The 8th edition of Legal Hackathon Cologne was co-hosted with law firm RSM Ebner Stolz, Gateway Factory and Legal Tech Lab Cologne, and for the first time also featured a start-up track for emerging legal tech companies.
Huerth – October 2, 2026 – Three days, countless ideas and one shared goal: to actively shape the future of the legal market. Around 70 participants from the legal, technology and start-up communities came together at Legal Hackathon Cologne 2026 in Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory’s German head office in Huerth. In the main competition, eight interdisciplinary teams developed innovative solutions to tackle the current challenges the legal market is facing. For the first time, the hackathon also included a start-up track, giving four selected legal tech start-ups the opportunity to further develop their existing products.
In less than 48 hours, the teams developed practical concepts and prototypes, supported by experienced mentors from Wolters Kluwer and the industry. Results in particular focused on the potential of artificial intelligence and technology allowing legal processes to work more efficiently, implement regulatory requirements and provide easy access to legal information.
The team of SIMA took first place in the main competition. Their modular solution helps companies review product labels and health-related advertising claims, particularly for food supplements. To do so, SIMA combines decision trees, AI-assisted reviews and a knowledge graph with a final review by a lawyer.
Second place went to PREFNEX. The AI-powered tool helps small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU benefit from preferential tariffs on exports. UJI took third place. The solution translates complex official letters and forms into plain language, making administrative procedures more accessible to those affected.
The winning teams in the main competition received prizes with a total value of €4,000.
Start-up track introduced for the first time
For the first time, Legal Hackathon Cologne 2026 was expanded to include a dedicated competition for legal tech start-ups. The four selected teams leveraged the weekend to advance their products, work with mentors and experts, test new ideas and gain valuable input for their further development in the market.
Winner of the start-up track was COBACK. Its “Compliance Autopilot” uses a digital twin of a company and specialized AI agents to identify relevant legal requirements, assess compliance gaps and translate them into clear, actionable tasks. SUMM AI took second place with a solution that makes legal knowledge directly available within administrative processes. Third place went to REGULIGHT, an AI governance platform that helps companies assess risks and document compliance under the EU AI Act. The winning team will receive ten hours of consulting from RSM Ebner Stolz as well as one-year licenses for Libra by Wolters Kluwer, including the Wolters Kluwer Premium content module.
“Legal Hackathon proves how quickly an idea can become a concrete solution when people with different skills work together on a problem, identify customer needs early, test their ideas and consistently align their approaches with practical requirements. This is also how we develop products at Wolters Kluwer: in interdisciplinary teams that combine expertise from different domains. The award-winning teams impressively demonstrated how practical relevance, user focus and feasibility can be combined with innovative technologies. Congratulations to all the winners,” says Stephanie Walter, Vice President & Managing Director of Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory Germany.
Working together for the future of the legal market
Legal Hackathon Cologne 2026 was jointly organized by Wolters Kluwer and RSM Ebner Stolz. The event was supported by Gateway Factory and Legal Tech Lab Cologne, with Loschelder and Libra by Wolters Kluwer serving as sponsors.
This year’s event took place at WKEINS in Huerth, the headquarters of Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory Germany. The hackathon also featured mentoring sessions, pitch training, expert presentations, and networking opportunities.
The submitted solutions were evaluated by a distinguished jury comprising Tilman Dach (Higher Regional Court of Celle), Max Bergmann (High-Tech Gruenderfonds), Stephanie Walter (Wolters Kluwer Germany) and Philipp M. Kühn (RSM Ebner Stolz). Together, the jury members brought perspectives from the judiciary, law, venture capital and legal tech to the evaluation of the projects.
Once again, the event was held under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.
About Legal Hackathon Cologne
Legal Hackathon Cologne is one of the established legal tech events in the German-speaking market. The format brings together legal professionals, developers, founders, students and innovation enthusiasts to develop new solutions to the challenges facing the legal market over the course of a weekend and to promote exchange between law, technology and business.
For more information, visit www.legalhackathon.de