Londonmaxxing 003: Maxxing London Hackathon Recap

On 4th July we brought builders from near and far to Ramen Space to MAXX LONDON.

The goal?

Build and launch something that helps everyday Londoners and make this the greatest city to live and build in.

Here's how it went down.

From ideas to action

At our first event you gave us some ideas on what would help contribute to this movement and mission in a measurable way:

More collisions and crossovers with builders
Making the ecosystem more open and accessible
Positive vibes and sharing optimistic stories about London (read the recap)

For our second event we hosted Pubmaxxing where you got the chance to make new friends and scheme dastardly plots on how to make London the greatest city to live and build in.

For our third event it was time to put those plans into action and BUILD your ideas — this event was all about making them real. Together. In one room.

Seven partners, 250 applicants, 35 spots

We were joined by 7 amazing partners to create this event for building an idea that benefits everyday Londoners.

We had over 250 applicants for 35 spots which brought the most optimistic and talented builders to Ramen Space for a day to launch their ideas to the world!

Two attendees exchanging contacts at Maxxing London Hackathon

Londonmaxxing branded lanyards and event pass at check-in

Volunteers preparing lanyards at the welcome table

Participant coding on a laptop during the hackathon

Two tracks

LIVE: Make London the best city in the world to live.

That could mean fixing common challenges for Londoners: transport, housing, civic life, local businesses, accessibility, coordination, information gaps, safety, affordability, loneliness, bureaucracy, or anything else that makes the city harder to navigate.

BUILD: Make London the best city in the world to build.

This is the track for projects that strengthen London's builder ecosystem and make it easier for ambitious people to start, launch, grow and create here.

Looking up at a modern red-brick London building with fresh green leaves in the foreground

The morning

Participants made their way to Ramen Space in Dalston on a sunny, summer morning in July.

Introductions were facilitated by Esther Trapadoux and the whole room got to share what they were building, find team members, and create some accountability for the day ahead.

Dalston Junction Overground station on a bright summer morning

Participants chatting during morning introductions at the hackathon

Builders gathered around the breakfast spread at Ramen Space

Our venue host Charlie Ward from Ramen Space opened with welcoming remarks, congratulating our participants for being there, and a bit about the Londonmaxxing mission and lore (did you know there is now a #londonmaxxing Wikipedia page?).

Charlie outlined just how much talent was in the room on the day which included people who:

Built coding models reaching #1 on SWE-bench at uni
Built and sold health-tech wearables in 60 countries
Built an AI trust & safety platform
Built a TikTok page to 300k followers
Are building a new City!!!

A perfect mix of experience, skills, and abilities to go from idea to live product in under 8 hours! 🏗️

Charlie Ward welcoming participants at Maxxing London Hackathon

The brief

What followed was the breakdown of the day: the hackathon details, schedule and what to build!

Thank you to the lovely team at Quibble, Jonathan de Leyser and Abigail, who are leading the charge on finding ways to improve the lives of people in the UK.

They provided the participants with small but real challenges and ideas that affect everyday Londoners to launch throughout the day.

Attendees watching a speaker's portrait on screen during the brief

Participants raising hands during the Maxxing London Challenge brief

Then it was time to BUILD

Participants set off to plan, design, develop, test, and produce a live, working solution with a pitch and demo in under 8 hours (think what you can do in a single working day!).

We had individuals and teams all working on solving these challenges using a combination of partner platforms, open APIs, London datasets, and creativity.

Team discussing a weather map on a laptop during the hackathon

Participant in a 'thinking' cap focused on their screen

Wide view of Ramen Space filled with builders working at desks

Builders coding at window-side desks surrounded by plants

To keep our participants' energy levels topped up, unlimited coffee, tea, and snacks were available throughout the day (Yorkshire Tea + biscuits ftw).

Not to mention fresh food from local Dalston cafes and restaurants.

All kindly provided by our partners.

Two volunteers enjoying food on a bench in the sunny Ramen Space garden

The demos

At the end of the day we had the live demos!

We were joined by 3 incredible judges to rank each of the ideas and projects that best fit the criteria.

We had 28 ideas ranging from live maps, directories, platforms, and apps solving challenges for businesses, loneliness, crime, parenting, health systems, transportation and more!

Presenter demoing what's the move, Mahtab? on screen to attendees

Speaker presenting housing EPC data challenge on a large screen

Presenter showing interior design demo with laptop in front of screen

Speaker presenting the problem/challenge slide next to Londonmaxxing banner

The winners

Two overall winners for each track took home Londonmaxxing 'hidden gem' themed trophies:

🏆 LIVE Award: Coolmaxxing by Vlad S. and Liza B.

Coolmaxxing identifies heat-risk areas and offers sustainable prevention solutions.

🏆 BUILD Award: CityMCP — London by @seanmozeik

London Should Be Agent-Callable.

Winner receiving a trophy surrounded by clapping attendees

Builder presenting his project on screen at the demos

Then it was the audience's turn to decide their favourite project of the day!

🏆 People's Choice: Big London Library by Maria L.

Connect and share books in London.

Presenter showing the 'Being a Londoner can feel lonely' project on screen

Maria smiling in front of the Londonmaxxing banner and People's Choice slide

There were so many amazing projects with some runners up and bonus prizes to announce including Charlie A. who was awarded the coveted @arizeai backpack for leaseholder.help.

🟠 BUILD Track

Pubmaxxing by Karan M.
7° by Richie K.
Sprout by David O., Freddie B., Niraj P.
Locus London by George P.

🟣 LIVE Track

Big London Library by Maria L.
London Copilot by Maurice S., Dennis B.
Overdue by Luka D.
ssh.ldn by Mangle K.

Huge shout out to EVERYONE who got up and presented their idea!!

Attendee smiling with an Arize backpack prize outside amongst the trees

Presenter in a pink shirt speaking next to a screen showing their project

Presenter in a white t-shirt demoing a Maxxing London slide

Presenter in a cap showing 'Next Steps: Pilot it. Launch it.' slide

Wrapping up

We wrapped up the event with drinks, pizza, and good vibes in the London sunshine with a visit to the pub to celebrate after.

Attendees chatting outside in the golden hour sunshine after the hackathon

Two builders sitting on a wooden bench with drinks amongst the trees

Two attendees smiling and looking at a phone together outside

Two attendees sitting under the trees eating and chatting

Participants left feeling accomplished going from idea to published app in under 8 hours with new #londonmaxxing friends, teammates and a feeling of excitement for the future.

Thank you to our partners

Thank you to our amazing partners who contributed so much to the whole experience and their support through planning, resources, perks, sponsorship, and good vibes:

We're so grateful that Joe Reeve, Esther Trapadoux, Sylwia Vargas, RL Nabors and their teams could join us in person on the day 💚

Londonmaxxing 003: Maxxing London Hackathon was a success in part to all the incredible humans that came together to make this event possible and we want to extend our gratitude to everyone who played a role in this impactful day!

Londonmaxxing hackathon banner featuring partner logos at Ramen Space

Winning hackathon team smiling outside holding their trophies and prizes

Credits

A big shout out to our 3 judges who travelled in to contribute their time and valuable insight to evaluate each and every project created that day:

Steve Ruiz from tldraw
Erica Hu from Gila HQ
Jordan J. from i.AI

We appreciate our Londonmaxxing volunteers Jelam Bhatt and Hedo for making this event run so smoothly and making our participants feel welcome!

Thank you to our awesome media team for the day:

Our local Dalston food suppliers Dusty Knuckle Bakery, Cafe Route, and Gordos Pizza.

And of course our host venue the legendary Ramen Space.

Last, but certainly not least, we want to thank each and every one of you who showed up, ready to make a positive impact for your neighbours, your friends, your family, and your fellow Londoner.

We loved seeing you cheer each other on and celebrate your ideas throughout the day.

We're massively grateful for you taking your Saturday to showcase your talents, experience, and optimism for everything that London can be!

It takes time, logistics, and a lot of work behind the scenes to prepare these events so kudos to the Londonmaxxing team members for all the extra hours around their day jobs for all the planning, collaboration, and organising: Charlie, Sefa, Ese and Ash.