Qloo Names Undertow Winner of Global Agentic Hackathon

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Qloo, a leading artificial intelligence company providing taste intelligence for AI agents and consumer experiences, today announced Undertow as the winner of its Global Agentic Hackathon, which drew nearly 3,000 developers worldwide. Investor Jason Calacanis pledged to invest $25,000 in Undertow during the November 5 finals on This Week in Startups.

Iowa's Senate upset, which helped Democrats retake the U.S. Senate in the November 3 midterms, offers an early look at what local cultural data could add to election forecasting. Ahead of Election Day, Undertow's polling-only forecast narrowly favored Republican Ashley Hinson. With Qloo's local cultural preference data added, Undertow picked Democrat Josh Turek, who won the race.

Engineer Abdal Hassani built Undertow using Qloo's taste data to create county-level profiles and learn how those profiles aligned with 2020 voting results. For the 2026 midterms, Undertow combined its county estimates into state-level forecasts and blended them with public polling. In Hassani's preliminary evaluation of 33 Senate races called by midday November 4, the combined forecast correctly picked 32 winners, compared with 31 for Undertow's polling-only forecast. Hassani said both forecasts were published before Election Day. The race-by-race results are available in Undertow's scorecard.

"I built Undertow with Qloo's taste data to test a simple question. Could what people watch, where they eat and the brands they like add something useful to an election forecast?" said Abdal Hassani, CEO at Undertow. "Iowa was where that extra context changed our pick."

Undertow uses Qloo's API to identify local preferences without requiring personal information. During the finals, Calacanis and fellow judge Cedric the Entertainer discussed how the same capability could help advertisers decide where to spend, and tour managers choose which cities to visit.

"Abdal got my attention with the Iowa call. What made me want to invest was how quickly I could see the idea working beyond elections," said Jason Calacanis. "If you're deciding where to spend an ad budget or which cities to put on a tour, understanding what people in those markets care about can change the decision."

"AI is learning to reason, plan, and act. The less we want to instruct our agents, the more they need to understand us," said Alex Elias, founder and CEO of Qloo. "Undertow shows how a developer can take that foundation into an entirely different field and make it measurable."

Qloo works with companies including American Express, Netflix, Match Group, Live Nation and Michelin. Its taste intelligence powers recommendations, personalization and audience insights across industries.

About Qloo

Qloo provides taste intelligence for AI agents and consumer experiences. Its APIs draw on more than 600 million entities across entertainment, dining, travel, fashion, brands and consumer products to power recommendations, audience insights and personalization. Learn more at qloo.com.

Media Contact: kathy osborne, [email protected]

SOURCE Qloo Inc.