In a whirlwind 24 hours of creativity and code, Canadian entrepreneur Sukhpal Saini, founder and CEO of Engyne, emerged victorious at the Lovable Hackathon, a one-day buildathon hosted by will.i.am, the multi-platinum artist and tech innovator. The event was designed to fuse music and technology, pairing builders with indie music artists to create forward-looking products for “The Future of Music.”
“We won the Lovable Hackathon with will.i.am, and he offered to invest! This week might have changed my life,” said Saini.
The hackathon drew an eclectic mix of talent including Grammy-winning artists, underground musicians from Los Angeles, past hackathon champions, and builders who flew in from across the globe, including Sweden.
Despite having no background in music production, Saini leaned into his strength as a builder. He was paired with SOZI, an LA-based artist known for her aesthetic music videos and powerful vocals. Together, they brainstormed several ideas but took an unconventional approach by testing whether people would actually pay for their concept before building it.
One idea stood out: Dubmachine, a tool that allows creators to instantly dub social media promo videos into any language, helping artists grow their fanbase without extra effort.
“It kinda sucks when someone says no to your idea,” Saini said. “But it’s better to find out early than after putting in all the hard work.”
Using Lovable for the frontend, Supabase edge functions for the backend, and Shadcn for UI components, the team built a working prototype in just a few hours. Zorian tested Dubmachine by posting a Hindi version of her video on Instagram, which quickly became her most-viewed video within two hours.
By the end of the hackathon, the team had achieved far more than just a demo. They built a fully working product, secured a paying customer, and drew strong interest from artists and potential customers, including Lovable itself. Most notably, will.i.am and his team offered to invest in the project, marking a major milestone for the young company.
The Black Eyed Peas frontman, who has long championed the intersection of music and technology, emphasized the real-world potential of tools like Dubmachine.
“If we had this software, the Black Eyed Peas would have succeeded 10 years earlier,” will.i.am remarked. “We were popular in Germany but couldn’t connect with those fans.”
Saini sees the experience as a glimpse into the evolving power of small teams.
“It’s a unique time in history where very small teams can build useful software really quickly and test market demand,” he said. “Even a year ago, you’d need a bigger team and multiple weeks to build what we did in three hours flat.”
As for what’s next, Saini and Zorian plan to continue developing Dubmachine and exploring how technology can empower independent artists to reach global audiences.
“Now comes the hard part: focus and build,” said Saini. “We’re going to keep pushing this and see where we can take it.”
