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Impact VC Norrsken is teaming up with the likes of Nvidia, Google and Lovable to launch the world’s largest “AI-for-good hackathon”.
Building on its commitment earlier this year to invest $300m in European startups using AI for impact to solve challenges across health, climate, food, education and society, the impact-focused nonprofit is now launching “Fixathon”.
“At the core of our AI commitment is a simple idea: the biggest opportunity in AI is using it to solve the world’s biggest problems. That’s where real impact and returns sit,” Norrsken general partner Tove Larrson told Pathfounders.
The nonprofit, which in its combined current funds has more than $1bn under management, has pledged the $300m because it wants to show “there’s strong investor appetite for these kinds of solutions,” Larrson says, with the hackathon acting as an extension of that.
“In the last year alone, AI startups pulled in about a third of all global VC funding,” Norrsken general partner Tove Larrson told Pathfounders. “It’s one of the fastest surges we’ve ever seen. We’re in a full-on AI gold rush. But if history is any guide, only a small share of today’s companies will be around in a few years. The survivors are the ones solving real problems, not just shipping another incremental tool.”
That’s why the VC is running the Fixathon now, “to help the next generation of founders zero in on meaningful challenges early, and build companies that actually last,” she adds.
The goal is to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs to use technology to solve real-world problems.
Spotify, Advania and the central bank of Sweden, The Riksbank, are all also involved in the five day hackathon that will take place in Stockholm, Kigali, Barcelona, Amsterdam and San Francisco in December. Global tech hubs like London, Berlin and New York are notably absent, but all the cities were chosen because of their “strong Norrsken presence” and “entrepreneurial buzz”.
A jury of experts from across AI, policy and academia — including founders, engineers and partners from Norrsken, Zenith Ventures and Unconventional Ventures — will judge the solutions.
“AI is leveling the playing field,” Lovable founder and CEO Anton Osika said. “Before, you needed money, engineers and time. Now, you just need a clear idea and curiosity. Fixathon is a great way to show what that future looks like in action.”
The hackathon participants will collaborate across challenges focused on real-world implementation in the environment, healthcare, AI safety, the economy and public services.
“We want to kickstart a new wave of founders who use AI to tackle what really matters,” Larrson said. “The biggest opportunities in AI are tied to the biggest problems, and for founders, that’s also where long-term demand lives. So the first goal is simply to mobilise talented people to aim their skills at real-world challenges.”
The event is open to developers, designers, researchers, builders and entrepreneurs. The winners from each of the five challenges will receive coaching sessions, membership at Norrsken’s entrepreneur hubs and access to tools, compute and infrastructure from event partners to scale their solutions after the event.