• The European Defense Tech Hub is a defense technology community that fosters innovation in Europe by connecting builders, investors, and operators.
• BuilderBase is a community platform for developers and tech entrepreneurs where Hackathons are hosted.