Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge 2020 | Congratulations to our 14 winners!
On Friday 20th November, after a jam-packed week of exploring the future with the pioneers that are determined to build it, the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2020 drew to a close. Selected from over 5000 applications, we saw the 90 startup finalists of this year’s Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge take to our virtual stage to pitch their cutting-edge technology, and reveal winners across 14 industry categories. A huge congratulations to every single one, your solutions have well and truly inspired our community!
The Global Challenge
The Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge is a competition designed to unearth early-stage startups that are developing cutting edge, ‘deep’ technologies to tackle worldwide challenges. Since its first edition in 2014, it has received over 20,000 applications from 128 countries around the world.
“The power of emerging technologies today is both breath-taking and fearful at the same time. At Hello Tomorrow, we believe that it brings hope more than anything else. Our Global Challenge identifies the pioneers who are driving scientific discoveries and developing solutions to our most pressing global issues, and connects them to a collaborative network where they can access the funding, visibility and collaboration opportunities that they need to drive their technology towards a desirable future” said Sarah Pedroza, COO at Hello Tomorrow.
Read on to discover this year’s winners: the deep tech startups that are set to spark much needed change environmentally, socially and across our industries.
AiDx Medical (Netherlands), received the Digital Health & Medical Devices prize. They are automating the diagnosis of tropical parasitic diseases. By applying Artificial Intelligence to the microscopic analysis of blood samples from patients, diseases such as Malaria can be reliably identified, even in regions where medical expertise is scarce.
Osivax (France), received the Drug Discovery prize. Osivax is revolutionising influenza prevention with a universal flu vaccine for both current and future Influenza A and B variants.
PhagoMed BioPharma (Austria), received the Medical Biotech prize. They are modifying bacteria specific viruses, to be used as therapeutic treatments for patients with persistent bacterial infections.
Teratonics (France), won the Industry 4.0 prize. Teratonics can detect defects in a given object by scanning them using ultra-fast electromagnetic pulses. This allows for non-destructive, contactless, and rapid testing of materials directly on a production line.
Greenerwave (France) won the Cybersecurity & Communications prize. Greenerwave are building new materials that allow them to control in real time the way electromagnetic waves travel, e.g. radio waves. Such metamaterials can be used to develop inexpensive antennas to unlock seamless satellite- and 5G-based communication worldwide.
Pasqal (France), received the Advanced Computing & AI prize. Pasqal is building highly scalable quantum processors with outstanding calculation power to solve complex problems across industries.
GBatteries Energy (Canada), received the Mobility prize from SNCF. They are working on an ultra-fast battery charging solution that can be applied to current, standard batteries, fully charging them within 13 minutes. This reduced charging time, that can be applied to electric vehicles for example, will accelerate global uptake of electric transport, among other things.
Cedrion (Spain), received the Aeronautics prize from Safran. Cedrion is manufacturing a more efficient and lightweight cooling solution based on cold plasma for on-board electronics on airplanes, helicopters, and drones, enabling the transition to electric aircraft.
Metalmark Innovations (USA) received the Smart City prize from LEONARD. Metalmark Innovations are combating indoor air pollution by applying a new coating material to indoor surfaces that effectively breaks downVolatile Organic Compounds upon contact, which can cause chronic illnesses, cancer, and trigger heart attacks if present in very high concentrations in the air.
Mission Control Space Services (Canada), received the New Space prize from Ariane Group and Airbus Ventures. They are developing a mission-agnostic control software solution that increases the efficiency and safety of robotic and autonomous systems operating in space.
Orbem (Germany), were awarded the Food & Agriculture prize from Bayer Crop Science. They are combining Artificial Intelligence with Magnetic Resonance Imaging to identify the fertility status and gender of unborn chickens without damaging the eggs. By identifying these things at an early stage, Orbem is able to prevent billions of infertile eggs from being wasted, as well as prevent the unnecessary death of billions of male chickens each year that are culled just after birth.
Celadyne Technologies (USA), were awarded the Environment prize from IFP Energies Nouvelles. Celadyne Technologies are redesigning the membrane of hydrogen fuel cells to withstand significantly higher temperatures which will dramatically increase the efficiency of hydrogen production, and pave the way for it to become a key and sustainable energy storage medium.
Napigen (USA) received the Industrial Biotech prize from DSM. Napigen are using gene editing technologies to modify DNA that is not part of the genome but still encodes for important features of, for instance, a crop plant. Editing non-genome DNA can hugely increase crop yield and importantly, these hybrid plants are considered different from a genetically modified organism (GMO), which allows for their wide-spread use.
Agora Energy Technologies (Canada), won both the Energy prize, as well as the Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge Grand Prize from BNP Paribas. They are developing a ground-breaking battery solution that combats the climate crisis on two fronts: renewable energy and carbon capture. Their CO2 redox battery stores energy, at grid-scale, from clean, renewable sources, but also requires capturing CO2 from flue gases to operate. The battery transforms this CO2 into a valuable, non-hazardous form that can then be used for other industrial processes.
For more information on the Global Challenge, head to our website at www.hello-tomorrow.org or shoot us an e-mail at contact@hello-tomorrow.org.
