Raylu — Hackathon
Build & Pitch w/ Raylu
The hackathon where AI builders showcase to the VCs writing checks
Prize Pool
Non-cash Prize
Location
Online
Duration
16 days
Date
May 13, 2026 - May 29, 2026
About the Hackathon
The hackathon where AI builders showcase to the VCs writing checks
Build & Pitch w/ Raylu#NYTechWeekWednesday, June 3 · 6:30 PM – 9:00 PMHosted by Raylu · New York, NY (venue TBD)The hackathon where AI builders showcase to the VCs writing checks. ⚡Most hackathons are judged by engineers. This one's judged by the partners actually deploying capital into AI.Bring your best AI project — something you've been building, or something you'll ship in the next 2 weeks specifically for this demo day. The 6 strongest submissions take the stage and demo live to VCs from leading PE, growth equity, and venture funds.The next generation of tools for private market investors won't be built by funds — it'll be built by founders. Raylu is bringing the sharpest AI builders in NYC face-to-face with the partners writing checks. Submit your project ahead of time. If you're picked as a finalist, you demo live to VCs — the people who'd actually buy what you build.Winners walk away with a MacBook, Anthropic credits, and warm intros to every judge on the panel.👀 Not building? Come anyway.RSVP for demo day to watch top NYC builders ship their best work in front of real investors. Drinks, food, and the best AI networking room at NYC Tech Week.⚠️ Two Parts — Applications Open May 13💻 Build Phase — May 13 through May 29Build from anywhere. Bring an existing project or build something new. 2-week window.🏁 Demo Day — Wednesday, June 3 · 6:30–9:00 PM6 finalists take the stage. 5-minute demos. 3-minute judge Q&A. Winners announced live. Networking until 10 PM.👉 Apply now. Space is limited — apply early.🛠️ Build Anything (but think about who's judging)Bring whatever AI project gets you excited. The judges are VCs, so projects that demonstrate commercial potential, technical depth, and real-world usefulness will stand out.Bonus consideration for projects in any of these tracks:Investor & finance tools — sourcing, research, outreach, diligence, portfolio opsVertical AI for high-value workflows — anywhere AI compresses 40 hours into 30 minutesWild cards — show us something we haven't seen🔧 Build With Whatever You WantLLMs — Claude, GPT-5, open modelsAgent frameworks — LangGraph, CrewAIWeb data — Firecrawl, Browserbase, Exa, TavilyVector DBs — anyVoice — ElevenLabs, VapiBring your own stack. We just want to see something real.🏆 Prizes🥇 Grand Prize — MacBook Neo + $1K Anthropic credits (for each team member)🥈 Runner-Up — $500 Amazon gift card + Apple AirPods (for each team member)🥉 Third Place — $200 Uber Eats gift card (for each team member)🎁 Every Finalist — Finalist swag + post-event spotlight + warm intros to every judge on the panel✅ Judging CriteriaVCs will score projects on:Real-world usefulness — would someone pay for this?Technical execution — does it work well?Novel insight — what does this do that nothing else does?Demo quality — can you sell it in 5 minutes?👥 Who Should BuildAI engineers shipping agents for real workFounders with a project that needs VC eyesBuilders who want their best work in front of capitalTeams of 1–4. Solo builders welcome.🤝 SponsorsMeowMore to be announced📋 To ApplySubmit by May 29 at 11:59 PM ET:2–3 minute demo video250–500 word project descriptionLive link or runnable GitHub repoTeam info👉 Apply now💬 Questions? Emaildayo@raylu.aiThis event is part of #NYTechWeek — learn more at tech-week.com.
Event Details
Format
Online
Prize Pool
Non-cash Prize
Currency
USD
Start
May 13, 2026
End
May 29, 2026
Duration
16 days
Organized by Raylu
Online · Active
Timeline
May 13, 2026
EVENT STARTS
Hackathon kicks off. Join online and start building.
May 29, 2026
EVENT ENDS
Final submissions and judging period begins.