EDTH × D4D Korean Defense Tech Hackathon — Seoul
The European Defense Tech Hackathon — Europe's largest defense-tech builder community — has chosen Seoul as the final stop of its 2026 tour. Together with D4D, 200+ builders from Korea, Europe, and beyond will spend three days solving real defense and security challenges.
200+
Builders
From Korea, Europe & beyond
3
Days
Oct 9–11, 2026
Final
Stop
Of the EDTH 2026 tour
2
Communities
EDTH × D4D
Europe's Biggest Defense-Tech
Hackathon Comes to Korea
EDTH has run hackathons across Europe's defense-tech capitals, connecting builders directly with military operators, government stakeholders, and investors. For the final stop of its 2026 tour, it chose Seoul — partnering with D4D, the APAC defense-tech builders network that ran Asia-Pacific's first civilian-led defense hackathon in July 2026.
Teams build against real defense and security problem statements with direct feedback from military operators and domain experts. Standout teams can advance toward post-event demonstration stages through EDTH's government and investor network — the emphasis is deployment, not prototype-only outcomes.
Agenda
Day 1 · Oct 9
Defense Builders Night
Opening sessions and networking across the Korean and European defense-tech communities.
Day 2 · Oct 10
Challenge Reveal & Build Sprint
Problem statements revealed, teams formed, and the build begins — with direct feedback from military operators and domain experts.
Day 3 · Oct 11
Demo Day
Judging, pitches, and awards — with pathways toward post-event demonstrations through EDTH's government and investor network.
What Teams Will Build
UAS — Unmanned Aerial Systems
Autonomous flight, swarming, and mission payloads for unmanned platforms.
Counter-UAS
Detection, tracking, and interception of hostile drone threats.
AI & Autonomous Systems
Applied AI for decision support, autonomy, and battlefield awareness.
Sensors, Robotics & Communications
Hardware and software across sensing, robotics, and resilient comms.
Who Should Join
Builders of every kind — no prior defense-sector experience required.
AI Engineers & Developers
AI/ML builders, software engineers, roboticists
Designers & Planners
Product designers, planners, researchers
Entrepreneurs
Founders and defense-tech startup builders
Military & Veterans
Serving personnel, reservists, and veterans
Build in Seoul This October
Builder, mentor, volunteer, and media tickets are available now. Three days, one build sprint, and a direct line to the operators and investors who can take a prototype further.
Apply at luma.com/d4d_edthOrganized by D4D and EDTH · See how the last Seoul hackathon went: D4D Seoul 2026 results