Fikr Ventures and Replit Wrap Up the AI Hackathon in Amman

Fikr Ventures, in partnership with Replit, the global platform for building apps with AI, has wrapped up the AI Hackathon in Amman. The event ran on 10 and 11 October at King Hussein Business Park, under the patronage of H.E. Eng. Sami Smeirat, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, and brought together 183 young founders, engineers, students and recent graduates.

In two days the participants built more than 50 working prototypes with AI tools on Replit. That is the clearest evidence we have that the distance between an idea and a product that runs is now measured in hours rather than months. Teams competed in two tracks, Education Technology and the Future of Work — two of the sectors AI is changing fastest, and the two most closely tied to what young people across the Arab world will do for a living.

By the numbers: 183 participants, more than 50 working prototypes, 2 tracks, 10 finalist teams and 4 winning teams.

“AI has changed the rules of the game,” said Dr. Mohamad Khawaja, Founding Partner at Fikr Ventures. “Building a product is no longer limited to programmers. Anyone with an idea and a real understanding of a problem can now do it. Our goal at Fikr is to move young Jordanians and Arabs from using technology to building it. What we saw over two days in Amman confirms that the talent is here. What it needs is the right tools, the opportunity and the funding, and that is exactly what we are working on with our partners at Replit and everyone who stood with us. We thank H.E. Minister Sami Smeirat for his patronage and his ongoing support for entrepreneurship.”

The hackathon opened with an introductory session from Replit, followed by intensive build and mentoring sessions led by specialist mentors. Qualifier pitches narrowed the field to 10 finalist teams, who presented to a jury of national and regional experts including Dr. Farah Siraj, representing the Al-Futtaim Education Foundation in the UAE.

At the closing ceremony H.E. Minister Smeirat honoured the four winning teams, chosen for innovation and commercial potential. Their prize package includes Replit credits, incubation at King Hussein Business Park, hands-on training opportunities, mentoring sessions, and smart tablets provided by Orange Jordan. The ceremony also featured a panel, “Building in the Age of AI: What Changed and What Comes Next,” with Dr. Ismael Al-Hinti, President of Al Hussein Technical University, and Mr. Shaker Amayreh of Replit.

“At Replit, we believe the next generation of builders will come from everywhere, not only from traditional tech hubs,” said Shaker Amayreh, Partnership Lead for the MENA region at Replit. “What we saw in Amman was inspiring. Participants from very different backgrounds built real, working products within hours. Our partnership with Fikr Ventures brings together the tools to build and a path to investment, and that is what makes this series different. We look forward to seeing what these builders create next.”

Amman is the second stop in the regional AI hackathon series led by Fikr Ventures in partnership with Replit. The series launched in Jeddah and moves next to Dubai, hosted with the Al-Futtaim Education Foundation, and then to Riyadh. Its goal is to build a regional community of builders and founders, and to make the region a more attractive place to invest in advanced technology.

The AI Hackathon in Amman was brought to you by Fikr Ventures and Replit, under the official patronage of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship. Event sponsors were Orange Jordan, Madfoatcom, MENA Devs, Yaseer, unirsal and ULA Ventures by JO Academy. Community partners were King Hussein Business Park, the host venue and the incubator for the winners, Al Hussein Technical University as academic partner, and C.XSEED.

Fikr Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in EdTech and future-of-work startups across the Arab world, with a presence in Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Beyond investing, Fikr builds the next generation of talent and founders through programmes such as The AI Hackathon, a regional series run with Replit that began in Jeddah and continues to Amman, Dubai and Riyadh, helping young people move from using AI to building with it.

Media contact: info@fikr.vc · www.fikr.vc · theaihackathon.com