Rocketathon Zero is set to bring more than 1,000 participants together at the Karachi Youth Summit for a one-day build challenge focused on hardware, software, artificial intelligence and multidisciplinary problem-solving. The event is scheduled for September 29, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM at Expo Centre Karachi, with around 200 teams expected to take part. Organized through a collaboration between Karachi Youth Summit and The Rocket Guy Space, the event is designed around the idea of humans and machines building together, with participants required to demonstrate working systems rather than focus primarily on presentations or pitches. The organizers describe Rocketathon as a format that brings together different disciplines and evaluates participants based on what they are able to build and demonstrate.
Participants will work in multidisciplinary teams and can contribute through a range of technical and non-technical roles. The available seats include Power and Propulsion, Embedded and Avionics, Compute and Telemetry, Model Engineer, Interface Engineer, Systems Integrator and Simulation and Narrative. The event also includes roles covering Business and Commerce, Law, Marketing and Media, Social Sciences and Psychology, Supply Chain and Operations, and Environmental Impact and Energy Decarbonisation. Teams can have up to seven members, with at least three participants required to attend in person at Expo Centre Karachi, while other members can join remotely. Participants do not need to be engineers, with the organizers specifically highlighting the role of artists, designers, business professionals, legal experts and social scientists in multidisciplinary teams.
Rocketathon Zero will offer participants three challenge tracks: Stand-In, Fabless and Karachi Air. Stand-In focuses on building a machine capable of holding a real person’s place in a room through an AI-based representation of an expert. Fabless involves creating a small open-source chip design, while Karachi Air focuses on developing a rocket capable of measuring air quality in Karachi. The event requires teams to build working systems using scrap materials, with the organizers stating that the most honest system, rather than the flashiest presentation, will determine the outcome. Participants can also compete for seed funding to develop their ventures and a place in the Founder Mode Accelerator and The Rocket Guy Space, which provides access to a broader network and resources for building and scaling ventures.
Rocketathon Zero forms part of the wider PK2047 initiative, which aims to develop entrepreneurial and technical capabilities in Pakistan through a longer-term pathway connecting build challenges, venture development and research. According to the organizers, Rocketathon serves as the entry point for identifying people who can build, while PK2047 Labs is intended to provide a space where founders, students, graduates and researchers can work on systems addressing real-world problems. The broader initiative links areas such as energy, chips, data centres, AI models and applications with challenges on Earth, including energy, healthcare, water, logistics and education. The Karachi edition therefore provides participants with an opportunity to demonstrate technical and creative capabilities while potentially progressing toward further startup and technology development opportunities.
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