About
The WorldFestival Startup Awards Program is the largest global startup awards competition (3,000+ startup applicants and 32,000+ voters over our 3-year program), and in 2023, final round demos take place in Silicon Valley — with 1,200+ on-site attendees (co-located with the CloudX conference). All qualifying startups receive online votes from our judging committee and global community, who select the Top 50 Startup finalists. Top 50 Startup finalists are chosen based on three (3) factors: a community voting round (global online community); a judging committee voting round (invite-only, qualified technology professionals); and benchmark points, including: funding raised, news and media coverage, etc.
Join us in San Mateo, CA, in 2023. The Top 50 Startup finalists will receive a 2-day expo booth and a 10-minute demo spot live, in-person at WorldFestival 2023 (San Mateo, CA, August 15-16, 2023) + virtually (Live Online, August 22-23, 2023).
Winners are chosen based on 3 factors:
- Crowd Votes (anyone can judge)
- Committee Votes (qualified tech professionals judging at the virtual event)
- Benchmark points, including: funding raised, news and media coverage, etc
WorldFestival Awards
Leaderboard
See who has the most votes. If you haven’t voted yet, click on the “Vote for this company” link next to your favorite nominee.
Who is Judging?
WorldFestival organizes 150+ judges on the Judging Committee for the WorldFestival Innovation Awards, including Venture Capitalists, Angel investors, Corporate Executives, Tech Media & Press, and leading speakers. Our past startup competitions have hosted judges from NEA, Index Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and more. View Full Judging Committee
Nominations for 2023 Startup Now Closed
The WorldFestival Startup Awards recognize the top 2,500+ startups in the world this year. (If your company or organization does not qualify for the WorldFestival Startup Awards, you can apply for the WorldFestival Innovation Awards using the same form. Click the “Nominate your STARTUP” button below.)
Industries
3D Printing & Manufacturing
3D Printing & Manufacturing includes 3D printing software and machinery, 3D design and fabrication techniques, general manufacturing machinery innovation, and product distribution supply chains.
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning innovation includes ML frameworks and libraries, neural networks, deep learning, data science technologies, algorithms, AI cloud services, AI management software, AI for security, as well as natural language processing and chatbots.
Blockchain & Cryptocurrency
Blockchain & Cryptocurrency innovation includes technology applications for bitcoin, ethereum, blockchain protocols, cryptocurrency payment processing and marketplaces, blockchain solutions for business / industry, decentralized ledgers / finances, and new decentralized application platforms.
Business & Workplace
Business & workplace innovation includes: Business management software, SaaS tools and services, sales & marketing technologies, digital advertising, customer intelligence, social media marketing, sales management software, sales analytics & optimization, productivity, management, HR innovation includes project management, HR workflow & optimization, team communication & collaboration, and hiring / recruiting technologies.
Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing innovation includes containers and kubernetes, cloud architecture, DevOps management, microservices & serverless architectures, and cloud native vs. hybrd cloud technologies.
Dev Innovation
Dev Innovation includes: APIs, developer tools and technologies, programming languages and frameworks, cloud development services, code collaboration and management, bug tracking and code security.
Education & Career
Education & Career innovation includes digital & mobile education applications, course and education management, artificial intelligence & adaptive learning, career and training management, and professional development technologies.
Family & Lifestyle
Family & lifestyle innovation includes any consumer tech products, for example: web and mobile family service applications, family communication and media technologies, and travel technologies including web and mobile travel applications, travel management, and travel social networks / review sites.
Finance & Analytics
Finance & Analytics innovation includes financial management software, business analytics software, payment processing technologies, investment software, and financial marketplaces & trading technologies.
Gaming, VR & AR
Gaming, VR & AR includes new computer games, video games, mobile games, emerging gaming consoles and systems, game development technologies, as well as virtual reality / augmented reality hardware, software, and games.
Health, Wellness & Fitness
Health, Wellness & Fitness innovation includes personal health web and mobile applicaitons, doctor and patient communication, medical records management, holistic wellness web and mobile apps, and wellness practice management.
Mobile, IoT, Devices
Mobile, 5G, Communications innovation includes new mobile devices, smart phone software and hardware, mobile application development technologies and languages, 5G software and hardware, and communications technologies.
Retail & Ecommerce
Retail & Ecommerce innovation includes web & mobile shopping, ecommerce technologies, connected retail software and hardware, digital fashion shopping & technologies, and customer intelligence / predictive analytics.
Robotics & Drones
Robotics & Drones innovation includes household / consumer robotics, industrial robotics, robotics design and development, as well as quadcopter innovation and industrial drone hardware and software.
Smart Homes & Smart Cars
Smart Homes & Smart Cars includes: Smart kitchens and appliances, home security, connected home audio / video systems, connected home mobile apps and web apps, the newest cars and road vehicles, smart car software and technologies, connected car web and mobile apps, self-driving car technologies, and artificial intelligence for automobiles.
World Impact & Environment
World Impact & Environment includes: Social impact software and technologies, community and city technologies, breakthrough and disruptive technologies, solar and alternative energy technologies, smart grid solutions, clean tech, csensors / connected environments, and environmental management solutions.
Rules
Startup Awards
- Startup Award nominees must have raised less than $10 million in funding (or have less than $10 million in revenues), have fewer than 30 employees, and be less than 10 years old.
- Your startup or technology must be launched (not stealth), must have traction (customers and/or funding), must be a technology product/solution, and must have a clearly communicated customer value proposition.
Timeline
CLOSED
Startup Awards Nominations Open
CLOSED
Online voting begins
July 19, 2023
Startup Awards Nominations Close
July 20, 2023
Committee Voting Begins
July 25, 2023
Online & Committee Voting Ends
July 28, 2023
Notify Top 50 Startups
August 15-16, 2023 – San Mateo Events Center, CA
Top 50 Startups Booths @ WorldFestival 2023 Conference & Expo
August 15, 2023 – San Mateo Events Center, CA
World Festival Top 50 Startups Awards Ceremony
August 16, 2023 – San Mateo Events Center, CA
World Festival Top 50 Startups live demos @ WorldFestival 2023
2023 Judging Committee
Lata Ahuja
Sr Director of Engineering
CarGurus
Joan Bajorek
CEO
Clarity AI
Budhaditya Bhattacharya
Developer Advocate
Tyk
Aliza Carpio
Director, Product and Tech Evangelism
Autodesk
Paulina Chotrova
CEO
PSK Group
DeveloperSteve Coochin
Senior Developer Advocate
Lumigo
Nicholas Denissen
Principal
Macri LLC
Alexander Galitsky
Managing Partner
Almaz Capital Partners
Venkat Gopalan
Chief Digital,Data & Technology Officer
Belcorp
Mary Grygleski
Senior Developer Advocate
DataStax
Kimberly Hall
VP of Customer Operations
Toptal
Kimbre Lancaster
Director, Strategic Event Marketing
Formerly PagerDuty, Gremlin, Split, Scalyr
Mike Litwin
Chief Marketing Officer
Edge
Rishi Malhotra
Chief Technology Officer
Equabli
Dave McAllister
Sr Open Source Technologist
NGINX Part of F5
Gargi Mishra
Foresight Manager
De Beers
Aditya Oberai
Developer Advocate
Appwrite
Jon Peck
Sr Manager, Developer Relations
GitHub
Aynat Ravin
Director
Marriott International
Gerson Ribeiro
Executive Director
Egregora Global
Steve Riley
Field CTO
Netskope Inc.
Ricardo Rodriguez
CPSO
Intellectio.com
Robert Upham
Head of Founder Services
Antler
Jonathan Wallace
Director
Expert Dojo
Rishikesh Yardi
Lead Product Manager
Instacart