Jens Ingelstedt
Innovation programs can produce incredible outcomes, but they often fail because organizers are overwhelmed by admin and misjudge talent. When systems are weak, results suffer, talent disengages, sponsors see poor ROI, and data gets lost. Done right, builder events become proving grounds for hiring, investment, and how tech companies distribute their latest technologies.
Jens Ingelstedt is a builder, operator, and ecosystem architect who has spent the past decade designing and running large-scale innovation programs across startups, corporates, investors, and governments. He has led 150+ hackathons and 20+ accelerators globally, working at the intersection of talent, technology, and execution.
His experience spans ambitious global innovation initiatives, including an accelerator program with SoftBank where $40 million was invested, a global hackathon series with Meta involving 12,000+ participants, and the largest AI hackathon in the MENA region. Across these programs, Jens has worked hands-on with top talent, investors, innovation departments, and research to turn experimentation into real outcomes.
Jens has worked with and alongside venture capital firms such as Techstars, is an angel investor in 30+ startups, and is a Scout for EWOR, supporting exceptional founders early. Today, he is the founder of Builderbase, a platform built to give organizers superpowers by removing operational friction from innovation programs and turning events into scalable, data-driven systems.
Jens collaborates with Startup Genome around ecosystem design, builder-driven innovation, and how cities, regions, and organizations can create stronger feedback loops between talent, startups, and capital. His work focuses on translating ecosystem strategy into execution through practical, outcome-driven formats such as hackathons, accelerators, and challenge-based programs.