Every participating startup had the opportunity to build valuable relationships with VC and gained media visibility through event coverage. Additionally, ANNA, the business account that handles taxes, awarded four annual subscriptions to the 'Big Business' plan as prizes for our winners.

The final pitch occurred on February 10th, 2025, at the Home Grown Members' Club. Participants competed in Best Startup, Best Product, and Best Business Model. The Pitch Competition is part of the global initiative by the non-profit Burning Heroes Founders Association to empower early-stage founders, with over 10 events already hosted across the USA, LATAM, the UK, EU, APAC, and Africa.

Meet the standout startups of the Competition:

Best Startup and Overall Winner: MockAI

MockAI is redefining the animation industry with its revolutionary, intuitive, and fully controllable technology. By building a powerful motion foundation model, MockAI empowers creative professionals to produce high-quality animations with unprecedented precision and efficiency. Traditional animation workflows are time-consuming and technically complex, often requiring extensive manual effort. MockAI streamlines these processes, enabling faster production while maintaining full creative control.

Best Product: FUSS

FUSS is an AI-powered discovery app, live in London, that helps city newcomers uncover hidden gems and curated experiences, making it effortless to find fun things to do, explore the city like a local, and feel at home faster.

Best Business Model: Blend

Blend is where TikTok meets workplace training for the next generation of frontline workers. Its AI-powered, video-first micro-learning platform helps hospitality owners onboard and train staff in half the time while seamlessly tracking their progress. Blend is revolutionising frontline learning and skill-based progression for deskless workers.

Special Nomination by WOMEN IN TECH ® Global and ULTRA.VC: Blend

The unique nomination for impact-driven, women-led startups, offering fast-track access to ULTRA.VC’s accelerator selection and support from Women in Tech’s extensive network was awarded to Blend. As a result, Blend will bypass all initial selection stages and proceed directly to the final round—calls with ULTRA.VC mentors in early March. This opportunity provides expert feedback, a crucial assessment for the final investment decision, and potential funding. ULTRA.VC, an early-stage investor with an in-house accelerator, not only supports startups in their business growth but also prioritises founder well-being and personal development through tailored mentorship, expert guidance, and a structured growth pathway.

“This year’s Burning Heroes London Awards proved that AI alone isn’t enough—startups need real traction, a deep understanding of users, and strong distribution strategies to stand out. MockAI exemplifies this with its solid R&D and proprietary market-focused solution. Burning Heroes is proud to be a platform where high-potential startups gain visibility and connect with top investors. This year, we were thrilled to provide such strong projects with the opportunity to showcase their solutions in front of a distinguished jury panel of eight UK/EU-focused early-stage funds, making it a truly valuable experience for founders." says Kirill Baranov, London Contest Leader at Burning Heroes.

About Burning Heroes Founders Association

Burning Heroes is a global non-profit association that supports and promotes early-stage startups, investors and IT talents. Established in August 2022, the Burning Heroes Founders Association has developed a robust network of top world venture investors and tech giants, including AWS, 500 Global, Plug and Play, TechStars, and Fort Ross. Since its inception, the association has operated as an entirely non-profit initiative driven by the volunteer contribution of talented and hardworking people committed to catalysing global transformation. The concept of pitch sessions is rooted in the belief that live sessions will foster startup-investor connections, which will substantially impact the local ecosystems of hosting cities.