DeafTawk, founded by Ali Shabbar, Wamiq Hasan, and Abdul Qadeer, impressed the judges with its approach to communication accessibility. Both Ali, who is visually impaired, and Wamiq, who has hearing loss, brought personal insight into the barriers faced by differently-abled individuals. Their platform provides real-time sign language interpretation, allowing the deaf community to engage with professionals such as doctors and teachers more effectively.

One of DeafTawk’s standout features is its integration with streaming services like YouTube and Netflix, offering real-time sign language translations for video content. This is particularly valuable for deaf individuals who find subtitles too fast-paced to follow. The platform, already serving over 45,000 users and creating more than 1,100 jobs for interpreters, is driving meaningful progress in communication accessibility.

Equally remarkable was Vochlea Music, founded by George Wright and Daven Sanassy, which showcased its game-changing product, Dubler. Dubler allows users to transform their voice – whether singing, beatboxing, or humming – into real-time MIDI, enabling musicians to create songs instantly using just their voice.

Dubler 2 has gained traction among over 27,000 musicians and top producers, becoming an essential tool for effortless music creation. Vochlea’s pitch not only highlighted its commercial success but also demonstrated how its technology is making music creation more accessible, intuitive, and inspiring.

Following a competitive selection process involving experts from Raw Ventures, Meta, OPPO, SEO Entertainment GmbH, medianet berlinbrandenburg e.V., Startup Wise Guys, and Music Tech France, both DeafTawk and Vochlea were recognised for their innovation and potential to shape the future of media technology.

"Today, while every participant showcased exceptional promise, we faced an unprecedented scenario – two startups that so compellingly embodied our vision for the future that choosing between them became impossible. The jury deliberations were intense, with votes scattered across several impressive contenders. We've made the bold decision to recognise not one, but two winners. Their innovative approaches –DeafTawk’s mission to bridge vital communication gaps for the global deaf community and Vochlea’s potential to revolutionise music creation – reflect the transformative potential we seek to nurture. Both startups walked away with a prize of €10,000 each, and we’re beginning discussions about potential investments of up to €1 million in each winner to support their future growth," said Victoria Palatnik, Managing Partner at Raw Ventures.

Following a successful programme last year, Raw Ventures has expanded its support for mediatech startups. Apart from the Global MediaTech Pitch Day, which has become a landmark event igniting innovation and collaboration among mediatech visionaries and investors, the programme now includes the selection of four startups for the monthly Raw Mediatech Online Pitching sessions.

Through this initiative, Raw Ventures aims to invest in 20-30% of the startups that complete the programme. While global startup funding has shown signs of recovery, with Q2 2024 reaching $79 billion (a 16% quarter-over-quarter increase), the landscape remains challenging for many early-stage companies.