Product Calgary, and our co-host Platform Calgary & event Ambassadors SpaceXAI are proud to launch BUILDYYC, the Buildathon event of 2026!
- 120 Product Builders
- 3 Workshops
- 5 Industry Coaches
- 10 Ecosystem Judges
Join the Calgary tech community and 150 other product builders, managers, designers and developers for BUILDYYC! The ultimate buildathon event that will take you from 0 to 1 while ideating, building and pitching your teams product idea to a panel of leading tech ecosystem judges and organizations, with the chance to win cash, door prizes and more!
—————-
How It Works:
Participants submit ideas, are assigned to teams, rapid build and pitch POCs geared towards helping solve problems, and connect, innovate, promote & grow the Calgary tech industry.
1. Purchase your ticket.
2. Use the link in the confirmation email to submit your idea on Techr (our event tech partner).
3. Vote on up to 3 other ideas (incase your idea doesn’t receive enough votes).
Idea Submissions and Voting end on October 22nd, at which point we tally up all the votes, and the ideas with the most votes moves forward.
—————-
Buildathon Agenda:
DAY 1 – October 23rd, 2026
4:00 PM –> Doors Open (Check-in & Team Connection)
5:00 PM –> Speaker kick-off – Pitch Stage
5:30 PM –> Workshop #1 – Discovery & Validation
6:15 PM –> Workshop #2 – Build Better
7:00 PM –> Workshop #3 – Go-To-Market
8:00 PM –> Evening wrap-up
Day 2 – October 24th, 2026
9:00 AM –> Doors Open (Check-in & Team Connect)
9:30 AM –> Morning kick-off announcements
10:00 AM -> Team Build Session
1:00 PM –> Coaching Sessions
4:00 PM –> Dinner Break
5:00 PM –> Team Pitch Competition
7:00 PM –> Judging and Awards
8:00 PM –> Event Wrap-up
—————-
Buildathon Workshops:
Workshop #1 – Discovery & Validation
The Discovery & Validation workshop gives you a crash course on validating your idea. From conducting customer discovery, determining who is your ICP, and crafting your unique value proposition, this workshop is the first step teams need to complete the next day.
Workshop #2 – Build Better
The Build Better workshop will cover the latest tools, build processes and workflows that leading product builders use to build in the age of AI. We’re teaming up with SpaceXAI Ambassadors Simon Loewen and Jia Ming to get an inside look into Grok Bot, Cursor, Claude and other tools that teams can use to build their POC.
Workshop #3 – Go-To-Market
The Go-To-Market workshop dives into utilizing your UVP to draft a go-to-market plan while learning different strategies, tools and tactics. Learn about what investors are looking for when your ready to scale, and how to use the pitch deck template to tell the story of your product.
—————-
Buildathon Coaches & Judges:
5 Industry coaches
On day 2 participants are joined by 5 Industry professionals to help them gain clarity on what they are building, answer questions and provide advice on everything from determining your value proposition, to building their product and more.
10 Industry Judges
We’re teaming up with 10 ecosystem partners to form the ultimate panel of judges for BUILDYYC. Using Techr’s unique scoring criteria, teams will get direct feedback and areas they excelled at, and ones they needed to focus on more.
—————-
Who Is This For?
- Product Founders, Entrepreneurs, Owners.
- Product Professionals: Designers, Product Manager’s, Developers and Engineers.
- Students, and other tech enthusiasts.