Build the future of Generative AI. Selected teams will be considered for Afore Capital’s pre-seed program ($500k–$2M+).

Following the success of Agent Foundry, Return of the Agents is the third and final installment in our trilogy of hackathons — pushing the frontier of generative AI. This exclusive gathering convenes top founders, ambitious developers, and frontier researchers to create venture-scale products.

Return of the Agents is a hybrid hackathon - anchored by an in-person build weekend, with remote participation available for select teams.

Over one high-energy weekend, 500+ hand-selected builders will design, prototype, and deploy groundbreaking systems — from state-of-the-art image and video generation to multimodal platforms redefining how we create, communicate, and collaborate.

Why Afore Capital

Afore Capital is a founder-first pre-seed fund known for backing companies at inception—often before a product exists. Their team works closely with builders coming out of hackathons, side projects, and early technical collaborations, helping exceptional teams turn prototypes into enduring companies.

Participation in Return of the Agents places teams directly in front of Afore partners, operators, and mentors who actively source and support companies emerging from high-signal technical environments like this one.

🧠 Team Formation & Referrals

This year, we’re raising the bar on team quality.

Applicants are encouraged to refer their strongest teammates and build with people they trust to ship at a high level. Referrals are tracked directly through your shared luma link - anyone who applies using your link is counted as your referral and evaluated as part of your team.

Acceptance decisions increasingly reflect team strength, technical depth, and execution potential, not just individual profiles. It will also holistically increases the likelihood of creating something exceptional for 500k-2M in pre-seed funding.

💡 What to Expect

Hands-on technical workshops & mentorship from industry leaders
A showcase judged by top investors, operators, and AI experts
$5,000 in prizes 🏆 plus recognition & fast-track opportunities into venture-scale products

🎓 For students: Participation may strengthen your application to Afore’s FIR U (Founder-in-Residence University) program → afore.vc/firu

This is where the most driven entrepreneurs will launch companies that shape the next era of generative AI.

🔗 More Info 👉 aforehacks.org

AI Valley is a community rooted in supporting exceptional first-generation builders, founders, and creators. We curate environments where ambitious people meet collaborators, mentors, and opportunities through hackathons, workshops, and intimate gatherings across AI, tech, and the arts. If you care about who you build with as much as what you build, this is your place.

🌐 Website: https://aivalley.io

📅 Events: https://lu.ma/aivalley

👥 Community (Discord): https://discord.gg/QESCnSUPC9

📰 Newsletter: https://aivalleyio.substack.com

🔗 All links: https://aivalley.io/links

RETURN OF THE AGENTS - Hackathon