Footprints AI, an AI-based omnichannel retail media platform, won a 250,000 EUR investment opportunity from Look AI Ventures at TechChill Milano 2023 Fifty Founders Battle. The Fifty Founders Battle received 316 applications from 39 countries, making it the most international pitch battle in TechChill history, with applicants from the USA and Canada to Indonesia and Ghana.
Additional winners of Fifty Founders Battle prizes include:
- AWS, $25,000 in credits for AWS services – VoiceMed
- Immediate Accelerator, media coverage of up to 30,000 EUR – Drype
- 100,000 EUR investment opportunity from Eden Ventures – Togggle
- One year membership at PolyHub, MIXD 5-hour consultation, Hero program tuition from Draper University, 10k EUR, no strings attached from Federated Innovation @MIND – Togggle
On day 1 of TechChill, 50 semi-finalists pitched on stage to the jury. At the end of the day, five finalists were announced, who would be contenders for the grand prize. Those were:
- Footprints AI (Romania) – AI tool to launch media retail platforms
- Soource (Italy) – AI-driven sourcing and negotiation
- LetsData (USA) – AI tool to detect trends and anomalies in online communication
- Togggle (UK) – Seamless identity verification and distributed infrastructure
- Drype Cocktails (Italy) – water-soluble alcoholic cocktail concentrate
The jury was made up of Emanuele Torlonia of Eden Ventures, Riccardo Cirillo of DIP Captial, Andrea Orlando of Startup Wise Guys, Leonardo Saroni of Prana Ventures, and Clara Cornu of 360 Capital.
“Even though it was warm and sunny, the wind in the air at TechChill’s Day 0 at MIND-Milano Innovation District was fresh. This wind comes from the Baltics, and it brought a different air, energy, and conversations to Milan’s innovation ecosystem. As we create an international culture of doing innovation – the Italian way – we look at what we can add. TechChill is one of those components, and my hope is that it will continue with more traction, more energy, and the same fresh wind from the Baltics.” – Tommaso Boralevi, President of Federated Innovation @MIND.
This is the second year that TechChill Milano has been held, the first international branch of TechChill’s annual flagship conference in Riga, Latvia. TechChill Milano was attended by over 1000 attendees from 39 countries, 125 investors, 200+ startup representatives, more than 50 media representatives, 50 speakers, and more than 30 side events.
“In only its second year, we see that TechChill has already become a recognized name throughout with the community, attracting startups, prominent investors, active businesses, and so many more. That’s what TechChill has always been – a platform to strengthen the ecosystem, build the community, and give it the tools to propel it further. And we’re happy to have brought that to Milano.” – Annija Mežgaile, CEO of TechChill.
At last year’s TechChill Milano, the winners of the pitch battle grand prize were TA-DAAN from Italy. Other past TechChill Fifty Founders Battle winners include Baltic success stories Infogr.am (acquired by Prezi), Nordigen (acquired by Go Cardless), TrackDuck, Edurio, Anatomy Next, Precision Navigation Systems, Longenesis, Vocal Image App, and more.