# TripWeaver at Locus Agentic Payments Hackathon

Surya Pugazhenthi competed at the Locus Agentic Payments Hackathon, run by Locus (Y Combinator FW25), in Nov 2025 as an agent systems builder, shipping TripWeaver. Result: 2nd place overall + Stripe Prize Track.

- **Organization:** Locus (Y Combinator FW25)
- **Role:** Agent systems builder
- **Dates:** Nov 2025
- **Result:** 2nd place overall + Stripe Prize Track
- **Career period:** Season 2, UC Santa Cruz (2024 – 2026)

## Context

Business travel booking is a multi-step, multi-vendor workflow — a natural fit for an autonomous agent with real payment rails.

## What Surya did

- Built an autonomous business-travel agent handling end-to-end trip booking with cross-border micropayments via Stripe and x402-protocol stablecoins.
- Composed the stack from the Claude Agent SDK, Stripe API, Vercel/Next.js, Kiwi Travel MCP, Coinbase, and Locus Crypto Wallet.

## Outcome

Won 2nd place and the Stripe Prize Track — the race that pulled the venture world and agent engineering onto the same track.

Source page: https://suryapugaz.com/career/tripweaver-locus