World Economic Forum Announces 2025 Technology Pioneers Leading New Wave Of Global Innovation
- The World Economic Forum selects 100 start-ups from 28 countries to join its Technology Pioneers community.
- The new cohort marks a global surge of emerging technologies, from smart robotics and spatial AI to flying taxis and scalable quantum solutions.
- Now in its 25th year, the community has recognized over 1,200 start-ups that have gone on to transform industries and societies worldwide.
Geneva, Switzerland, 23 June 2025
– The World Economic Forum today announces the 2025 cohort of its Technology Pioneers community, a group of 100 early-stage companies from 28 countries driving innovation across industries and borders. Now in its 25th year, the programme celebrates its strongest cohort yet, marked by broader geographical representation, greater diversity beyond Silicon Valley and the rise of more ambitious frontier technologies.
Reflecting wider shifts in the innovation landscape, many of the companies spotlighted are using artificial intelligence (AI) to reach greater scale and sophistication with fewer resources. Several are venturing into less explored frontiers – from asteroid mining and flying electric taxis, to leveraging satellite imagery to transform agriculture and harnessing energy from supernova explosions to locate critical minerals beneath the Earth’s surface.
The geography of innovation is also evolving. While the United States remains the top contributor to the community, Europe’s share has surged to 28% – up from 20% last year – reflecting the rise of strong tech ecosystems across the region. China and India are also emerging as major tech innovation hubs.
“There has never been a more exciting time to dive headfirst into tech innovation. But no one gets far alone – you need a community to move your mission forward,” said Verena Kuhn, Head of Innovator Communities, World Economic Forum. “As we mark 25 years of the Technology Pioneers programme, this global community continues to connect start-ups to the networks and ecosystems they need to scale.”
This year also marks the 25th Anniversary of the Technology Pioneers programme. Since its inception in 2000, the community has championed early-stage innovation and recognized more than 1,200 companies, many of which have gone on to reshape industries worldwide. Alumni include household names such as Google, PayPal, Dropbox and SoundCloud, underscoring the community’s role as a launchpad for ideas and impact.
The 2025 cohort stands out for its concentration of companies developing breakthrough technologies to address pressing global challenges. These include advanced robotics, customisable space launch services, micro nuclear reactors and more accessible quantum computing applications. These pioneers will contribute cutting-edge insights to Forum initiatives over a two-year engagement programme and will also be invited to participate in the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2025, taking place on 24-26 June in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China.
The 2025 Technology Pioneers include:
Australia
•
Cauldron – Commercializing advanced
continuous fermentation technology to unlock price parity
for mainstream bio-manufactured
goods.
Brazil
•
Brain4care – Using AI-based
technology to enable timely medical interventions for
patients with neurological
conditions.
Canada
•
Ideon Technologies – Harnessing the
energy from supernova explosions in space to image deep
beneath the Earth’s surface, transforming how mining
companies recover critical minerals.
•
Miru – Developing dynamic
electrochromic windows that deliver high functionality,
experience and energy efficiency for the automotive,
transportation and architectural
sectors.
Greater
China
• Deep
Principle – Integrating advanced AI models and
quantum chemistry to accelerate the discovery and
development of chemical materials.
•
GS Biomats – Developing furan
bio-based material, a renewable alternative to
petroleum-based chemicals, for various uses including
biomedical applications.
•
HiNa Battery – Producing more
sustainable, high-performance, low-cost sodium-ion
batteries.
• KaiOS
– Providing affordable internet and access to
financial services to unserved populations, primarily in
South Asia and Africa.
•
Lightstandard – Making large
language model computing faster and more energy-efficient
with photonic computing.
•
Noematrix – Focusing on researching
and developing embodied intelligence systems and related
tools and platforms, which are compatible with diverse
hardware.
• Novlead
– Designing a molecular technology platform
providing available, accessible and affordable nitric oxide
solutions for major clinical needs.
•
Shengshu Technology – Building
generative AI infrastructure that develops native
multi-modal large models such as images, 3D and
video.
• TRANSTREAMS
– Engineering chips and solutions to address the
computing power shortages in China during the era of
AI-generated content.
•
Turing – Providing cutting-edge
computing infrastructure and comprehensive AI solutions to
drive the future of intelligent
computing.
Colombia
•
Plurall – Supporting early-stage
entrepreneurs in emerging markets with fast, accessible
working capital and digital payment solutions, leveraging AI
models for risk assessment, collections and embedded
lending.
Denmark
•
Arcadia eFuels – Developing and
deploying technology to produce electro-sustainable aviation
and diesel fuels using renewable electricity, seawater, and
captured
CO2.
Egypt
•
Thndr – Offering a digital
investment platform with a range of flexible funding methods
and educational resources to empower
investors.
France
•
Ascendance Flight Technologies –
Decarbonizing aviation with a hybrid electric propulsion
system and hybrid vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)
aircraft.
• Beyond
Aero – Building the first electric business
aircraft powered by hydrogen propulsion, as a sustainable
alternative to traditional business
jets.
• CO2 AI –
Helping large and complex organizations measure their
environmental impact, identify credible levers and
decarbonize at scale through AI.
•
Jimmy – Developing a micro nuclear
reactor to provide carbon-free, competitive heat for
industrial processes.
• Nabla
– Reducing clinician burnout by automating
clinical documentation with
AI.
• Orakl Oncology
– Creating a biology and AI-powered simulation platform to
revolutionize oncology drug development.
•
Phagos – Deploying a sustainable
alternative to antibiotics using bacteriophages and
AI
• Quobly –
Making scalable, cost-competitive, large-scale quantum
computers.
• Sweetch
Energy – Enabling osmotic power generation by
harnessing the salinity gradient between freshwater and
seawater.
Germany
•
Accure – Providing predictive
battery analytics software to enhance safety, optimize
performance and extend the lifetime of battery
systems.
• Black Forest
Labs – Building generative deep learning models
for media, particularly images and videos
•
eleQtron – Developing quantum
computers by leveraging trapped-ion
technology.
• Tozero
– Pioneering the delivery of recycled lithium in
Europe by sustainably recovering critical materials from
battery
waste.
India
•
Agnikul – Providing affordable and
customizable space launch services.
•
CynLr – Building robots with
intuitive vision and enabling manufacturers and logistics
providers to build fully automated
factories.
• Dezy
– Leveraging AI-powered diagnostic technology to
build affordable and accessible dental
care.
• Digantara
– Providing crucial operational support to
commercial space operators and space surveillance
intelligence to global space agencies.
•
Equal – Providing an integrated
solution that combines identity verification with
consent-driven financial data sharing.
•
Exponent Energy – Making 15-minute
rapid charging for electric vehicles affordable and scalable
through an innovative battery management system, charging
algorithms, thermal management and a charging
network.
• Freight
Tiger – Building India’s largest
software-enabled freight network to help businesses move
goods with full visibility, efficiency and lower
costs.
• GalaxEye
– Creating a comprehensive, multi-sensor Earth
observation system.
•
SolarSquare – Helping homes switch
to solar in India with its full-stack solar panel
systems.
• The ePlane
Co. – Developing flying electric taxis designed
for intra-city
transportation.
Ireland
•
Equal1 – Democratizing quantum
computing by leveraging existing semiconductor
technologies.
Israel
•
Fermata – Providing computer vision
solutions for farmers to reduce crop losses and pesticide
use.
• Illumex –
Empowering organizations to run governed and reliable AI
agents through unified business data language and to
democratize data access to every user.
•
LightSolver – Building a photonic
supercomputer by harnessing the power of coupled
lasers.
• NanoSynex
– Offering a rapid and accurate diagnostic
platform for bacterial resistance.
•
ZutaCore – Developing waterless
direct-to-chip liquid cooling for AI and high-performance
computing (HPC) data
centres.
Italy
•
Arsenale Bioyards – Building new
lab-to-production infrastructure enabling fast, low-cost
biomanufacturing at an industrial
scale.
Japan
•
Sagri – Leveraging satellite data
and AI to transform agriculture through land use
optimization and sustainability.
Republic of
Korea
• Hylium
Industries – Providing safe and innovative liquid
hydrogen solutions for carbon-free
mobility.
• NARA
Space – Building South Korea’s first
microsatellite constellation for methane point source
detection.
• Robocon
– Developing robotics and smart factory solutions
for the construction and steel
industries.
Luxembourg
•
Tokeny Solutions – Building the
compliance infrastructure for digital assets in blockchain
and
fintech.
Mexico
•
Allie – Creating closed-loop
optimization systems for manufacturing that autonomously
adjust production parameters in real
time.
Nigeria
•
Cybervergent – Providing a platform
to automate cybersecurity compliance and risk
governance.
• Sabi
– Powering the sourcing and distribution of
physical goods and critical commodities in
Africa.
• ThriveAgric
– Empowering smallholder farmers across Africa by
linking them to finance, data-driven best practices, and
access to local and global markets.
Saudi
Arabia
• Intelmatix
– Making enterprise AI accessible through
industry-specific, context-aware AI
agents.
Singapore
•
Manus – Automating a wide range of
practical tasks for personal and professional use with a
general AI agent.
• Rize
– Decarbonizing rice cultivation in Asia through
scalable agricultural
innovations.
Spain
•
Crisalion Mobility – Offering
sustainable air and ground mobility
solutions.
• INBRAIN
Neuroelectronics – Developing brain-computer
interfaces to treat neurological
disorders.
Sweden
•
Graphmatech – Developing advanced
materials infused with graphene to make large-scale
industries more innovative and resource
efficient.
• Lovable
– Using AI to help users create software and web
apps without coding
expertise.
Switzerland
•
HAYA Therapeutics – Developing
RNA-based medicines to treat heart, lung and tissue
diseases.
• Neural
Concept – Accelerating product design through 3D
generative engineering and
AI.
Uganda
•
Numida – Using credit models and
digital underwriting to provide loans to micro
businesses.
Ukraine
•
Respeecher – Enabling scalable
voice cloning across languages and
contexts.
United
Kingdom
• CuspAI
– Using frontier AI to accelerate the discovery
and development of materials with specific
functionalities.
• Obrizum
– Offering personalized digital learning services
at scale through an AI-powered platform.
•
Oxford Ionics – Building
high-performance quantum computers using trapped-ion
technology.
United
States
• Ammobia
–Fuelling the world with cost-effective,
lower-carbon ammonia
production.
• Archetype
AI – Pioneering a new form of Physical AI capable
of perceiving, understanding and reasoning about the world
through analysing real-time, multimodal sensor
data.
• Arine –
Integrating cutting-edge AI, clinical expertise and advanced
data analytics to deliver medication-based care
interventions at the population level.
•
AstroForge – Making critical
minerals more accessible to humanity by mining
asteroids.
• BforeAI
- Using behavioural AI to predict and automatically
pre-empt malicious campaigns and stop cyberattacks before
they occur.
• Candidly
– Developing an AI-powered platform to help
borrowers manage and overcome educational
loans.
• Claryo –
Helping warehouse operators maximize operational efficiency
by leveraging spatial generative AI.
•
Distyl AI – Enabling enterprises to
seamlessly integrate AI agents into
operations.
• Emvolon
– Converting methane emissions into
carbon-negative fuels for hard-to-abate sectors
onsite.
• Exowatt
– Delivers solar power on demand by storing
energy and converting it into electricity as needed, helping
data centres and the grid run on clean energy
24/7.
• Foundation
Alloy – Commercializing solid-state metals
technology to make higher performance metals using less
energy.
• HAIQU –
Developing a new application execution stack for all
modalities of near-term quantum
computers.
• Hertha
Metals – Developing technology to decarbonize
primary steel production.
•
Hyfe – “Turns food processing
waste into chemicals that replace petroleum in everyday
goods”.
• Lumu
Technologies – Providing cybersecurity operations
capabilities to help businesses control the impact of
cybercrime.
• One
Bio – Using biotechnology to add
anti-inflammatory plant-based fibres to everyday
foods.
• Oberon
Fuels – Developing innovative carbon-neutral
fuels for maritime, propane, and hydrogen
sectors.
• Osmo –
Combining frontier AI and olfactory science to digitize
scent and enhance well-being.
•
Outtake – Securing digital
identities by detecting and removing harmful AI-generated
content.
• Parallel
Learning – Providing licensed therapy and
instruction to students with learning differences through a
digital platform.
• Pavilion
– Increasing efficiency in US public procurement
with an AI-enabled government
marketplace.
• Reality
Defender – Offering multimodal detection of
AI-generated media to prevent fraud and
disinformation.
•
RoboForce – Building AI-powered
robotic systems designed for high-risk or repetitive work,
to enhance efficiency, productivity and safety across
industries.
• Rubi
Laboratories – Using biocatalysis to transform
CO2 into essential materials like
cellulose.
• Shiru
– Leveraging AI to identify and develop naturally
occurring functional ingredients.
•
Starcloud – Constructing data
centres in space to solve the AI energy
challenge.
• Waterplan
– Delivering an AI-powered platform to measure,
manage and mitigate water risk.
•
Workera – Providing AI-driven
workforce skills intelligence and upskilling
pathways.
• Workhelix
– Helping companies identify AI transformation
opportunities and measure return on
investment.
Uruguay
•
Prometeo – Creating a single,
borderless banking application programming interface to
connect companies with financial institutions across the
Americas
About the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2025
The 16th Annual Meeting of the New Champions will take place from 24 to 26 June 2025 in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, under the theme “Entrepreneurship for a New Era.” The meeting will convene over 1,700 leaders from business, government, civil society, academia, international organizations, innovation and media to explore entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges.
About the Technology Pioneers
Launched in 2000, the Technology Pioneers community marks its 25th anniversary in 2025 as a leading platform for early-stage companies from around the world that are shaping the future through breakthrough technologies and innovations. These companies are selected for their potential to have a significant impact on business and society and are invited to engage with public and private sector leaders through the World Economic Forum’s global platform.
The Technology Pioneers community is part of the Innovator Communities within the Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Innovator Communities convene the world's leading global start-ups across different growth stages from early-stage Technology Pioneers to growth-stage Global Innovators and unicorn companies valued at more than $1 billion.