Leo Exter
TLDR
Leo Exter is Chief Energizer at Hack Belgium Labs and has organised around 20 large-scale hackathons in Belgium, including events on healthcare, defence, and the blue economy.
Overview
Leo Exter is a creative entrepreneur best known for powering Hack Belgium, a civic hackathon initiative. He is described as "among the most accomplished practitioners in the hackathon format anywhere in Europe," having helped establish hackathons as a meaningful tool for civic and technological innovation in Belgium. He has organised approximately 20 hackathon events with over 500 participants each, spanning sectors including healthcare (Hack Healthcare), defence (Innovation for Defence), epilepsy, and the blue transition. Several hackathons he organised directly produced technology startups that continue to operate.
Career History
- Previous roles: European Innovation Council, westartup, Startup Weekend Brussels, Advance.Healthcare
- Current: Chief Energizer, Hack Belgium Labs
- Organised ~20 hackathons including Hack Healthcare, Hack Epilepsy, Hack Blue Transition
- "Edge AI" is showing up more and more frequently on everyone's LinkedIn feed. But what is it? Why is it hot (and how hot is it really)? How is it linked to resilience, Dual Use, and defence? Come findLinkedIn · 21 May 2026
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- Quantum is in the headlines every once in a while: Chinese satellites with allegedly unbreakable links. Protein folding cracked in hours. "Harvest now, decrypt later" threat hanging over every encryptLinkedIn · 28 Apr 2026
- In Ukraine, the time between keying a radio and being shelled can be measured in minutes. Your transmission is your position. Your position is your obituary. Here's what 𝘆𝗼𝘂 can do to save lives: yLinkedIn · 28 Apr 2026
- Defence drone business is a red ocean (yeah, it's a cliche. deal with it). But there's a blue ocean right next to it, and you can dip a toe into it over a weekend in May - and have a ton of fun doing LinkedIn · 23 Apr 2026