Hundreds of students gathered in Manila for the recent Caffeine AI Hackathon organized by ICP Hub Philippines, where they were challenged to develop functioning applications within a tight timeframe and pitch their projects to a panel of startup experts.
The event, held on October 28, brought together both technical and non-technical participants to prototype apps powered by conversational AI.
Participants competed in two categories — technical and non-technical — using the “self-writing internet” capabilities of Caffeine AI, a platform that allows users to build apps through conversational prompts instead of traditional coding.
After the build phase, shortlisted finalists presented their entries and answered questions from the judges, simulating both product development and startup pitching.
The turnout far exceeded expectations. According to Andrea Faith Alimorong, ICP Hub PH Tech Lead and a former hackathon winner herself, organizers were initially expecting around 100 entries — but more than 200 were submitted in a single day. (x.com) Alimorong said the strong participation reflects the growing enthusiasm among Filipino students for AI-driven innovation.
Winning teams in both the technical and non-technical tracks each received USD 500, recognizing their creativity, practical application, and use of Caffeine AI’s conversational tools. The winning projects demonstrated a range of use cases, from productivity and education apps to solutions for civic engagement and mental health support.
Organizers said the hackathon marked a milestone in democratizing AI development and nurturing innovation among youth. By lowering the barrier to entry and enabling both coders and non-coders to build apps, the event aims to expand the Philippines’ growing developer community around the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) stack. Future editions of the Caffeine AI Hackathon are already being planned to build on this early success.
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