Where Builders Shape Tomorrow
72 hours. 4 problem tracks. $500K+ in prizes. The most ambitious startup hackathon of 2026 is here — and we're looking for the next generation of world-changers.
⚡ Hackathon Begins In
NEXUS BUILD is a 72-hour startup hackathon co-organized by Google DeepMind, bringing together 500 of the world's most ambitious builders, designers, and scientists to tackle the hardest problems facing humanity.
Whether you're a solo developer, a founding team, or a researcher with a bold idea — if you believe technology can reshape the world, you belong here.
Past participants have raised $340M+ in VC funding, launched 3 YC-backed companies, and deployed products used by millions. This is where careers begin and companies are born.
I'm Ready — Apply →Engineers, designers, scientists, domain experts, and first-time hackers. All skill levels welcome.
72-hour sprint. Teams of 2–5. Build a working prototype and pitch to judges on Day 3.
Ship real product. Win funding. Get in front of top investors and operators in tech.
In-person in San Francisco + fully virtual track. Same prizes, same mentors, same shot.
Four tracks. Four massive problems. Unlimited ways to solve them. Choose the one that fires you up.
Build novel applications using large language models, multimodal AI, or agentic systems that solve real-world problems. We're looking for technical depth and genuine impact — not demos.
Software, hardware, or bio solutions that meaningfully reduce carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency, or accelerate the transition to renewables. The planet is the product.
Tools, diagnostics, therapeutics, or platforms that make healthcare more accessible, affordable, and effective. From LLM-powered diagnosis to synthetic biology — all welcome.
Build open, trustless, and censorship-resistant systems. Identity, payments, storage, governance — rebuild the internet's primitives for the next billion users.
Over 40 mentors on call. These 8 are anchoring office hours across all three days.
Five industry leaders who've collectively invested in or built companies worth over $200B.
Managing Partner at GV. Former CTO at two unicorns. Led investments in Slack, Stripe, and Robinhood.
Group Partner at YC. Founding engineer at DoorDash. Expert in 0-to-1 product development.
VP of Ventures at Breakthrough Energy. PhD MIT Energy Systems. 12 climate investments to date.
General Partner at a16z crypto. Serial founder (2 exits). Advisor to Coinbase, Uniswap, and Worldcoin.
Partner at ARCH. Co-founded two biotech companies. Pioneer in AI-accelerated drug discovery methods.
Cash prizes, credits, VC intros, and a direct path to funding for every finalist.
Cash prize + $50K AWS credits + guaranteed YC application review + 5 VC intro calls
Cash + $100K AWS credits + GV fast-track investment meeting + YC founder dinner + 1-year Google Cloud credits
Cash prize + $25K AWS credits + VC intro package + Google Cloud trial credits
Every team gets $5K in AWS credits just for participating. Finalists receive up to $100K for 12 months.
Top performers get expedited hiring interviews at Google, Stripe, OpenAI, and Cloudflare — no resume drop needed.
All 50+ finalist teams are introduced directly to our partner VC network — Sequoia, a16z, GV, Paradigm, and more.
All participants get 6-month access to YC Startup School, NVIDIA DLI courses, and Google's Startup Accelerator track.
Top 10 projects featured in TechCrunch, Wired, and The Information. Our media team is ready to tell your story.
All in-person attendees receive 3 nights hotel, all meals, snacks, and Red Bull. Zero cost to you.
Three days. Zero wasted time. Here's exactly how it all goes down.
Grab your badge, meet teammates, get swag. Doors open at Chase Center.
Welcome from Google DeepMind CEO + NEXUS BUILD founders. Theme reveal & challenge briefings.
Speed networking to find cofounders. Structured matching for solo participants.
72-hour timer starts. All tracks open. API access granted. Build mode: ON.
Google DeepMind engineers walk through the Gemini API, context windows, and multimodal use cases.
30-minute 1:1 sessions. Topics: Ideation, pivoting, tech stack selection.
"Founding in a Weekend" — fireside chat with 3 founders who started companies at hackathons.
Build through the night. Midnight snacks provided. Energy stations open 24/7.
Fuel up. Optional 5-minute team standups with your assigned mentor.
Stripe and Figma walk you through shipping a polished MVP — payments, auth, and design systems.
Technical deep-dives. Book sessions with Google engineers, VCs, and domain experts.
5 VCs each give 5 minutes on "What I look for in a pitch." Q&A follows each talk.
Optional 10-minute sessions with judges' assistants to calibrate your demo narrative.
Former Shark Tank winners and YC alumni walk through the art of the 3-minute pitch.
Take a break. Meet founders, operators, and future co-investors. Bay views included.
Last 13 hours. Time to make it real. Mentors available through 2 AM.
One last sprint. Submission portal opens. Prep your demo and rehearse the pitch.
All code, demos, and decks must be submitted by noon sharp. No extensions.
All 100+ projects displayed in the expo hall. Judges, press, and investors walk the floor.
Top 20 teams deliver 3-minute pitches + 2-minute Q&A. Live-streamed globally.
The top 8 take the main stage. 5-minute pitch + 5-minute judge Q&A. High stakes, full audience.
Winners announced. Prizes awarded. Keynote from Google DeepMind on the year ahead.
DJ, open bar, and the best networking of your career. You earned it.
Three teams that turned a 72-hour sprint into funded startups.
An AI-powered early detection system for neurodegenerative diseases using multimodal biomarker analysis. Built in 68 hours. Now deployed in 12 hospitals across 4 countries.
Real-time AI optimization for distributed energy grids. Their software reduces grid waste by 34% and integrates with existing utility infrastructure in under a week.
A decentralized identity protocol that lets users control their credentials across any platform — no passwords, no data brokers. Now processing 2M verifications/day.
Free to apply. Decisions in 2 weeks. Rolling admissions — earlier is better.
🔒 Your information is secure and never sold to third parties. Free to apply, always.