The kernelalready haseverythingit needs.
Popcorn is the catalyst that turns teenagers into builders.
Not a course. Not a competition. A transformation experience — for teenagers who are ready to stop experiencing problems and start solving them.
5 Rounds · 40 Students Each · Cairo & MENA · Summer 2026
The Physics of Popcorn
Is the Philosophy
of This Program.
A kernel already contains everything it needs. What it's missing is not talent, or intelligence, or potential. It's the heat. The right pressure. The right environment for the shell to break and something completely new to emerge.
The workshop and hackathon are the heat.
Teenagers are the kernels.
The transformation is irreversible.
of MENA youth are unemployed right now. (ILO, 2024)
of students regret their university major within three years.
hours schools spend teaching teenagers to build with AI.
The world is being rebuilt by AI. The question is not whether your teenager will interact with it — they already do. The question is whether they will be a consumer of it, or a contributor to it.
From
Passive
To Active.
Popcorn is not defined by its format. The workshops, the AI tools, the 24-hour build sprint — these are not the program. These are the heat.
The program is the transformation. A teenager who arrives experiencing a problem, and leaves having built a solution to it. That experience — lived, proven, felt — creates something that cannot be undone.
A concerned citizen. An active contributor. A young person who now sees the world not as something that happens to them, but as something they can shape.
"Your child will leave with a product they built — not a certificate they received."
3 Days. 5 Rounds.
40 Teenagers. One product per team.
Days 1–2
The Workshop
Design thinking methodology. Problem framing. Empathy mapping. Ideation. Prototyping. Live AI tool sessions from company representatives. Teams of 5 building together.
24 Hours
The Hackathon Camp
A fully residential camp — inside Cairo or at a nearby venue such as Ain Sokhna. Full immersion. Supervised facilitation. All meals provided. Teams race to build a working AI product. By hour 24, every team presents something that did not exist before they arrived.
Outcome
The Output
A working AI prototype. A Popcorn certificate. A portfolio entry. Access to the Snacks alumni network. And the proof — felt, not described — that they can build something real.
Five real problems.
Five real builds.
Each round tackles a specific friction point from the real life of teenagers in Egypt. Not abstract. Not imported. Built from the moments they actually live.
Round 01
Under Pressure
Studying doesn't have to feel like this.
Reimagining the way teenagers prepare, focus, and survive exam season.
Round 02
False Heat
My parents' WhatsApp is not a news source.
Building tools to separate signal from misinformation across MENA.
Round 03
Still Sealed
Nobody asked how you're actually doing.
AI experiences that meet teenagers in their mental health reality.
Round 04
The Breakout
Making money before you graduate.
Real micro-ventures launched in 24 hours with real customers.
Round 05
New Form
The blank page after school.
Designing identity, direction, and craft beyond the report card.
🌍 One round runs fully online — open to teenagers across the MENA region.
Real tools.
Real builds.
Every round includes live sessions from AI tool company representatives. Teenagers do not learn about these tools in theory — they build with them.
Claude
by Anthropic
The thinking partner. Research, empathy, logic.
Lovable
The build partner. Working apps, no coding needed.
Figma
The design partner. Interface and experience design.
Perplexity
The research partner. Real-time truth and sources.
Company representatives deliver live 90-minute sessions each round. Their tools are built into the experience — not demonstrated after it.
Three ways to be part of Popcorn.
For Parents
Your child will spend 3 days building a real AI product that solves a real problem. Not learning about AI. Building with it.
Full Experience: $85 · Hackathon Only: $35
Save Your Child's Spot →For Schools
You cannot put a hackathon on a timetable. Popcorn does it for you — and your students come back changed.
Partner With Us →For Sponsors
40 focused teenagers. Building real products. With your tools. Direct access to the next generation of builders in MENA.
Sponsor a Round →5 rounds. 40 spots each. Register early.
Applications open June 2026 · Early registration closes June 30
The kernel already has everything it needs.
It just needs the heat. 🔥
No teenager should grow up in an AI world and only ever be a consumer of it. Popcorn gives them the heat. 200 teenagers. 5 rounds. One summer. Egypt.
Join us in building that environment.
Register Now →Or contact us: hello@snacks.com · snacks.com