2026
KiwiHacks: How a 17-Year-Old Built NZ's First Teen Hackathon Scene
Niko Purdie started coding at 9, competed at a hackathon in Austin, Texas, and came home to realise New Zealand had nothing like it for teens. So he built one. KiwiHacks has grown from 10 attendees to 60+ across four events, with a 91 NPS and a weekly coding club that teaches beginners to ship real software.