Mistral AI chooses UNSW Founders as host for Worldwide AI Hackathon!
5 min read · Monday March 2, 2026
Photo: hansenmaruda
24 hours. Seven cities. 151 builders and 3 winners chosen on the stage at the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre.
In the last week of February, UNSW Founders hosted the Australian edition of the Mistral AI Worldwide Hackathon, a coordinated global event spanning Paris, London, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.
Mistral AI is a leading French artificial intelligence company building high performance open weight models and are rapidly emerging as one of Europe’s most prominent AI players. Mistral is known for its technical depth, speed and commitment to continued innovation.
In early 2026 when Mistral launched its largest ever worldwide hackathon, Sydney was selected as the southern hemisphere lead location. As Director of Entrepreneurship David Burt said;
“When a globally leading company like Mistral selects just seven cities worldwide, and includes UNSW Founders as a hosting partner - that’s an important signal that UNSW is the heart of AI startups in Australia.”
UNSW is Australia’s leading university for engineering graduates, research complexity and spinout companies. This leadership has expanded in UNSW proactive stance on AI, with the establishment of the UNSW AI Institute. led by Dr Sue Keay, the AI Institute has the vision to ensure UNSW is recognised as a world leader in the development of AI as a safe, reliable and ubiquitous technology for global benefit.
Globally, more than 7,000 applications were submitted, with only 700 hackers selected across the seven cities. To earn a limited spot, participants had to submit their GitHub profiles and demonstrate technical capability. This set the standard and the goal; to bring together the strongest AI engineers and builders across time zones to develop ambitious applications using Mistral’s open models and APIs.
The Sydney hackathon was over subscribed, hitting capacity more than a week before the event. From over 300 applications, to 150 accepted, to 35 teams – that kicked off the 24-hour build.
Backed by Global AI Leaders
The hackathon was backed by AI industry heavyweights including NVIDIA, AWS, ElevenLabs, Hugging Face, Weights & Biases and Supercell.
Prize pools reflected the global ambition of the event. The overall global winner receiving $10,000 in cash, $15,000 in Mistral credits and hiring opportunities within Mistral, alongside consideration for the Supercell AI Innovation Lab program.
Sydney winners received local prizes across first, second and third place, in addition to special awards recognising innovation in voice, gaming and agent-based workflows.
UNSW Founders also awarded a dedicated $1,000 UNSW Founders Prize and $300 Social Media Prizes, recognising not only technical excellence but the ability to communicate and share ideas with impact.
A 24-Hour Global Build
Across two days, participants moved from opening ceremony to overnight coding, culminating in live demos and judging.
Projects were judged by industry leaders including:
Georgie Healy, host of In the Blink of AI and former lead of Google’s AI First Accelerator Australia
Justin Gardiner, Mistral AI Representative for Australia and New Zealand
Sue Keay, Director of the UNSW AI Institute
Teams competed across two core challenges:
Anything Goes: Inviting ambitious and creative applications built using Mistral’s API or open models.
Fine-Tuning by Weights & Biases: Designed for technically advanced builders fine-tuning models such as Ministral, Mistral Small, Mistral Medium or Codestral.
Projects were assessed across five equally weighted criteria: technical depth, creativity, usefulness, quality of demo and alignment with objectives.
This was not an ideas competition. It was an execution test.
Why UNSW?
Bringing the Sydney edition to UNSW was a deliberate decision.
Shetal Balaji, the dedicated AI Program Manager at UNSW Founders, led the effort to bring Mistral to campus, reflected on the significance of the event:
“Hosting the Sydney edition showcases that UNSW is not only as a place where AI is taught, but where it is actively built.”
The official judges for the Sydney finals: Georgie Healy, Justin Gardiner, Sue Keay & Shetal Balaji.
Nina Juhl, Senior Entrepreneurship Manager at UNSW Founders, emphasised the broader pathway:
“Events like this do more than just create prototypes. They build communities, the spark ideas and connect students with what’s possible for them on a global scale. We know that pressure, collaboration and creativity are some of the best foundations for what will be Australia’s next AI unicorn”.
For students, researchers and AI enthusiasts, the message is clear: if you want to build seriously in artificial intelligence, there is an ecosystem at UNSW ready to support you.
Photo: Rimmi & Sudin
What’s next?
If you want to explore your AI potential or join a community of active builders join AI After Hours, our weekly community session for builders, researchers and AI enthusiasts. Register here
Missed the hackathon?
Join the official UNSW Founders After Party on the 9th March !