Overview
Build North: Ship Something Real is a virtual AI build sprint for builders across Canada, hosted on Devpost. Georgian, Anthropic, Google Cloud for Startups, TAPNET, Expo, Clerk, Eon, and SurrealDB are working together to run the event. Participants pick a real problem, identify a real user, and build a project with a credible chance of becoming an actual business. Teams can include up to four people, and solo entries are welcome.
Who can participate
The hackathon is open to participants aged 18 and older from all countries and territories, excluding standard exceptions. The organizers say it suits both first-time builders who have never shipped to production and experienced engineers who want a push to finally build an idea they have been holding onto.
Timeline
The event runs through Build Week, with the submission deadline set for October 26, 2026 at 12:00 AM EDT. The page also describes a submission due date of October 25 at 11:59 PM ET. The top 10 teams are announced on October 26, and they present live at Demo Day in Toronto on October 29. At least one team member needs to be able to attend Demo Day in person.
The challenge
Participants are asked to pick a real problem, identify a specific user, and build toward a solution using any tools that fit. The page encourages projects such as apps, AI agents, browser extensions, hardware projects, or other products, as long as they address the chosen problem. Before committing to an idea, builders should be able to name the user clearly, state the value-add in plain terms, and explain a credible path to production. A formal business plan is not required.
Partner platforms
Four partners sponsor category prizes, and each requires the platform to play a genuine role in the project:
- Expo: Mobile apps should use Expo's React Native tooling, including the SDK and either Build or Update.
- Clerk: Projects that need authentication, user profiles, or session management should use Clerk, including sign-up, sign-in, multi-factor authentication, or social login.
- Eon: AI agent projects can use Era by Eon to test and benchmark agents. Every team receives free early access at kickoff.
- SurrealDB: Agents that need memory can use SurrealDB Agent Memory.
These platforms are optional. Best Overall is open to any stack, but entries for the partner-specific prizes must show that the platform meaningfully shaped the build.
Submission requirements
All materials are submitted through a single Devpost project page. Required and recommended items include:
- A public GitHub repository that judges and others can view.
- A live link, deployed app, App Store listing, or test build, if applicable.
- An optional demo video of four minutes or less, with no login required.
- A project write-up covering what was built, why, the tech stack, and how partner platforms were used.
- A list of team members, up to four names.
- A disclosure of any templates, scaffolding, or prior work, with an explanation of what was created or changed during Build Week.
Prizes
There are five non-cash prize categories:
- Best Overall: The Georgian Golden Ticket, which includes a pitch session with investors and a warm introduction to an early-stage fund, plus a Google Home Speaker per member, $15,000 in Anthropic API credits for the team, and partner perks.
- Best Use of Expo: An LG 27 inch gaming monitor per member, one year of Expo Starter with $45 per month in build credits, and an Expo swag box.
- Best Use of Clerk: A JBL Tune 770NC headphone set per member and a Clerk swag box.
- Best Use of Eon: A Samsung T7 1TB USB 3.2 external SSD per member and unlimited Era by Eon usage for three months.
- Best Use of SurrealDB Agent Memory: $1,000 in SurrealDB Agent Memory credit for the winning team.
Judging criteria
Projects are evaluated on four areas:
- Innovation: Solutions that go beyond obvious applications.
- Real-world impact: A clear user, a stated value-add, and a path to production.
- UI and design: Usability for a real user and thoughtful interface choices.
- Technology and deployment: Solid architecture and a deployed product that serves features.
- Security and ethics: Responsible design, guardrails, and safe handling of user data.
Judges
The panel includes Margaret Wu, Lead Investor at Georgian; Madalin Mihailescu, CTO at Georgian; Deval Pandya, CEO and Founder of Autoinference and former VP of AI Engineering at Vector Institute; and Julien Coupez, Google Customer Engineer for Startups.
Questions
Participants with questions can contact the hackathon manager by email through the Devpost hackathon page.
