A London hackathon supported by Ukrainian AI entrepreneur and investor Volodymyr Lytvyn brought together 80 participants on 31 October to investigate real-world problems and compete for a £5,000 prize.
Held in partnership between Kickstart Global and the Lytvyn.AI.Foundation, the event, called Problem Day, challenged participants to identify problems worth solving, test their assumptions and present evidence supporting their findings.
Unlike conventional hackathons, where teams race to build working products, Problem Day focused on the research that comes before development. Participants examined existing solutions and worked to establish whether their chosen problems were worth pursuing.
The £5,000 prize was personally presented by Volodymyr Lytvyn to Recoverable, a team comprising Ali Qureshi, Lewis Simpson and Shirish Reddy Govrawaram. Their project addresses unpaid invoices at small UK accountancy firms, where debts are often written off because pursuing them is considered too costly. The team developed a prototype to identify debts worth recovering and demonstrated it using sample data.
London teams put real-world problems to the test
Teams began forming ahead of the event, allowing participants to prepare for a day centred on research, validation and practical evidence.
During the hackathon, they investigated their chosen problems, tested assumptions and consulted industry professionals and mentors. Participants could use AI agents, web scrapers, data analysis and small prototypes to support their research.
The final presentations focused on the problems identified, the evidence gathered and the reasons those problems deserved further attention. The format placed particular emphasis on understanding a problem before committing resources to developing a solution.
For the Lytvyn.AI.Foundation, the London event also provided an opportunity to meet technical talent, observe how teams approached complex challenges and identify promising developers and founders for potential future collaboration.
From Barcelona to London
The London hackathon followed the foundation’s first European competition, held in Barcelona on 9–10 October.
The Barcelona event offered 70 places to engineers and technical founders competing for a €10,000 prize. Teams of up to four had 13 hours across two days to develop a working product using AI coding agents.
Participants could enter one of three categories: Game, Tool or Habit. Their products had to work in a mobile browser and be accessible to a first-time user within 60 seconds. Entries were assessed on quality, completeness, originality and effective use of AI agents.
The winning team, Barr.io, received €10,000, with the prize presented by Lytvyn himself. Participation was free.
Lytvyn also served on the Startup Pitch jury at the AI Summit Barcelona 2026, which attracted more than 10,000 attendees and featured over 200 speakers. He assessed early-stage AI businesses presenting their products to investors and founders.
The entrepreneur behind the initiative
Volodymyr Lytvyn is a Ukrainian AI entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist whose work spans technology investment, entrepreneurial education and social initiatives.
He began his career in digital technology, building successful businesses that provided the financial foundation for his subsequent investment and philanthropic activities.
In Ukraine, his charitable organisation, the Lytvyn Foundation, supports education and youth development. Its free programmes include an online business school, IT and AI hackathons, a business club, and sports and educational projects.
Internationally, Lytvyn develops his AI investment and technology initiatives through the Lytvyn.AI.Foundation. The organisation seeks talented AI developers and promising technical teams regardless of their country, educational background or access to investment networks.