Five up-and-coming companies competed on Saturday in the opening round of the Pitch Battle, co-sponsored by the Factory Network. The victor of the final battle tomorrow will win a stand at IFA Berlin 2025.
Imagine a series of AI models that works with existing CCTV systems to detect, for example, an unattended bag in a busy airport, spot a distribution centre worker in the act of committing theft, or notice a potentially dangerous scenario unfolding on a construction site. Here’s another idea: An attachment that equips existing robots with human-like field of vision.
Those were just two of the concepts presented Saturday afternoon on the IFA Next sector’s Dream Stage in Hub 27, where five startups competed in a multi-day Pitch Battle with hopes of earning a stand in next year’s IFA Berlin. The winners will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Austria sponsored by the consumer electronics distribution and marketing firm Aqipa GmbH.
Posing questions and offering feedback after each presentation, a panel of three jury members — tech experts Robert Kopka of Austria; Ming-Che Weng, Technical Director of Taiwan’s Compal Electronics, Inc.; and Aqipa’s Stefanie Trapl — were on hand to help decide which of the pitches had the most potential to develop into a successful working business. But it was up to the audience to make the final call.
As it turned out, everyone was in agreement: The winning pitch came from a South Korean startup called Morphing I, which is developing a line of high-tech, AI-enhanced robots that can travel, like miniature submarines, through water pipe systems to spot leaks.
With the win, the team moves on to the final round of this year’s Pitch Battle on the Dream Stage at 4:15 p.m.
Pitch Battle #3 Emerging Consumer Tech
Today / 4:15 p.m.
IFA Next, Hub 27, Dream Stage
Pitch Battle: The finale
10 September / 4:15 p.m.
IFA Next, Hub 27, Dream Stage
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