Hackathons in Switzerland: how to pick the one worth your weekend

The question I get most after an event is not about code. It is this: which hackathon should I go to next?

Fair question. Switzerland has a real builder scene now, and it is spread across the whole country. Zurich has the densest startup ecosystem. St. Gallen runs some of the biggest student hackathons in the country. Basel has life sciences and a strong tech community. Bern sits next to the public sector. Lausanne has EPFL. On top of that, there are open-source series like Hack Apertus, built on Switzerland's own AI model, and a growing wave of AI and vibe coding meetups.

So the problem is not finding a hackathon. It is picking the right one. After organising hackathons across Switzerland for years, including START Hack with 600 hackers, here is how I would choose.

1. Is the problem real?

Ask who owns the challenge. A company that brings a problem from its own operations, with someone in the room who will actually use the result, is worth more than a vague theme. Real problems make better prototypes, and better stories for your CV.

2. Who is in the room?

The strongest teams mix developers, designers, data people and domain experts. If an event only attracts coders, you will build something clever that nobody needs. If it is curated for different angles on the same problem, you will learn more in 36 hours than in a semester.

3. How is it judged?

Judging is the unsolved problem at hackathons. Look for events that tell you upfront who judges, on what criteria, and whether the people who own the problem get a say. If nobody can answer that, the pitch will beat the product.

4. What happens after Sunday?

Most hackathons end at the closing ceremony. The good ones build a bridge out of the weekend: contacts to the companies, a place to keep your project visible, people you stay in touch with. Ask what happens on Monday.

5. What does it cost you?

Money, travel and sleep. The best events for builders are free, feed you all weekend and let you sleep on site, so you spend the 36 hours building, not commuting.

Hackathon or innovation sprint?

In format they are the same thing: small teams, around 36 hours, working software by Sunday. We call ours an innovation sprint because the focus is the real-world problem, not the code alone, and because we want domain experts in the room, not only coders. If you have been to a hackathon, you already know how it works. If you have not, here is what your first one looks like.

Where to start

Our next innovation sprint is sprintd Zurich, 9 to 11 October 2026 at Bluelion in Zurich. 36 hours, around 100 builders, real problems from real companies. Free to enter, food and a place to sleep included. Applications are open until 6 October.

You apply on the sprintd platform. Create your profile once, and you can apply with one click to this sprint and the ones that follow, wherever in Switzerland they happen.