SXSW (South by SouthWest) Pitch showcases innovative new technology to a panel of industry experts, high-profile media professionals, venture capital investors, and angel investors. Recently, the 14th annual SXSW Pitch took place at the Hilton Austin Downtown. The winners were declared in front of a live audience and a panel of expert judges. It discovered advancements and innovations in various sectors of emerging technology. The companies demonstrated their products at the event.
So far, 572 companies have participated in SXSW Pitch and over 82% have received funding. This year, SXSW Pitch featured 45 Interactive technology companies from 9 different categories. Also, a winner from each category was announced during the SXSW 2022 Pitch Award Ceremony.
Each winner received $4,000, two badges for next year’s SXSW conference, a trophy, and most importantly, exceptional exposure to SXSW attendees and potential investors who are looking for the latest in cutting-edge technology and innovation. Strong trends showcased at this year’s event included the shift towards metaverse, the incorporation of NFTs into products and services, and sustainable solutions related to COVID among others.
SXSW Pitch Event Producer Chris Valentine said, “This year in particular, we have seen a significant increase in gender diversity in the tech sector, with close to 50% of the participating startups having at least one female founder. We can’t wait to see what these game-changing companies accomplish in the future.”
Here, we at TFN have listed the winners of the SXSW 2022 Pitch awards. Besides these, special awards were also presented to Kiro Action for Best Bootstrap and Unpacking won for the Best One Minute Speed Pitch.
Hume AI
Founder/s: Alan Cowen
Founded year: 2021
Total funding: NA
New York-based Hume AI has won the SXSW 2022 award in the Artificial Intelligence, Robotics & Voice category. It provides the science and technology needed to build AI with empathy. The platform brings emotional awareness and responsiveness to voice assistants, telehealth, social networks, and other AI systems.
Hume AI is a research lab and technology company. Its mission is to ensure that artificial intelligence is built to serve human goals and emotional well-being. Earlier this year, Hume AI raised $5 million in a seed funding round.
Syrup Tech
Founder/s: Ferdinand Stockmann, James Theuerkauf
Founded year: 2020
Total funding: NA
Syrup Tech is another New York startup that bagged the award. It is a machine-learning decision-support engine for inventory in commerce. The company uses advanced demand forecasting and stochastic optimisations.
Winning the SXSW 2022 award in Enterprise & Smart Data category, Syrup Tech is an end-to-end inventory excellence engine for apparel and fashion. Its sophisticated AI/ML boosts profitability through fewer lost sales, enhances sustainability through reduced excess and overproduction, and significantly improves the workflows for merchandisers and planners.
Action Face
Founder/s: David Kunitz, Joby Otero
Founded year: 2018
Total funding: NA
In the Entertainment, Gaming & Content category at SXSW 2022 awards, Action Face, a California-based startup was declared the winner. Action Face is the first-ever 3D action figure with a face that is customisable from users’ iPhones. It is fast, simple and awesome. With the 3D scanning app, users can instantly transform themselves into 3D action figures that they can customise and purchase at an affordable price as a physical 3D print. Also, they will get a free 3D animation of their figure they can share with friends.
MATSUKO
Founder/s: Maria Vircikova, Matus Kirchmayer
Founded year: 2016
Total funding: $3.3M
Declared a winner in the Extended Reality & Immersive Technology category, Slovakia-headquartered MATSUKO brings physical presence in remote communication. MATSUKO is a B2B software company that revolutionises the way organisations and people communicate remotely. It brings people closer and improves collaboration. It creates holographic communication that fills in the missing element in video conferences.
It is a SaaS, like Zoom but in 3D. It does not need any avatars, scanning or setup. Users just have to wear their XR glasses and see their colleagues next to them in a lifelike way. It is targeted at businesses and their remote teams.
Anthill
Founder/s: Muriel Clauson, Young-Jae Kim
Founded year: 2020
Total funding: NA
Founded to redefine the Future of Work and bagged the award at SXSW 2022 awards in this category, Anthill headquartered in Chicago provides organisations the necessary tools they need to treat their deskless workers and knowledge workers. Anthill enables companies to connect with, retain, and grow their employees who don’t sit at a desk. It makes it easy to include everyone in HR/Operations systems and strives to change lives by bringing numerous possibilities to the deskless workforce.
Sonavi Labs
Founder/s: Ellington West, Ian McLane
Founded year: 2017
Total funding: $1M
Based in Maryland, Sonavi Labs is on a mission to improve patient outcomes globally by combining the most advanced acoustic technology available with clinically proven diagnostic AI software. The company creates technology rooted in artificial intelligence that will evolve the patient experience and enhance the capabilities of providers.
It has created Feelix, a telehealth system that features apps and patented hardware embedded with diagnostic software capable of diagnosing and remotely managing respiratory diseases. As a result, it has won the SXSW 2022 awards in the Health, Wearables & Wellbeing category.
Hilos
Founder/s: Elias Stahl, Gaia Giladi
Founded year: 2019
Total funding: NA
Hilos is a women-led startup from Portland that won the SXSW 2022 awards in the Innovative World Technologies category. It is specialised in personalised products made on-demand without inventory or waste. Using generative design and 3D printing, the company creates a radically new way to make shoes that are digitally crafted on-demand after a customer’s purchase and these are taken back at end of life for disassembly and reuse.
JusticeText
Founder/s: Devshi Mehrotra, Leslie Jones-Dove
Founded year: 2019
Total funding: $100K
California-based JusticeText is building the first centralised infrastructure to store, catalogue, analyse, and share video evidence in the criminal justice system. The platform is explicitly designed to improve outcomes for low-income criminal defendants by enabling greater transparency and accountability around police interactions. It is a software platform that makes
The company won the award in the Smart Cities, Transportation and Logistics category. It makes it easier for public defenders to process and incorporate crucial audio and video evidence in defense of their clients.
MOGL
Founder/s: Ayden Syal
Founded year: 2019
Total funding: NA
Another US startup that won the SXSW 2022 awards is MOGL and it has won in the Social and Culture category. MOGL is a marketplace that connects collegiate athletes and businesses for marketing opportunities in a compliant way in the name, image, and likeness era. It is free to join and democratises access to athletes for businesses and brands who are looking to build awareness for their products and services.
