OAX Foundation × HackTheEast: Backing Hong Kong’s Next Generation of AI Innovators
The Foundation’s Innovation DNA
The OAX Foundation has long been a driving force for innovation in the decentralized ecosystem. Over the years, we have supported countless successful projects through grants, mentorship, technical expertise, and infrastructure support.
Our commitment doesn’t stop there. With the AI revolution now underway, we see it empowering a new generation of builders and fostering truly inclusive environments. What better way to accelerate this momentum than by hosting a hackathon?
Collaboration with the Likeminded
Over the past six months, we explored numerous potential partners before choosing HackTheEast. This marks our first collaboration of this kind, and we are united by the same passion: cutting through corporate red tape and creating a real stage for students to shine. We believe the next wave of product innovators will emerge much like today’s top YouTubers, entrepreneurs at heart, ready to build, iterate, and inspire.
Our role at the Hackathon
Last month, we proudly announced our sponsorship of HackTheEast, one of Hong Kong’s premier AI hackathons, set to take place in February 2026. This partnership is a natural synergy with the OAX Foundation’s ongoing journey, especially as we deepen our venture into AI, blending it with our roots in blockchain and decentralized technologies to drive real-world innovation.
Our goal with this support is clear: to discover and nurture promising projects with impactful AI applications - especially in the education, upskilling space, we project exponential growth from our research data. We’re eager to help standout teams take their ideas to the next level through the OAX Foundation Award, providing mentorship, judging involvement, ideation guidance, and meaningful post-hackathon collaboration.
To give the community and potential participants a deeper look into the event, we’ve compiled a fun AMA session with the founders of HackTheEast, Shahman Ali. This is your chance to learn more about their vision, mission, and goals for the hackathon. Q 1. Please briefly introduce yourself and the team to the OAX community. (feel free to attach relevant profile links etc)
A: The HackTheEast team consists of undergraduate students across Hong Kong. These are founders, builders, community leaders and entrepreneurs who wanted to bring a one-of-a-kind hackathon experience to Hong Kong. Some of the people leading the charge are Shahman Ali, Logic Ng, Devansh Gandhi, Rocky Li and Ricky Chan. But apart from them, every member has contributed to the team in ways more than one!
Q 2. What inspired the creation of the HackTheEast hackathon?
A: A lot of us see the way hackathons are organized around the world, from SF to Canada, and when we participate in HK hackathons, something feels missing - the vibe is repetitive, no one feels like a hacker. The philosophy behind our journey was: if we can’t go to SF, we can bring SF to HK! Which then led to the creation of HK’s first student-led, builder-focused hackathon.
Q 3. How did your own experiences shape the hackathon’s “by builders, for builders” philosophy?
A: A majority of the team comes with a strong experience of technical building, from passion projects to startups - ranging from legal tech to consumer tech. We understand the challenges to go from idea to production-quality products, and how AI is changing the entire landscape. With this in mind, we have built a hackathon experience for the ground up, for the builders.
Q 4. Hong Kong has a vibrant but competitive tech scene, what gap in the local hackathon landscape did you see, and how does HackTheEast fill it differently from other hackathons?
A: Yes, there are many hackathons in Hong Kong. And some really great ones too. However, most of these hackathons are sponsored by companies looking to either find solutions for an internal use-case or simply as a talent funnel. HacktheEast leaves all that behind and gives participants a chance to build innovative products… what they believe brings value to the world, not what we want them to build.
Q 5. The event emphasizes building AI solutions for “Hong Kong’s toughest challenges.” Can you share examples of the kinds of real-world problems or themes you’re hoping participants tackle (e.g., smart city, education, fintech, sustainability, or daily urban life)?
A: We really want students to build the most creative ideas they have had, untethered by the limitations of business value and feasibility. The most innovative technologies always seem like crazy ideas at first. For a hackathon based in HK, we are looking forward to seeing this innovation take place in education (beyond buzzwords such as personalization and gamification), RegTech (beyond RAG chatbots), medical-tech (no GPT-doctors please!) and more.
Q 6. You stress shipping functional products/prototypes over concepts, can you dive into what kind of mentorship or resources will be available during the 24 hours to help teams go from idea to a working demo quickly?
A: We have partnered with technology companies such as Lovable, Cursor, ElevenLabs, Exa and Minimax. Technologies built by these companies from vibe coding tools to AI agents are all available with experts on the ground to help you build fast, and build innovative products. We are also collecting other hackathon-winning tips from across the internet to help participants do the best.
Q 7. For students or first-time builders reading this: what advice would you give to make the most of a high-intensity 24-hour sprint, especially when aiming for functional builds?
A: Don’t let the word sprint mislead you, it’s a marathon! Think carefully, plan ahead, divide tasks efficiently, don’t tire yourself, and just do your best. At the end of the day, it’s more about the journey than the destination!
Q 8. What drew you to partner with organizations like OAX Foundation, and how do sponsors contribute to making HackTheEast more impactful for participants?
A: From the first day, we wanted to make HackTheEast a hackathon where everyone plays a part. Organisations like OAX Foundation, which want to give back to the HK community and appreciate local talent, especially student talent, were the center of our focus. This is why the entire HTE team is sincerely thankful and appreciative of our earliest supporters and sponsors.
Q 9. Lastly, let us know why you think students and builders should apply for Hack the East, and what you believe they’ll stand to gain from the experience.
A: We want students, builders and budding entrepreneurs to join us for our one-of-a-kind experience, post-hackathon mentorship opportunities, internship openings and most importantly, the cool hacker vibes. It also doesn’t hurt that we are giving out 100K+ in cash, hardware gifts (cool keyboards and mouse), credits and a lot more.
Bonus/Just for fun: Share with us your most memorable, chaotic or funny experience from organizing HacktheEast so far! Could be a core team memory, key learning or overcoming an unique challenge.
A: It definitely has to be the moment we came up with the slogan. Eight of us sat around the table having pizza, tired after hours of endless brainstorming. Someone said: Go big or go home. Someone then repeated: “What about Go build or go home?”.
We all then agreed “Go Build or Go Home” would be cooler. That’s the story of how we came up with our unique slogan!</i>
Wrapping up
The OAX foundation is excited to be supporting the next wave of AI builders through HackTheEast, we share the same believe that innovation can takeplace without corporate red tapes. Whether through hands-on mentorship for standout teams, contributing to the judging process, or inspiring the next wave of AI BUIDLers, the OAX team is ready to support.
If you’re building with AI, we hope to see you there! Registration is still open so if you’re either looking to bring your idea to life or simply want to brush up your skills and meet the like minded, we’d say you have nothing to lose by giving it a go.
Disclaimer: The above is an opinion piece written by an authorized author, but in no way represents the official standpoint of OAX Foundation Limited, nor should it be meant to serve as investment advice.
