The competition showed an inclusive shortlist, celebrating diversity across various dimensions. Following Burning Heroes Australia, notable for its 80% women-led businesses, this trend of inclusivity persisted. The initial evaluation stage, based on pitch deck assessment alone, adopts criteria designed to eliminate bias. This approach has been crucial in ensuring a fair assessment of submissions, leading to the diverse representation highlighted.

“Reflecting on our final shortlist, it's noteworthy that mental health products stood out, with VODA.co and SPOKE.world being two of the five finalists. Furthermore, the trend towards GenAI products is still evident, with such startups continuing to gain excellent traction, as demonstrated by the success of Jupitrr in Burning Heroes London following STORI AI in Tbilisi,'' says Lana Glygalo, Co-founder of Burning Heroes.

Meet the standout startups of the Competition:

Best Startup and Overall Winner: Jupitrr

Jupitrr is revolutionizing content creation with its powerful AI Video Maker, offering the fastest and simplest way to produce marketing videos. It enables the generation of stock footage, subtitles, and much more, addressing the frustrations faced by creators with traditional video editing processes. Learning basic editing can take over 30 hours, editing a 30-second video can consume 6-8 hours, or hiring someone can cost between $300-$1,000. Jupitrr's vision is to eliminate the need for video editing altogether, allowing creators to make videos in just a few clicks.

Best Business Model: Cariqa

Cariqa is the pioneering EV platform that's revolutionising the way drivers charge their vehicles! Cariqa makes charging both affordable and hassle-free, ensuring straightforward pricing across networks. With this platform, drivers enjoy simplicity and transparency. Cariqa is fostering direct relationships with the EV community.

Best Product: SPOKE

SPOKE is an app for mental health, introducing a revolutionary form of audio therapy delivered through music. The team's distinctive approach combines clinical best practices, world-class artistry and production, and AI/ML-driven personalized delivery.

ULTRA.VC Fast Track Award: VODA.co
The contest partner, ULTRA.VC, an early-stage investor with an in-house accelerator, provided a Fast Track Award to a chosen startup. This award was granted to VODA.co - a mental health app that delivers self-guided therapy programs designed by leading LGBTQIA+ psychotherapists. Voda's programs are derived from the gold standards in psychotherapy, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). 

The Pitch Competition is a part of the global series of offline pitches, which opened in autumn 2023. The inaugural session was held in Tbilisi in September 2023 with STORI AI as the winner and people from the Parliament of Georgia, 500 Global, Start and others on the jury board. London marked the second stop of the offline journey of the association. 

The London event became a platform for creating warm offline connections between VCs and most valuable startups. Every participating startup had an opportunity to gain visibility. The top 10 startups received valuable feedback from VCs, accelerators, and experts from leading tech companies. Angels Den, a contest partner, offered a complimentary onboarding onto the platform for fundraising, and extended a discounted success fee. ULTRA.VC offered the selected finalist the Fast Track Award to their accelerator program. Contest media partners featured Startups Magazine, one of the leading publications in the UK which champions tech startups and Startup Reporter, an independent media, giving a voice for most valuable early-stage startups.

Burning Heroes is a global non-profit association, aimed at early-stage startups, investors and IT talents. Founded in 2022, the association held 4 startup awards worldwide, 2 industry competitions and a conference, covering USA, UK, EU, APAC, Africa.