Just in: Danish startup Too Good To Go is this year’s “most promising startup” of regions Europe and Israel.
Today was Founders’ Day, a special part of startup competition Tech5, where investors, influencers and experts have chosen the hottest young technology companies from Europe and Israel to come together for a networking and sharing event which as Patrick de Laive, TNW Founder, says “sparks new ideas, new collaborations, and new innovations.”
While Too Good To Go walked away with the first prize, the two runners up were awarded on stage as well.
Below, we highlight the top three tech companies that caught the judges’ eyes: companies looking to solve the problems of making our food use better, our skies safer and our international communication easier.
Food warriors
Too Good To Go is encouraging us to save a meal and make a difference. Put simply, they are waste warriors who have created an app designed to help save food and save the planet, using technology to champion a food waste revolution.
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Headed up by CEO, Mette Lykke, and founded in Copenhagen, Too Good To Go’s aim is to positively respond to the staggering statistic that one-third of the food we produce is wasted.
The app connects consumers with stores, bakeries, and restaurants to sell food they haven’t sold that day and with the click of a button food is saved.
And there’s more. Not only does the app save food it also supports local business. Says Too Good To Go’s “While enjoying delicious food, you support the local entrepreneur. The local entrepreneur has less waste and attracts new customers. Good for you, local entrepreneurs and the world.”
Lykke is proud her company is the selected winner, she says. “We have a team of 280 Waste Warriors across Europe, and this is a testimony to their dedication to inspire and empower everyone to take action against food waste.”
The sky’s the limit
Unifly came in second. The startup uses tech to deal with what will be a growing problem, namely, “Integrating drones into the air space in a safe and legal way” and “Bridging the gap between manned and unmanned aviation.” By 2020 the global drone market will be worth 127 billion dollars and drones will revolutionize many industries not least logistics.
Based in Antwerp, Belgium and led by CEO, Marc Kegelaers, Unifly’s technology supports three groups involved with drones: drone pilots – to plan and validate their operations on a 4d map, manufacturers – to store and retrieve data of drones they create, and authorities – to manage the airspace, approve flights and communicate directly with drone pilots.
Crystal clear communication
In third place: Unbabel, a startup that wants international communication to be smoother, quicker and easier. CEO Vasco Pedro leads the Lisbon and San Francisco tech company that believes that language shouldn’t stand in the way of relationships and “in a world without mistranslation or missed opportunities.”
Unbabel’s mission is to build universal understanding through AI and people who are really great with languages and communication. They deliver professional-grade content at scale and content that is crafted to sound like it’s been created by a local whatever part of the globe they are in.
For the last 10 years, Ayden has been supporting the growth of the most dynamic scale-ups around and TNW has been an ardent champion of the positive effects of technology. With such a shared passion for tech, these two companies created Tech5, a platform for 100 top tech scale-ups to network and the chance to win the Tech5 competition.
“What has been really exciting this year is to see so many companies that have an important social impact achieve such great success,” adds Roelant Prins, CCO of Adyen.
“Too Good to Go is an excellent example of a company using technology for good, and we look forward to following their future success.”
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