Think boldly and build fast: Wolt celebrates creativity and teamwork with first ever sustainability hackathon

Wolt, a Finnish company known for its delivery platform for food and merchandise, has wrapped up its first ever sustainability hackathon.

Out of 70 ideas submitted by the firm's product and engineering teams, 12 made it to the Shark Tank round to pitch in front of a jury. From there, the five most promising ones were selected for the finals, where teams had 48 hours to build a working prototype.

In a LinkedIn post, Samuel Tervaskanto, VP Engineering at Wolt, said: "Hackathons are some of my absolute favourite things about this job. We’ve had a strong tradition of them at Wolt. They celebrate creativity, teamwork, and that special kind of energy that happens when people come together with a time limit and a big idea."

"After nine years at Wolt, watching us grow from a small startup into a global company, these moments still remind me of where we came from, and how much is possible when we think boldly and build fast. One of my favourite projects this time was Engineering Sustainability: making CO₂ emissions from our infrastructure visible to engineering teams. It’s already live in production, helping us cut both costs and our environmental impact. Smart, actionable, and exactly the kind of work that makes me proud.”

He concluded: "To everyone who joined, supported, and cheered from the sidelines: thank you for making it such a special event. And if your company is thinking of doing something similar - just do it. Highly recommended."

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Green retail will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which will open for entries in April, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.