AI for Education Hackathon concludes with 32 final projects and prizes exceeding half a million pounds

The "AI for Education 2026 Hackathon" closed its final round at the Egypt University of Informatics, a university in the New Administrative Capital, after three days of presentations and judging, with 32 teams participating out of 228 teams that started from 1,000 participants representing 25 governorates. The event was held under the patronage of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and coincided with the university hosting the inaugural meeting of the GAINAfrica project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, where the university leads the education track to develop Arabic-language solutions.

Remaining resultsIn the student track, the team "Hikaya" from the German University won first place with a prize of 80,000 Egyptian pounds, plus a special 20,000-pound award for the best Arabic-language technical solution. Second place went to the team "Shafahi" from October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (60,000 pounds), and third to the team "Play2Be" from Egypt University of Informatics (40,000 pounds) for a 3D interactive environment that assesses skills using artificial intelligence. In the startup track, "SKAYZ" took first place (120,000 pounds), "NaFees AI, Anatomy Lab" second (80,000 pounds), and "DARS" third (50,000 pounds). The total announced prizes exceed 450,000 pounds, not counting accompanying investment and mentorship grants.

Implementation partnersThe judging panels included representatives from Egypt University of Informatics, the Egyptian Telecommunications Company (WE), Intel, EdVentures, an education venture firm, and Kheilan Asset Management Group. Engineer Taha Khalifa, General Manager for the Middle East and Africa, said the support aims to prepare the next generation of innovators. WE Innovate offered 31 scholarships to outstanding students, while Ahmed Al-Fuli, Executive Vice President for Systems and Information Technology, emphasized the importance of technical and investment mentorship to build investor confidence in Egyptian solutions.

What this means for the regionThe hackathon is not an isolated competition, it is a convergence of the Digital Egypt strategy, European funding through GAINAfrica, and a private-sector partnership that brings mentorship and early capital. Winners leave with prototype products in Arabic, a scarcity that still exists in smart-education tools, and with a network of evaluators from WE, Intel and EdVentures. For the Arab developer, the message is clearer: solutions that address a documented local need, such as teacher skills or student language, receive funding and mentorship faster than copied versions of global models.