Edition 2026

Haptontech wins the Innovator Award!

HaptonTech won the Innovator Award, recognizing its bold and forward-thinking approach. HaptonTech makes the virtual world accessible to everyone by re-introducing the sense of touch, using a new approach to haptic technology that is far more affordable than conventional solutions. This brings technology that is normally expensive and out of reach to many more people. HaptonTech first focuses on accessibility for people with reduced sight and hearing, while the same technology integrates across a wide range of applications, allowing products to communicate with users through touch, not just sight and sound.

HaptonTech enables more affordable, higher-performance, more accessible haptic technology, increasing its viability for wide adoption. By rethinking how touch is brought to digital devices, HaptonTech supports a more sustainable and inclusive product, opening up new possibilities for the many people who need it, a group set to grow as populations age.

In one year, the team of HaptonTech envisions having expanded its team, developed its product further, and prepared to launch it in its first market.

Gateway Bio wins the People's Choice and the Rough Diamond Award!

This year we gave the audience the chance to vote for their favorite pitch. Either Rough Diamonds or Innovators.

Gateway Bio won the People’s Choice Award and also took home the Rough Diamond Award. Gateway Bio has developed a platform that improves how antibiotics work, helping them be more effective against the bacteria they target, unlike conventional approaches that often fall short. This makes antibiotics more powerful and gives existing and new drugs a better chance of success. Gateway Bio integrates with current treatment development across a broad range of applications, supporting the fight against one of the most urgent threats in global health: antibiotic resistance.

Gateway Bio enables more effective, longer-lasting antibiotics, increasing their viability for wide adoption. By unlocking the potential of treatments that would otherwise fail, Gateway Bio helps make resistant infections treatable again, reducing the growing burden of antibiotic resistance and accelerating the development of solutions the world urgently needs.

In one year, the team of Gateway Bio envisions having advanced its platform, deepened its partnerships, and moved closer to validation.