Overview
Stranger Builds Melbourne is a Halloween hackathon hosted by NERDCONF and presented by MLAI, Australia's startup and AI community. It is the Melbourne edition of Stranger Builds, and the page describes it as "the nerdiest Halloween hack ever." Participants are asked what they will bring to life.
The core challenge is to find your first users in seven days. Builders meet other builders, create something unusual, and get real people using what they build. The page advertises US$10,000 in cash prizes and credits, with challenges to be announced soon.
Date and schedule
The event is split into two stages:
- Saturday, October 31, 2026: one day of building, either in person in Melbourne or San Francisco, or online from anywhere. The listed time window is 10:00 to 18:00 (UTC+11).
- The seven days following the hackathon: online period to ship and launch your project.
The page does not publish a detailed hour-by-hour agenda, workshop list, or session schedule.
Location
The event is listed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The exact venue address is only shown after registration.
Format
The in-person day is available in Melbourne or San Francisco, and participants can also join online from anywhere. The Melbourne listing is an offline event, with the seven-day shipping phase conducted online.
Tickets
The page lists several ticket options: Standard, Early Bird, and Late Bird. Some ticket types require approval, and the Early Bird option is shown as sold out. The structured data lists a General Admission price of 44.60 AUD.
Sponsors and partners
- Base44 (Main Sponsor): Describe an app in plain words and receive a working one with backend, authentication, and hosting built in.
- Fetch.ai (Main Sponsor): Build AI agents that find each other and complete tasks.
- Vonage: APIs for messaging, voice, and video that can be added to an app.
- Shelled AI (Community Partner): Design, build, test, and ship software with any AI model.
- MLAI AUS (Community Partner, Melbourne): The local partner for the Melbourne edition.
Organizers and hosts
The event is hosted by NERDCONF, with Yana Lin and Dr Sam Donegan listed as hosts. MLAI is listed as the presenter. NERDCONF runs hackathons in San Francisco and around the world, with a network of more than 25,000 builders. Its most recent event was Burning Token in September 2026, held in San Francisco and online. MLAI describes itself as Australia's startup and AI community with 25,000 members, and invites founders with startup ideas to seek support through mlai.au.
Judging and sponsorship
Judge announcements are coming soon. To judge or sponsor in San Francisco, contact hey@nerdconf.com. To judge or sponsor in Melbourne, contact hi@mlai.au.
Other editions
- San Francisco: https://luma.com/xwoo0s7r
- Online: https://luma.com/wn16tj6m
Attendance
The page shows 25 people going, including kristine miranda and Brandon, along with 23 others.
