Forum X Anthropic Hackathon: Agentic AI for Zero-to-One Company Building
Build the next generation of agentic AI — agents that make starting a company faster, smarter, and more accessible.
Anyone can start a company. Not everyone knows how to get from zero to one. In one day, you’ll build autonomous, context-aware agents that automate the toughest early stage workflows: customer discovery, validation, prototyping, testing, GTM, and sales.
What you'll build
Participants will create agents that compress months of work into hours:
Customer Discovery – Identify and segment the right early customers.
Validation – Run research, surface pain points, and score solution fit.
Prototyping & Testing – Integrate with tools, generate code, or trigger workflows.
Go-to-Market & Sales – Source leads, personalize outreach, and close deals faster.
Builders will have access to Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI-powered coding environment designed for fast iteration and problem-solving — ideal for creating, testing, and refining agents in real time during the hackathon.
What you’ll walk away with
A live demo you can keep building, pitch, or sell.
Feedback from experienced zero-to-one founders.
Exposure to mentors and investors who can help you take the next step.
Who should apply
The hackathon is a rare collision of:
Technical builders exploring the founder path.
AI-native hackers with speed and scrappiness.
PhDs and researchers ready to test outside of the lab.
You’re not just competing, you’re building alongside the same people shaping the next generation of AI-native companies.
Learn from the best
Learn directly from GTM leads at Anthropic, AI/ML engineers from Intercom and ScaleStack, and the Forum Ventures Venture Studio team building AI companies from zero to one.
Confirmed Mentors & Judges: [TBA]
Day-of-flow
10:00 – 10:30 AM: Kickoff & opening remarks
10:30 – 1:30 PM: Build sprint 1 with real-time mentorship
1:30 – 2:30 PM: Lunch
2:30 – 3:30 PM: Midday user testing
3:30 – 6:00 PM: Build sprint 2 with real-time mentorship
6:00 – 7:00 PM: Final demos and judging panel
7:00 – 8:00 PM: Winner announcement and networking
What you could win
Winner receives $15,000 in Anthropic API and Claude Code credits
Runner ups (up to 4) receive $1,500 in Anthropic API and Claude Code credits
Demos are judged across criteria such as technical innovation, organization and basic conventions, user experience, and more.
Your zero-to-one journey starts here. Apply early — spots are limited.
About Forum Ventures
Forum Ventures is the leading early-stage fund, accelerator and venture studio for B2B & AI tech startups based in New York, San Francisco, and Toronto. Founded in 2014, we’re on a mission to make the B2B SaaS journey easier, more accessible and successful for early-stage founders. Forum is investing in 65+ SaaS companies this year. Pitch Us here.
About Anthropic
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company focused on building reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems with human benefit at their core. As a public benefit corporation, they design technology grounded in safety, transparency, and long‑term sustainability.
About Dreamlit
Dreamlit.ai is a vibe coding platform for automated emails, and the easiest way to add beautiful, engaging emails to your app built on Supabase. Perfect for auth emails, welcome email drips, internal/external alerts, and more. Participants get 100 emails/month, a free custom domain sender via Entri and IONOS, and unlimited channels across email and Slack.
About ScaleStack
Scalestack is the first Autonomous Revenue Engine: AI-powered data at enterprise scale, with zero duct tape. We empower RevOps, SalesOps, and Marketing Ops teams at companies like MongoDB, Redis, Astronomer and many more know who to target, at scale—without adding headcount or operational complexity.
About Intercom
Intercom is the AI customer service company. Customer service and support teams at more than 25,000 businesses use Intercom's complete customer service solution every day to drive faster growth through better relationships. Get one year of Intercom + Fin, the #1 AI Agent for customer service, for free.
About Cooley LLP
Cooley works with startups to launch dynamic new ventures and take them forward. Their work often begins before a startup’s formation and progresses through the full evolution of the company. Cooley has been ranked the #1 firm for VC-backed IPOs for 15+ years by IPO Vital Signs. Check out Cooley’s award-winning free legal resource for founders at cooleygo.com, which offers a range of legal resources to entrepreneurs of all sizes – from formation to M&A and IPO.