Who is this for?

This event is targeting business, user experience, and technology college and university students in the Fraser Valley but is open to anyone over the age of 18 who wants to get involved.

When and where is this happening?

It starts at 5PM on Friday and wraps up at 5PM the next day. Yes, it is an overnight event!

The event is happening at Cowork Chilliwack. Parking is free for this event, but please be sure to park in spots designated for Cowork Chilliwack.

What type of projects are expected?

There are no limits on the projects as long as it is driven by technology. Some examples would be software, video games, hardware, robotics, internet-of-things, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrencies. With that said, no equipment is provided, and technical participants are expected to bring the tools they plan to work with. Projects using hardware and robotics may work partially offsite outside of the education and mentorship hours to access equipment if needed.

What if I don't have any ideas, or a team?

No problem! We will start the event off by playing matchmaker between people and teams, and teams and business ideas. If you have an idea you want to explore, bring it to the table. If you have an existing team, you are more than welcome to enter as a team. Ideal team sizes are typically 3 to 5, but existing teams may be any size.

What level of experience do I need? Who is going to help guide us during the Startup Hackathon?

Any and all levels of experience are welcome. Everyone will learn from the experience.

Although each team will be allowed to follow its own path, you will be given a recommended process to follow. This process is based on the first parts of the Market Validation program, as run by various venture accelerators in BC.

We have also put together a panel of experienced entrepreneurs, business development experts, and technical experts to help you throughout the event. These mentors will be available Friday evening and Saturday morning. The mentors for 2026 are TBD, but FYI, the mentors in 2025 were:

• Dave Leger: Founder, CEO of H2 Portable, and Founder of Loop Energy
• Tim McAlpine: Owner of Cowork Chilliwack, and Chair of the Chilliwack Innovation Network
• Bogdan Chayka, Frontend Lead Developer of Musora, Founder of Chaos Byte
• Jill Santos, Partner of Zynim and Zynim Media, Community Engagement for https://Northsocial.ca
• Colin Schmidt: Founder/CEO of Zynim, Cofounder/CEO Zynim Media, and Founder/CEO of Wisebox Solutions

What are we actually expected to do? What does the schedule look like?

• Friday 5:00pm to 5:30pm: Registration and Networking, get to know everyone - don't be late for this
• 5:30pm to 6:30pm: Introduction to the judging criteria, and education on the following items:
  • Positioning Statement
  • Business Model Canvas
  • Value Proposition
  • Innovators, Early Adopters, and crossing the Chasm to the Early Majority
  • Minimal Viable Product
• 6:30pm to 7:00pm: Organize people not already on a team, brainstorm on project ideas
• Friday 7:00pm to Saturday 3:00pm: Do what startups do:
  • Business people, with input from user experience and tech people: pivot, iterate, and refine the business plan
  • User experience and tech people, with input from Business people, build technology mock-ups, prototypes, and minimal viable products
    
    • What you build, how complete it will be, and how you do that will depend on your business plan and your technology.
    • Part of the judging criteria is on the completeness, and you need to demonstrate to your team that you could deliver the actual product if the team chooses to continue after the event
  • Yes, this really is an all-nighter; bring a sleeping bag and a pillow if you think you'll want a nap.
• Friday 7:00pm to 9:00pm: Mentors available
• Saturday 9:00am to 11:00am: Mentors available
• Saturday 3:00pm to 5:00pm: Pitches and Demos, followed by awards

Can we build any of our solution ahead of time? Any limits on the tech used?

Since it is perfectly valid to build solutions on top of existing open-source material, it is also valid to start building on top of an existing code base that one or more team members may bring to the table. However, the whole point of the Startup Hackathon is that teams use this time to pivot and iterate the business plan and the technology. Whatever you start with, isn't likely to remain the same by the end of the event. Competitive teams may not already be in business (have revenue); see Existing companies header below.

Experience and learning is all great, but are there prizes?

You bet! The first placed team will win:

• $750 towards starting their business
• One year of 1-on-1 mentorship from the XLRator, the Chilliwack Innovation Network, and the Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
• Note that the winning team must submit a two-page plan within sixty days detailing how the money will be utilized to start/grow the business that will launch the product or a related/pivoted product to claim the prize. The prize money must be deposited into a business bank account and come directly from each sponsor (not through Chilliwack.Tech or the event organizers.)

Who will judge the teams, and how do they choose a winner?

We have a panel of all-star judges to select the winning team, plus input from our mentors. Each judge has a different business and industry background, and have been selected to apply the judging criteria to each team. The judging criteria closely match the expected outcome from the recommended process described during the education block and will be detailed to participants during the education block on Friday. The judges for 2026 are:

• Dave Leger: Founder, CEO of H2 Portable, and Founder of Loop Energy
• Nichole Read: General Manager of Community Futures South Fraser
• Rocio Zielinski: General Manager of Stó:lō Community Futures

Existing companies, join the fun

This category is for team building and is non-competitive. Each existing company (has a revenue stream from any existing product(s) or service(s)) will be given the opportunity to present their project to the public during the final presentations to raise awareness, gain valuable feedback, and potentially attract local investment. If you have formed a company but are still pre-revenue, you can compete with the other teams.

Final presentations and awards are open to the public

Invite your family and friends to be the first to see what your team created! All members of the community are welcome to come and cheer on all teams, and potential investors are encouraged to chat with the teams after the awards.