Hackathon ideas for companies
A list of hackathon ideas for your corporate, institution, or entity in 2026.
Updated on the 8th of January 2026. 3.5 min read.
Introduction
Considering hosting a hackathon for your company, institution, or organization?
It's wise to explore best practices, use cases, and successful hackathon ideas implemented by others.
This article aims to provide a clear and informative overview of successful hackathon ideas from past hackathons hosted on Eventornado, categorizing them by macro topics.
As defined in this article: “The hackathon macro topic is the specific field, industry, sector, area, or domain of the event. It’s the big umbrella under which you can create several hackathon problem statements.”
Therefore, the hackathon ideas can be very diverse depending on the nature of each macro topic.
Let’s explore together some inspirational examples.
1. Data
Event name
Blue-Cloud Hackathon 2025
Hackathon idea
Design and test data-driven workflows using Blue-Cloud’s Virtual Labs, Workbenches, and analytical tools to extract insights from diverse marine datasets.
Participants gain hands-on experience with Blue-Cloud’s services to build innovative applications, test the platform’s capabilities, and help shape its future.
By exploring real user needs and identifying areas for improvement, they contribute directly to enhancing the Blue-Cloud ecosystem while advancing open, collaborative marine science.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Challenge 1 - Mapping & Understanding Marine Ecosystems and Species
Challenge 2 - Supporting Early Warning & Response to Accidents or Natural Events
Organiser
2. EdTech
Event name
EdTech Hack 2025
Hackathon idea
The promotion of Estonian-language education requires new ideas that support learners, teachers, and language learning specialists alike.
During this 36-hour hackathon, educators, developers, designers, and visionaries work together to create new digital solutions for learning and teaching Estonian at school, at work, or in everyday life.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Language learning that is accessible and motivating for everyone
Other: creative solutions for supporting language learning and Estonian-language education
Organiser
3. Industry and manufacturing
Event name
Open Innovation Academy, Tartu pilot program
Hackathon idea
The participating students were invited to find solutions to entrepreneurs' challenges leveraging the EIT Manufacturing Academy e-learning platform with the support of mentors, coaches, and investors.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Digitization of production order handling
Accurate inventory tracking for variable steel profile stock
Efficiently processing high-moisture industrial waste for raw material recovery
Leveraging untapped solar potential on high-rise buildings
Identifying scalable business models for high-ROI, complex products with limited resources
Organiser
4. Healthcare
Event name
Sahlgrenska Global Health Hackathon
Hackathon idea
Unite innovators, researchers, clinicians, entrepreneurs, and problem-solvers worldwide to think beyond boundaries, innovate fearlessly, and have a genuine, long-lasting impact through the power of co-action.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Organiser
5. Finance
Event name
MXNB Hackathon
Hackathon idea
A 4-week global online challenge for builders who want to reshape the future of finance: design, build, and launch real-world payment and DeFi apps using MXNB, the leading Mexican peso stablecoin, and the Bitso Business API suite.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Organiser
6. Entrepreneurship
Event name
Tech Driven Growth
Hackathon idea
An entrepreneurial acceleration programme that empowers early-stage women founders to scale their businesses using digital tools, technology, and leadership development.
This programme is designed for early-stage female entrepreneurs with a strong interest in technology and innovation.
The focus is on businesses developing digital outputs such as websites, platforms, online services, or other web-based tools that enable products or services to reach a wider audience and create a stronger overall impact.
Organiser
7. Coding
Event name
EU Code Week Hackathons
Hackathon idea
EU Code Week Hackathons bring together teams of talented young participants to unlock their creativity to solve real-world problems through coding; starting with national-level competitions, the EU Code Week Hackathons will be organised across Europe.
The best teams will then have the opportunity to compete and share their ideas in the EU-level finals.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Organiser
8. Defence and national security
Event name
DefHack: Resilience edition
Macro topic
Rethink how defence systems use, reuse, and optimize their resources.
Build faster, cleaner, and smarter solutions that boost operational efficiency and readiness for the future battlefield.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Organiser
9. Artificial intelligence
Event name
Catalocity
Macro topic
Catalocity is an inspiring innovation challenge designed to ignite creativity, accelerate AI-driven ideas, and empower the American University of Sharjah’s students to build solutions that make a real difference.
Hackathon problem statements envisioned:
Organiser
Conclusion
So, as you can see, coming up with a compelling idea for your hackathon is strictly related to your industry and sector since the ideas here above are very different from each other.
However, generating a hackathon idea for your company is just the beginning of the hackathon structure planning activity.
A successful hackathon must also comprehend well-written and relevant problem statements to be solved by the participants, together with many other tasks.
We hope the real case examples above inspired you to generate your hackathon idea!
Feel free to get in touch if you need expert advice on how to plan your next hackathon.
