FRC × SCV AI Hackathon — Concept 




Organizers: Fil Rouge Capital (FRC) × South Central Ventures (SCV)
Location: Zagreb (Wespa or similar space)
Date: 17. 04. 2026. (Friday)
Duration: 09:00–19:00 (1 day)
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1. Why We’re Doing This
AI is everywhere, but most teams still struggle to move from “we should use AI” to a small, useful, production-grade tool.
With this hackathon, we want to:
* Help teams ship real tools in 8 hours – not slide decks, but working demos.
* Create enablers, not toys – tools that plug into existing workflows (email, docs, CRM, support, code, etc.) and make other businesses faster, smarter, or safer.
* Activate our joint ecosystem – connect portfolio companies, external builders, and our teams around concrete problems and solutions.
* Spot new ideas and teams – identify projects and people we might support further (pilots, mentorship, or potential investment).
* Start our “AI builder” brand in Zagreb and the wider region.


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2. Expected Outcomes
For teams & individuals
* A working demo of a focused AI tool (web app, bot, service, plugin, etc.).
* Clear user story (who, what problem, how they use it).
* A simple “next 4 weeks” roadmap for further development.
For portfolio companies
* Prototype or concept for internal tools they would actually use.
* New connections to developers and data/ML talent.
For FRC & SCV
* 2–3 projects to explore for:
   * internal pilots (dealflow, IC, portfolio support, analytics, security…), or
   * continued work as standalone products.
* High-quality content: photos, short interviews, 2–3 case-study style write-ups.
Overall theme:
Build AI tools that plug into real workflows and enable other people or businesses to do more.


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3. Theme & Topic Areas (Inspiration for Teams)
Teams can choose from suggested areas or propose their own topic (if it fits the theme and scope):
1. Ops & Knowledge Copilots
   * Internal assistants for ops, HR, finance, legal, or support (policy Q&A, contract summary, onboarding guides, SOP search).
2. Meetings & Communication Intelligence
   * Tools around meetings, email, Slack/Teams (multi-meeting digest, decision tracker, follow-up generator).
3. Dev & Data Engineering Helpers
   * AI for understanding codebases, logs, infra, or schemas (repo explainer, log triage, CI/CD config helper).
4. Sales, CRM & Pipeline Enrichment
   * Tools that help find, qualify, or understand leads faster (company research agents, CRM auto-enrichment, account briefings).
5. Security, Monitoring & Compliance for AI Apps
   * Lightweight tools for safe AI use (prompt-injection checker, PII detector, AI usage analytics dashboards).
6. VC & Portfolio Ops Tools
   * Tools that help FRC/SCV run better (IC memo generators, portfolio dashboards, LP update assistants, deal-tracking helpers).
Additionally, 3–5 portfolio companies will provide short, real-world challenge briefs teams can pick up.
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4. Format & High-Level Schedule
Goal: Build a small but “production-grade enough” AI tool in ~8 hours, plus learning via workshops.
Proposed structure:
* 08:30–09:00 — Arrival & Coffee
Registration, setup, Slack/Discord, Wi-Fi.
* 09:00–09:20 — Welcome & Context (FRC × SCV)
Why we’re doing this, theme (enabler tools), expectations.
* 09:20–09:40 — Theme, Topics & Format Overview
Present topic areas, what “production-grade in 8 hours” means.
* 09:40–10:00 — Portfolio Challenge Pitches & Team Formation
3–5 portfolio founders pitch concrete challenges; teams form and briefly introduce their idea.
* 10:00–11:00 — Hacking Block #1 (Setup & Skeleton)
Repos, basic stack, minimal working skeleton.
* 11:00–11:30 — Workshop #1 (Live “Idea → AI Microservice” Build)
Practical, copy-pastable patterns to use immediately.
* 11:30–13:00 — Hacking Block #2 (Core Functionality)
Get end-to-end flow working (input → AI → output).
* 13:00–14:00 — Lunch & Informal Networking
Optional short fireside chat with a portfolio founder.
* 14:00–14:30 — Workshop #2 (Productizing AI: Evals, UX & Cost)
How to avoid brittle demos and useless UX.
* 14:30–16:00 — Hacking Block #3 (UX & Integrations)
Focus on workflow integration (email, calendar, Slack, CRM, code, etc.) and user experience.
* 16:00–16:30 — Workshop #3 (Security & Safety for AI Tools)
Simple security measures teams can add, even in a hackathon.
* 16:30–18:00 — Hacking Block #4 (Stabilization & Demo Prep)
Bugfixing, seed examples, short pitch/demo narrative.
* 18:00–18:50 — Demos & Judging
~3 min demo + 3 min Q&A per team (or finalist track).
Criteria: problem clarity, enabler value, technical execution, AI integration, future potential.
* 18:50–19:10 — Awards & Closing
Overall winner, best enabler awards, portfolio choice award. Next steps, group photo, drinks.
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5. Participants & Roles
   * Teams:
   * FRC & SCV portfolio teams, invited external teams, individual builders.
   * Recommended team size: 3–5 people.
   * Mentors:
   * FRC & SCV partners and team members.
   * Portfolio founders/CTOs and technical leads (product, AI/ML, security).
   * Judges:
   * Mix of FRC/SCV partners + 1–2 portfolio CTOs / external AI experts.
   * Follow-up:
   * 1:1 sessions with winning teams, potential pilots with interested portfolio companies, content for blogs/LinkedIn and potential next edition of the hackathon.
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