Lovable's eMerge AI Hackathon at Miami's eMerge Americas 2026 drew 400+ builders. Format: build a working app with Lovable in under 8 hours, judged by a panel of South Florida founders and Lovable's DevRel team.
What it was
Lovable partnered with eMerge Americas — Miami's flagship tech conference — for an 8-hour hackathon held during the conference's main day in April 2026. 400+ builders registered, drawn heavily from South Florida's founder community.
The format was tight: from idea to working app in 8 hours, judged on-site by a panel of South Florida founders and Lovable's DevRel team. Most submissions targeted real local-market problems (Miami real estate search, restaurant reservation flows, event-planning tools for the conference circuit).
Why it mattered
Three signals:
- Lovable's geographic expansion. The event was Lovable's most ambitious in-person US event outside SF/NYC. Miami's growing tech scene plus the eMerge conference's reach gave them a captive founder-heavy audience.
- Fast format wins. 8 hours forces tight scope and shippable demos. All 400+ teams demoed something working — a higher completion rate than month-long online hackathons.
- Conference-tied hackathons compound. Builders attending eMerge for the conference programming joined the hackathon as a side-quest. The conference badge funneled into the hackathon and vice versa.
Format details
- Duration: 8 hours (8am – 4pm), demos 4–6pm
- Tool: Lovable required
- Categories: Most Production-Ready, Best Design, Community Pick
- Prizes: Lovable Plus subscriptions, eMerge passes, sponsor swag
Sources
Sponsors
- Lovable
- eMerge Americas