The Lytvyn.AI.Foundation, founded by Ukrainian AI entrepreneur Volodymyr Lytvyn, launched its European AI hackathon programme in Barcelona this October, with London next on the schedule.
The Barcelona event on 9–10 October offered 70 places for engineers and technical founders competing for €10,000. The winning team, Barr.io, received the foundation’s €10,000 prize, presented by Volodymyr Lytvyn. On 31 October, the foundation will partner with Kickstart Global for the Problem Day hackathon in London, where 80 builders are expected to compete for £5,000.
Volodymyr Lytvyn develops projects in artificial intelligence and digital technology across Ukraine and Europe. The Lytvyn.AI.Foundation seeks talented AI developers regardless of their country, education or access to investment networks, and considers promising teams for potential investment and long-term collaboration.
Lytvyn also served on the Startup Pitch jury at the AI Summit Barcelona 2026, an event with more than 10,000 attendees and over 200 speakers. He assessed early-stage AI startups presenting their products to investors and founders.
The Barcelona hackathon was the foundation’s first organised competition in Europe and the first stage of its European series.
Barcelona: 13 hours to build
Teams of up to four people had 13 hours across two days to build a working product using coding agents. The challenge was revealed at the start, and the finished product had to run in a mobile browser and be usable by someone unfamiliar with it within 60 seconds.
Participants could choose between three tracks: Game, Tool and Habit. They were allowed to use any technology stack, AI model or agent. Projects were judged on quality, completeness, originality and effective use of AI agents. Participation was free.
London: prove the problem
Problem Day will take place in London on 31 October. Kickstart Global is organising the event in partnership with the Lytvyn.AI.Foundation, with a £5,000 prize.
Teams will form ahead of the event. Participants will investigate real-world problems, examine existing solutions and gather evidence that these problems are worth solving.
During the event, teams will research their chosen problems, test assumptions and speak to industry professionals and mentors. They can use AI agents, scrapers, data analysis or small prototypes to support their findings.
At the end of the event, teams will present the problems they investigated, their findings and the evidence supporting them. The winning team will receive £5,000.
London applications: https://luma.com/mczagntt
About Volodymyr Lytvyn
Volodymyr Lytvyn is a Ukrainian AI entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He began his career in digital technology, building successful businesses that provided the financial foundation for his entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities.
In Ukraine, Lytvyn focuses on education, youth development and social initiatives through his charitable foundation, the Lytvyn Foundation. Its free programmes include an online business school, IT and AI hackathons, a business club, and sports and educational projects.
Across Europe and beyond, he develops his AI investment and technology initiatives through the Lytvyn.AI.Foundation. The foundation identifies talented AI developers and promising technical teams, creates opportunities for them to demonstrate their skills and considers projects with strong growth potential for investment. Its international hackathons bring together engineers and founders, allowing Lytvyn and his team to assess their technical capabilities and the products they build.
