RULES
Hackathon Rulebook
GENERAL INFORMATION
The NEXXT Hackathon brings participants together to develop innovative AI-driven solutions, collaborate with others, and connect with mentors, institutions, and industry partners. Winning Teams receive awards and may have opportunities to develop their Solutions further. This Rulebook sets out the conditions for applying to, participating in, and being evaluated at the Hackathon. It will be interpreted and applied by the Organizer. Participation in the NEXXT Hackathon is conditional upon acceptance of this Rulebook.
TERMINOLOGY
The “Hackathon” is the competition in which teams develop AI-driven solutions in response to challenges provided by the Organizer. The event concludes with a live presentation and evaluation of the submitted projects. The “Organizer” means UNCHAIN MEDIA S.R.L., Romanian tax identification number RO45968121, and ASOCIATIA UNCHAIN, Romanian tax identification number 47954629, acting jointly in organizing and administering the Hackathon. A “Partner” is an entity that supports the event, including a sponsor, institutional partner, media partner, or technical collaborator. A “Team” is a group of at least two and no more than six individuals participating together in the competition. A “Mentor” is a professional appointed by the Organizer who may guide participating Teams and take part in the evaluation process. The “Jury” is the group of professionals and experts appointed by the Organizer to evaluate submitted projects and take part in selecting the winners. A “Challenge” is a specific problem, topic, or theme provided by the Organizer for which Teams are invited to develop a solution. A “Solution” is the AI-driven application, software, prototype, or other project developed by a Team in response to a Challenge.
HACKATHON PROGRAM
The Hackathon will take place in person at FACE Convention Center Bucharest on October 28 and October 29, 2026. All accepted participants must attend in person and remain available throughout the forty-eight-hour program, including working sessions, mandatory checkpoints, the submission period, and final presentations, subject to the breaks and access arrangements communicated by the Organizer. The detailed schedule is published on the Agenda page of the NEXXT Hackathon website. The Organizer may update it when reasonably necessary and will communicate material changes through the official event channels. The Hackathon page will list the appointed mentors and jurors. The Organizer will provide the Challenges before or at the start of the Hackathon. Each Team must select one Challenge and may begin working on it only from the official starting time. Teams must participate in scheduled activities and provide progress updates when requested. All final submissions must be completed by the deadline stated in the official event schedule. Late or incomplete submissions may be excluded from evaluation at the Organizer’s discretion. Each eligible Team must present its Solution live. Presentation length, demonstration requirements, and question-and-answer time will follow the instructions published on the Agenda page.
APPLICATIONS, ADMISSION, AND PARTICIPATION CONDITIONS
The Hackathon is open to applicants from all backgrounds and regions. All participants must be at least eighteen years old and legally eligible to participate and receive an award. Minors are not eligible to apply or participate. Applicants may apply either as an existing Team or individually. The Organizer will use reasonable efforts to match accepted individual applicants with other participants, but successful matching cannot be guaranteed. An individual applicant who cannot be placed in an eligible Team may be unable to compete. The organizing team will review each application. Selected applicants will be notified and invited to purchase a Hackathon ticket. A place is confirmed only after the ticket is purchased within the communicated deadline. The Hackathon ticket also provides access to the NEXXT conference during the times and sessions specified by the Organizer. Hackathon tickets are non-refundable, except where required by law or where the Organizer cancels the event without providing a legally permissible alternative. A ticket may be transferred to another eligible participant only with the Organizer’s prior written approval. The proposed replacement may be required to complete the application and eligibility review. Members of the organizing team and their affiliates are not eligible to compete, although they may support participating Teams in an organizational or mentoring capacity. Participants must provide complete and accurate registration information and comply with this Rulebook, the Terms and Conditions, the Code of Conduct, the published evaluation criteria, the venue rules, and the Organizer’s reasonable instructions. The Organizer may verify eligibility and disqualify any participant or Team that provides materially inaccurate information, tampers with the application or competition process, breaches the applicable rules, or undermines the fairness or integrity of the Hackathon. Each Team is responsible for securing all rights, licenses, approvals, and permissions required for its Solution. Submissions must comply with applicable law, must not infringe third-party rights, and must not contain unlawful, discriminatory, defamatory, threatening, obscene, or otherwise seriously offensive material. Decisions made by the Organizer regarding eligibility, compliance, and administration of the Hackathon are final, subject to any rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.
EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF WINNERS
Solutions will be evaluated by the appointed mentors and jurors using the fixed criteria and evaluation mechanism established for the Hackathon. The Organizer will manage actual or apparent conflicts of interest to support a fair and credible evaluation. The Organizer is not required to provide individual feedback to applicants who are not selected or to Teams that do not win. Solutions will be evaluated on the relevance of the problem and the Team’s understanding of it; the clarity of the proposed approach; originality and innovation; technical and operational feasibility; potential for implementation, adoption, and scaling; effective and responsible use of AI and other technologies; and the Team’s ability to explain and demonstrate its work. Because of its subject-matter expertise, the relevant Challenge Partner may have greater weight in evaluating and selecting the winner of its Challenge. This role must remain within the fixed evaluation mechanism and be applied consistently to all Teams competing in that Challenge. Winners will be determined through the established evaluation mechanism, taking into account the assessments of the mentors, jurors, and relevant Challenge Partner. If Teams receive the same final score, the evaluators will compare the tied Solutions again using the same criteria. If a winning Team is disqualified or cannot accept the award, the Organizer may select the next highest-ranked eligible Team.
AWARDS
Each Team selected as a winner will receive an award of €2,000. The award will be divided equally among the Team’s registered members and may not be transferred to another person or Team. Winning Teams are responsible for all applicable taxes, charges, and reporting obligations. They must provide the documents required for identity verification, payment, and tax compliance within three months after the winners are announced. Payment will be made after the required procedures are completed. Failure to provide the documents on time may result in withdrawal of the award and selection of another eligible Team, subject to applicable law.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Teams retain ownership of the intellectual property rights in their Solutions, subject to applicable law and any rights in third-party materials incorporated into a submission. Support provided by the Organizer, Partners, mentors, or Jury members does not, by itself, transfer ownership of a Team’s project. By participating, each Team grants the Organizer a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to display, reproduce, photograph, record, publish, and communicate its submission solely for the administration, documentation, reporting, and promotion of the Hackathon and related NEXXT activities. This license does not permit the Organizer to sell or commercially exploit the Solution as a standalone product without a separate written agreement with the relevant Team. Each Team confirms that it has the authority to grant this license and remains responsible for obtaining permission to use any third-party materials included in its submission. Participants acknowledge that other participants, the Organizer, Partners, or third parties may independently develop or possess ideas, concepts, products, or services that are similar to a submitted Solution. The existence of such similarities does not, by itself, entitle a participant to compensation or establish misuse of the participant’s intellectual property.
PERSONAL DATA
The Organizer may process participants’ names, contact details, images, and other relevant personal data to administer and promote the Hackathon, including for registration, eligibility checks, communications, event management, judging, award administration, and legal compliance. With valid consent, the Organizer may use a participant’s contact details for marketing communications and information about future events. Optional marketing consent may be withdrawn at any time without affecting participation or processing carried out before withdrawal. The Organizer may photograph or record the Hackathon and use the material to document and promote the event through its website, social media, advertising, press, and other media channels, subject to applicable law and the legal basis communicated to participants. No compensation is due solely for such permitted use. Participants should notify the Organizer before the event if they do not wish to appear in optional close-up promotional material. The Organizer will use reasonable efforts to respect such requests, although incidental inclusion in crowd images may occur. Winners’ names, images, voices, and project details may also be published for informational and promotional purposes. Personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation, and other applicable laws. Participants may exercise their applicable data-protection rights by contacting the Organizer as described in the event privacy notice. If a Partner wishes to collaborate on a Solution, the Organizer may facilitate an introduction. Personal contact details will be shared only where there is an appropriate legal basis, such as prior consent. Participants may withdraw from the competition by emailing hackathon@unchain.media. Withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out lawfully, does not create a right to a ticket refund except where required by law, and may prevent continued participation or award payment. Further data-processing information is provided in the event privacy notice.
USE OF THE VENUE AND SHARED SPACES
Participants may use shared work areas, conference spaces, equipment, furniture, mobile devices, and other property provided by the Organizer only for their intended purpose and in accordance with venue rules and the Organizer’s instructions. Participants are responsible for their personal belongings. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Organizer is not responsible for their loss, theft, or damage, except where liability cannot lawfully be excluded. A participant who damages property through negligence, misuse, or failure to follow instructions may be responsible for reasonable repair or replacement costs, subject to applicable law.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Organizer, Partners, and affiliated parties will not be liable for technical failures, network interruptions, platform errors, lost or corrupted data, or other circumstances beyond their reasonable control that affect registration, participation, submission, or evaluation. Nothing in this Rulebook excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. The parties will attempt to resolve any dispute relating to the Hackathon amicably. If an amicable resolution cannot be reached, the dispute will be submitted to the competent courts determined under applicable law. Nothing in this Rulebook restricts any mandatory right a participant may have to bring a claim before another competent court. The Organizer is responsible for handling requests and appeals relating to the competition. Requests may be sent to hackathon@unchain.media.
PUBLICATION AND AMENDMENT OF THE RULEBOOK
This Rulebook is available free of charge on the www.nexxtsummit.com website. The Organizer may amend this Rulebook when reasonably necessary, including changes to the venue, participation conditions, schedule, or awards. Material changes will be announced through the official website or other event channels and will apply from the date stated in the announcement, subject to applicable law. Last updated: 28-August-2026
