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World Festival 2023 Startup Awards

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

Lata Ahuja

Sr Director of Engineering
CarGurus

joan bajorek

Joan Bajorek

CEO
Clarity AI

budhaditya bhattacharya

Budhaditya Bhattacharya

Developer Advocate
Tyk

aliza carpio

Aliza Carpio

Director, Product and Tech Evangelism
Autodesk

paulina chotrova

Paulina Chotrova

CEO
PSK Group

developersteve coochin

DeveloperSteve Coochin

Senior Developer Advocate
Lumigo

nicholas denissen

Nicholas Denissen

Principal
Macri LLC

alexander galitsky

Alexander Galitsky

Managing Partner
Almaz Capital Partners

venkat gopalan

Venkat Gopalan

Chief Digital,Data & Technology Officer
Belcorp

mary grygleski

Mary Grygleski

Senior Developer Advocate
DataStax

kimberly hall

Kimberly Hall

VP of Customer Operations
Toptal

kimbre lancaster

Kimbre Lancaster

Director, Strategic Event Marketing
Formerly PagerDuty, Gremlin, Split, Scalyr

mike litwin

Mike Litwin

Chief Marketing Officer
Edge

rishi malhotra

Rishi Malhotra

Chief Technology Officer
Equabli

Dave McAllister

Sr Open Source Technologist
NGINX Part of F5

gargi mishra

Gargi Mishra

Foresight Manager
De Beers

aditya oberai

Aditya Oberai

Developer Advocate
Appwrite

jon peck

Jon Peck

Sr Manager, Developer Relations
GitHub

aynat ravin

Aynat Ravin

Director
Marriott International

gerson ribeiro

Gerson Ribeiro

Executive Director
Egregora Global

steve riley

Steve Riley

Field CTO
Netskope Inc.

ricardo rodriguez

Ricardo Rodriguez

CPSO
Intellectio.com

robert upham

Robert Upham

Head of Founder Services
Antler

jonathan wallace

Jonathan Wallace

Director
Expert Dojo

rishikesh yardi

Rishikesh Yardi

Lead Product Manager
Instacart