Kevin O'Leary × Emergent: $100K Builders' Fest Challenge

About this opportunity

A global AI build challenge run by Emergent with Kevin O'Leary. You build and launch a real product on Emergent, submit it to the contest, and it goes into a public gallery where the community upvotes entries. The challenge ran from August 17 to September 20, 2026. Submissions close September 20 at 23:59 GMT — and submitting is a separate step from deploying your app: you are only entered once you complete the submission step from your Emergent homepage or profile and get a confirmation email showing your entry as 'Submitted'. Community upvoting stays open until September 25 at 23:59 GMT. The 200 most-upvoted submissions go to judging, scored on business impact and potential to scale (30%), upvotes (20%), problem solving (20%), use of Emergent (15%) and UI/UX (15%). The top 10 finalists are invited to a virtual finale on October 9, 2026, where a panel picks the top three. Prize pool is over US$100,000 across 100 winners: US$50,000 for 1st, US$20,000 for 2nd, US$10,000 for 3rd, US$1,000 each for 4th–10th, US$500 each for 11th–25th and US$100 each for 26th–100th. All 100 winners also get an Emergent Standard plan subscription (a year for the top tiers, three months for the rest). For someone early in their career this is unusually good value even if you don't win: you finish with a launched product, a public entry people can see, and a deadline that forces you to actually ship.

What you get

• A real launched product for your portfolio, built with AI tooling
• Public exposure through the contest gallery and community upvoting
• Share of a US$100,000+ prize pool across 100 winners
• Emergent Standard plan subscription for every winner

Prize or recognition

US$50,000 for 1st, US$20,000 for 2nd, US$10,000 for 3rd, then US$1,000 (4th–10th), US$500 (11th–25th) and US$100 (26th–100th)

Who can take part

Open globally to anyone who builds and submits an app on Emergent. Submitting is a separate step from deploying — confirm your entry shows as 'Submitted'.

Eligibility is copied from the organizer's own published rules — they make the final call. Confirm on the official page before you apply.

Coming later: attendees who leave genuinely useful reviews will earn credits toward paid opportunities. Nothing is being awarded yet — reviews are unpaid and unverified for now.