ABOUT TERNS

Friends turned founders. Built for the world.

Terns was born from a simple belief: the world's best builders deserve a global home. Three friends — an AI engineer, an HPC specialist, and a serial entrepreneur — came together to build it.

OUR MISSION

Community-first. Builder-native. Globally-minded.

Most hackathons are marketing exercises. Too many sponsors, too little signal, zero real outcomes. Terns is different. We start with the problem — work with companies to surface their most pressing real-world challenges — then build a curated experience around the builders best placed to solve them. Every event is designed to produce something that could actually ship. And when the event ends, the community continues. That's the Terns promise.

Authenticity

No fake problems. No participation trophies. Real challenges from real companies with real stakes.

Quality over scale

We'd rather have 300 focused builders than 3,000 distracted ones. Curation is our superpower.

Community forever

The event is 24 hours. The community is permanent.

Globally rooted

From Pune to Hamburg, we build for builders wherever they are.

THE FOUNDERS

Three builders. One vision.

Friends before founders. We met building things — and decided to build something bigger together.

Omkar Kondhalkar

Co-founder

Omkar Kondhalkar

AI engineer building computer vision for humanitarian landmine detection. Bridges product vision with deep technical execution.

Computer Vision & AI Engineering at reGround.systems, HamburgMSc Data Science & AI, Universität Hamburg
Yash Pawar

Co-founder

Yash Pawar

Runs India's national AI supercomputing infrastructure. Builds LLM systems at scale and keeps complex operations moving.

AI & HPC Engineer, C-DAC PARAM National Supercomputing FacilityPost-Graduate Diploma in AI & Data Analytics, CDAC Pune (88.2%)
Elias Tilmes

Co-founder

Elias Tilmes

Serial entrepreneur with a gift for partnerships and momentum. Turns vision into deals, events, and community energy.

Economics, University of HamburgCo-founder, Pettoo & MRBL Studios

THE STORY

“We met building things and decided to build something bigger. Not for the exit. For the builders who deserve a better ecosystem.”

Omkar, Yash & Elias, Terns Founders

WHERE WE STARTED

Rooted in Pune, reaching the world.

Pune is not just where we launched — it's who we are. From the tech parks of Hinjewadi to the startup corridors of Koregaon Park, Pune's builder culture is electric. We want every engineer, designer, and founder here to have access to the kind of event that can change a career. And then we want to do that in every city on earth.

🇮🇳 Pune, India🇩🇪 Hamburg, Germany🌍 Global
Pune, Maharashtra
Terns community
Terns builders

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