The annual wave of Startup Battlefield applications attracts the attention of investors and experts: from thousands of submitted applications, about 200 finalists are selected, 20 of whom advance to the main stage for the win and a prize of $100,000, while another 180 teams compete in their respective categories.
Below are the finalists in the Consumer and EdTech category, along with explanations of why they made it to the competition’s final.
Finalists in the Consumer and Educational Technologies category
Ahoi
What they do: help people find locations accessible to those with limited mobility.
Why it’s interesting: inclusive technology makes places more accessible to those who typically struggle to find suitable venues.
AllFocal Optics Limited
What they do: use nanophotonic technology to create lenses that improve image clarity.
Why it’s interesting: the company claims to have developed a breakthrough technology that helps people with conditions such as headaches and dizziness endure longer extended-reality sessions.
Billight
What they do: an LED table for playing billiards.
Why it’s interesting: they position themselves as the first LED billiard table with an integrated gaming system.
Cerca Dating
What they do: this dating app for Gen Z brings back meetings through mutual friends.
Why it’s interesting: a fresh take on dating in the era of waning interest in traditional dating apps, demonstrating that digital love still exists.
FounderWay.ai
What they do: a platform that helps startups grow by providing business guidance – from crafting pitches to identifying target markets.
Why it’s interesting: uses AI to provide founders with insights on key questions about running and scaling a business.
Hotel Treats
What they do: a platform where luxury hotels provide guests with vouchers for services such as spa and dining.
Why it’s interesting: enables hotels to monetize day passes while giving consumers a unique luxurious experience without a long-term stay.
Jotto
What they do: create QR codes for events and venues so people can leave reviews.
Why it’s interesting: an intriguing product that also enables leaving reviews via video or voice.
Nim
What they do: platform that lets users create videos with artificial intelligence.
Why it’s interesting: part of the AI video startup wave, but Nim offers an all-in-one service with prompts and reusable clips.
Perfingo
What they do: a financial-planning tool.
Why it’s interesting: recognized as the first of its kind in the region, underscoring local uniqueness.
Pintours
What they do: platform for booking tours.
Why it’s interesting: an AI guide that lets users shape a tour and personalize the experience according to their preferences.
Prickly Pear Health
What they do: a voice AI companion for women that tracks brain health.
Why it’s interesting: not a chat bot but an AI trained to recognize changes in language and context that can signal cognitive changes, with a focus on hormonal changes in women aged 30 to 50.
rax
What they do: a peer-to-peer clothing sharing and rental platform.
Why it’s interesting: one of the first players in Canada expanding its presence in the United States.
Rent a Cyber Friend
What they do: help people find friends in their professions through online communities.
Why it’s interesting: stands out from typical social networks by focusing on building professional friendships and offering video calls and chats to develop such relationships.
Renude
What they do: an AI-powered skincare recommendation engine for beauty brands.
Why it’s interesting: uses computer vision and large language models to provide personalized recommendations to each customer.
Snap Discovery AG
What they do: a brain–computer interface for hands-free use in everyday life.
Why it’s interesting: integration with Unity opens doors to a variety of applications – from gaming to managing daily tasks and reducing stress.
Tasteit
What they do: an app for dating centered around shared meals.
Why it’s interesting: the so-called anti-dating app that uses cuisine and restaurant visits as a way to meet people.
Tattd
What they do: an AI app that helps find and book tattoo artists.
Why it’s interesting: uses generative AI to create a design mockup and select an artist whose work matches the design.
Vista InnoTech Limited
What they do: developed technology that enhances photo quality by reducing the impact of camera shake.
Why it’s interesting: Micro Gimbal Stabilizer – a small stabilizer that can be integrated into almost any mobile device and performs well in low light.
Young Minds App
What they do: a parental-control app that tracks children and helps prevent risky online behavior.
Why it’s interesting: encourages online caution and offers tools to block distracting elements during study.
ZoraSafe
What they do: detect and protect consumers from scams.
Why it’s interesting: family- and senior-oriented service scans links and messages to prevent scams, including deepfakes and social engineering, and also offers AI-powered coaching capabilities.
Calificadas
What they do: AI-powered training for corporate communication.
Why it’s interesting: a platform built with a focus on diversity, equality, and inclusion, using AI to improve wording, structure of messages, and nonverbal interaction.
CampusAI
What they do: a flexible platform for learning to work with AI.
Why it’s interesting: aimed at helping people in everyday work with AI – in areas such as sales, HR, legal services, and other fields.
General Neuro
What they do: a NeuroLingo headset for learning a foreign language.
Why it’s interesting: combines language learning with a synchronized mobile app for convenience and real-time practice.
Readmio
What they do: an app for reading bedtime stories for parents and children.
Why it’s interesting: the system tracks the text while reading and automatically adds sounds and music at key moments, making stories more interactive.
Super Teacher
What they do: an AI tutor assistant for elementary grades.
Why it’s interesting: provides personalized instructional guidance and assessment with round-the-clock access at home or in the classroom.
ZEZEDU Corp.
What they do: ZE ZEDU – an AI platform with personalized math learning developed in South Korea.
Why it’s interesting: a tool for schools and academies that tracks assignments, assessment, and feedback with a personalized learning program.
These startups demonstrate the diversity of innovations in the consumer and educational sectors – from inclusive solutions and personalized education to AI-powered applications and cognitive research. They have the potential to change the way we learn, shop, and interact in everyday life.
