Applications open for VibeCode30: Searching for India’s most promising AI-native builders
At TechSparks 2026, YourStory will unveil the first edition of VibeCode30 to recognise 30 individuals and teams that have used AI-first tools and workflows to build useful, working products.
A new kind of builder is emerging.
They may be developers using AI to move from idea to deployment faster. They may also be designers, marketers, students, creators, or domain experts who have never traditionally written code but can now turn a problem they understand into a working product.
This shift is at the heart of VibeCode30, a new platform that will recognise 30 individuals and teams from India using artificial intelligence to build useful apps and digital products.
Applications for the inaugural cohort are now open.
The selected VibeCoders will be unveiled at the 17th edition of TechSparks, taking place at Taj Yeshwantpur, Bengaluru, on October 13-15, under the theme ‘The New Tech Order’.
From an idea to an app
Until recently, building an app usually required technical expertise, a development team, considerable capital, or all three.
AI is beginning to rewrite that build order.
Coding assistants can generate and explain code. AI-led design tools can create interfaces and prototypes. Agent builders and automation platforms can connect workflows, while rapid deployment tools can take products from a laptop to live users faster than before.
The result is not simply faster coding. It is a much wider pool of people gaining the ability to build.
Vibe coding has become a shorthand for this new approach: using natural-language instructions and AI tools to create software, often without manually writing every line of code. It can help a solo builder test an idea over a weekend, allow a professional to create the tool their workplace lacks, or enable a small team to launch a product without waiting months to assemble a traditional technology stack.
VibeCode30 is looking for the builders who have moved beyond the prompt and produced something real.
Who should apply?
VibeCode30 is open to individuals and teams from across India who have used AI-first development workflows to build a live app or product that people can use.
Applicants could include:
- AI-native product builders
- Student innovators
- Indie hackers
- Creator-builders
- Open-source contributors
- No-code and low-code builders
- Young startup founders
A formal computer science background is not required. Applicants also do not need to have raised funding or built a conventional startup.
What matters is the product: the problem it addresses, the usefulness it demonstrates, the way AI was used to build it, and whether the builder has taken it beyond an interesting experiment.
What VibeCode30 is looking for
Entries will be evaluated on four broad parameters: innovation, impact, execution, and the use of AI in building the product.
The programme is not searching for AI added to a conventional product merely as a feature. The focus is on how applicants have used AI coding assistants, design and prototyping platforms, agent-building tools, workflow automation systems, no-code platforms, or other AI-native tools as part of the development process.
The strongest applications will show a clear problem, a functioning solution, and evidence that the product is useful to real users.
Applications will undergo an initial screening and shortlisting process before being reviewed by a jury of industry leaders and technology experts. The final cohort of 30 builders will be announced at TechSparks 2026.
What the selected VibeCoders receive
The VibeCode30 cohort will be recognised on the TechSparks stage and introduced to an audience of founders, investors, enterprises, developers, customers, and potential collaborators.
Selected builders will also gain access to networking opportunities and benefits from participating technology and ecosystem partners.
For some, this may be the first public stage for something built quietly after work, between college classes, or over a series of weekends. For others, it may be the first signal that an internal tool or side project has the potential to become something much larger.
TechSparks has long spotlighted companies before they became widely known. Our flagship Tech30 programme has identified more than 450 early-stage startups over the last 15 years, with alumni including Freshworks, Chargebee, Innovaccer, Skyroot Aerospace, Pixxel, and Qure.ai.
VibeCode30 extends that instinct for early discovery to an emerging generation of AI-native builders.
How to apply
Applications for VibeCode30 are open until August 31.
Individuals and teams that have built a live, useful product through AI-first development workflows can apply through the VibeCode30 application form.
Apply here.
The barriers to building are falling. VibeCode30 is looking for the people already stepping across them.
Edited by Teja Lele