At every AWE USA event we hold our Start-Up Pitch Competition to see who will win the title of “Start-up To Watch.” The competition is made up of finalists from various spatial computing start-ups, who try to convince an expert judging panel that their augmented, virtual, or mixed reality start-up idea is worthy of being crowned the winner.
The competition is part of the wider Auggie Awards (aka “The Auggies”), which highlight and celebrate the most innovative and impressive XR solutions and products from around the world. The finalists for the Auggies were also recently announced.
Throughout the entire process of the Start-up Pitch Competition, finalists are provided with an incredible opportunity to showcase their ideas in front of:
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AR/VR thought leaders, XR industry executives and venture capitalists who make up the competition's judging panel;
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XR investors looking for the next spatial computing start-up to potentially add to their investment portfolio; and
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An audience full of AR/VR industry leaders and experts, not to mention all of the XR professionals in attendance at AWE USA, all of whom are eager to learn about some of the best ideas from the world of immersive technology start-ups.
Who are the AWE 2024 Start-up Pitch Finalists?
The following 12 start-ups have been selected as finalists for this year's Start-up Pitch Competition:
3lbXR, built on the game development background of 3lb Games, is a spatial computing content accelerator. Through their development platform, GroKit Core, 3lbXR are providing the tools needed for companies across all industry verticals to leverage the power of spatial computing.
FLOW - Meditation for modern life
Flow provides immediate access to the profound and proven benefits of meditation via an immersive platform. Earning five star ratings and reviews across mobile and VR app stores. Serving wellness programs in healthcare and enterprise, including PwC and Vodafone, with published results. Created and based in Iceland, now set to enter the US market in partnership with a well established VR distributor.
An LA-based, next generation game studio creating “Phygital” entertainment experiences. Their original eco-characters, 'Fungisaurs,' promote conservation of the natural world through imaginative play. Fungisaurs' first offering is an award-winning, mystery-box toy line, and the companion “Fungisaurs ARise” app allows players to bring their Fungisaurs toys to life.
ikkio is a mobile application that seamlessly integrates with smart glasses to provide an intuitive, hands-free user experience. ikkio's mission is to empower the visually impaired and blind with unparalleled independence and quality of life through innovative and accessible technology solutions. In a world where technology advances at an unprecedented rate, the gap in accessibility for the visually impaired and blind remains a significant challenge. Helsinki-based ikkio is equipped to bridge this gap by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning and wearable technology.
Magic Kids is a game-based learning platform for 5-10 y.o. kids to increase their learning time up to 500%.
ManoMotion, a Stockholm-based deep tech software company, offers cutting-edge AI solutions for vision-based hand and body tracking and gesture control. These AI solutions have the potential to revolutionize countless applications coming to market in the near future. Currently the company is active in two key markets;Immersive XR Interaction, and Industrial Safety.
Playbook is a collaborative platform for producing 3D content. Playbook makes it easy for anyone, regardless of technical skillset, to produce the games, films, and blended experiences that will inspire and usher in the next wave of creators, by replacing game engines with AI-augmented tools. The web-based platform supports cross-device collaboration, meaning distributed teams can work together from in-headset or the web to create and share production-ready experiences.
Remix is building the world’s first spatial calling device. A spatial call with Remix's device brings you inside the place you’re calling, so you’re able to do most of what you could do if you were physically there—freely move around, interact with people & objects, and use digital tools. Leveraging the emerging spatial computing platforms from Meta and Apple, it expands the scope of what is possible digitally. To date, Remix has developed and demonstrated the first and only vision model to instantly generate new camera views from live input— the core technology to enable the experience.
Sisu VR Inc. is an award-winning, minority and woman-owned company that offers world-class workplace training using virtual reality and AI. Sisu VR has acquired multiple patents, and has been published in major journals (e.g., MDPI, Springer). Their team consists of design, HR, and Safety experts who have worked for multiple decades at companies, including Google, Bank of America, and SWAT.
Treedis transforms industrial teams into connected workers by leveraging the power of digital twins. Using their no-code platform, any company can digitize workflows and connect physical teams with remote teams and data with AR and VR technologies.
VoxelSensors develops groundbreaking Spatial and Empathic Sensor Fusion technology to add empathy to computing. Their proprietary SPAES (Single Photon Active Event Sensor) spatial sensing and gaze-tracking sequential architecture addresses Mobile and XR customer demands for power-efficient, accurate, and low-latency perception solutions. It enables real-time, context-aware experiences and AI agents, crossing the experience barrier and meeting the growing demand for empathic experiences that understand user intent. SPAES is a game-changing innovation that unlocks the true potential of fully immersive experiences for consumer electronics, smartphones, and wearables.
ZAUBAR is an AI-powered platform for building an easy way for brands, agencies, and cultural institutions to create, distribute, and monetize AR experiences anywhere in the world. Organizations across diverse industries tap into ZAUBAR’s technology to create, distribute, and monetize immersive and interactive AR experiences for their commercial spaces. ZAUBAR is use-case agnostic and is already powering out-of-home marketing, smart city, tourism projects. Now it is much stronger and accessible with App Clips and Instant Apps.
These 12 finalists will be showcasing their XR solutions and ideas at AWE USA 2024 from 2:00-4:30 PM on June 19, in Room 103C.
The winner of the Start-Up Pitch Competition will be announced during the Auggie Awards ceremony on June 19th at AWE USA 2024.
Are you an investor looking to attend AWE 2024?
If you are an investor interested in attending this year’s event, AWE is offering conference passes for eligible investors in exchange for a couple of hours 1:1 mentoring for AR/VR startups.
Apply for an Investor Pass
Learn more about all of the opportunities that attending AWE's events can offer investors operating in the spatial computing space here.
