Tucked away in HSR Layout, Bengaluru, a quiet revolution is underway. A recently viral video shared by Canadian entrepreneur Caleb Friesen offers a rare glimpse inside a “hacker house” where Gen Z founders—some just 16—are living and building at full throttle. The space feels part garage, part lab, and wholly electric.
Friesen’s walkthrough shows a typical home transformed into a buzzing tech hub. A Steve Jobs poster greets visitors at the door. Inside, lines of laptops, stray wires, and illuminated screens fill every corner. None of the young founders pause to introduce themselves—they’re too busy coding, soldering, testing voice assistants, robotics, payment tools, and even AR glasses.
One standout figure is Suhas Sumukh, the 18-year-old spearheading Bengaluru’s Localhost chapter. He gives Friesen a low-key tour—no media fanfare, just focused ambition. Then there’s Harish, a 16-year-old from Chennai, deeply engrossed in building an assistive robot. Meanwhile, others are developing AI voice agents and podcast discovery tools, all in real time.
POV inside a Bengaluru hacker house where Indian founders are building AI, hardware, and magic pic.twitter.com/jwBBTFKjJM
— Caleb (@caleb_friesen2) June 15, 2025
There’s no corporate gloss here. No polished pitch decks or showy branding. What shines through is raw curiosity, drive, and collaboration. As one viewer commented online, “It feels like early Silicon Valley, only it’s happening in India.”
That authenticity struck a chord—views of the video have soared past 1.4 million. Many praised it for capturing the spirit of grassroots innovation. One post said it shows “the real future of Indian tech.” Others noted how the space removes friction—offering computing credits, travel grants, and a network-based ecosystem all wrapped into a single living-lab setup.
This hacker house is part of Localhost, a global startup residency for founders aged 16 to 22. One of its key goals is to get young builders into execution mode—fast—without worrying about funding, visas, or office leases. And now that the world has seen it, interest is exploding. Rumor has it similar setups are popping up in Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad.
What’s clear is that Bengaluru is more than India’s Silicon Valley—it’s the birthplace of a new kind of builder culture. One that thrives not on polished surfaces, but on grit, community, and boundless imagination.