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KeyValue powers KeyCode 5.0 with 20 teams building what’s next
KeyValue powered the fifth edition of KeyCode, its annual internal hackathon, on September 18, 2026, bringing together 20 teams to turn bold ideas into builds with real-world potential.
This year, the ambition was bigger than building for the day. Teams were challenged to think about the problem they were solving, who they were solving it for, and whether the idea had the potential to go beyond the hackathon.
One day. Twenty teams. Twenty builds.
The day began at 8:00 AM, with teams in the final stretch of testing, refining, and getting their builds ready.
Joining KeyCode 2026 were judges Anandamoy Roychowdhary, Managing Director at Crane Venture Partners; Gulsher Singh, Founder of Tiny Concepts; and Sumukh Avadhani, Co-founder and CTO of Pencil. The event also welcomed Udayan Kanade, CEO of Oneirix Labs; Pavan Madhini, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Think9; Viswanath J., CTO of Automotive Intelligence; and George Ukkuru, Co-founder of QualiPulse Solutions.
Through the morning, judges and guests met teams on the floor, discussed their ideas, and shared perspectives shaped by years of experience across product, business, and investment.
The focus then shifted to the main stage, where all 20 teams presented their builds, demonstrated how they worked, and made the case for the problem they were solving and the opportunity behind it. The judging panel looked beyond what worked in the demo, questioning teams on user need, business potential, execution, and how far each idea could realistically go.
That was the real challenge at KeyCode: not simply to make a build work, but to prove the thinking behind it.
The winners of KeyCode 2026
Team Learning Machines won KeyCode 2026 and ₹2 lakh with Limelight, an AI-native score that captures a song’s beats, phrases, sections, vocals, builds, drops, tension, and release.
Team Axarion secured First Runner-Up and ₹1 lakh with Kavaj, a self-serve crowd-safety and booking system for temple trusts.
Team Null Pointers took Second Runner-Up and ₹50,000 with PlayLoop, which turns product links into interactive, brand-specific games for digital banners and ads.
The recognition extended beyond the podium, with five special awards celebrating different strengths, each carrying a ₹25,000 cash prize:
- Most Innovative Idea: Team Learning Machines for Limelight
- Spirit of KeyCode: Team Race Condition for Auto Lead Management
- Best Pitch: Team Axiom for Soch AI
- Best Game: Team Slaves of Claude for 2.5D Puzzle Platformer
- Best Team Name: Team Runtime Terror
Three standout ideas earn the Golden Ticket
For the first time, KeyCode 2026 introduced the Golden Ticket, a pathway for standout ideas to move beyond the hackathon into further validation with KeyValue. If validated, these ideas can move toward becoming a real product or venture, with potential equity or options for the people behind them.
Three teams earned the Golden Ticket:
Team Elevate for AgentSim, a flight simulator for AI agents that creates safe digital replicas of real business environments where agents can be tested before reaching live systems.
Team Hakuna Ma-Data for Lockstep, a GST workflow tool that brings purchase-register data and GSTR-2B into one place to simplify reconciliation.
Team Ctrl Alt Elite for Devalay, a back-office platform for religious institutions that brings donations across cash, UPI, cards, and international transfers into one ledger while automating receipts.
Beyond the hackathon
The spirit of KeyCode carried beyond the main stage. A game zone running alongside the hackathon featured Snake Battle and Move It, both built in-house by the KeyValue team, along with PS5 gaming and a photobooth.
The event ended with a gala dinner, giving teams, judges, guests, and the wider KeyValue community a chance to unwind after a packed day.
Now in its fifth edition, KeyCode continues to reflect the culture it fosters: giving engineers the space to think beyond their everyday roles, test new ideas, and take promising ones further.
And this edition feels less like an ending and more like the start of what comes next.
