Nineteen startups from across the world came together in Milan last month for the final stage of the U-Start global competition.
Each early-stage venture had the chance to pitch at the U-Start Conference before a panel of judges decided on their winner.
The idea behind the competition was to unearth under-represented SME talent in the global market.
The nineteen finalists were selected from regional conferences in South America, Russia, Africa and Europe.
The competition picked their winners, but Tech City News has picked our five favourites.
Nearbytes
Location: South America
Nearbytes is a new take on contactless.
Their software uses encoded sound for communication, authentication and the exchange of payment data between mobile devices and computers. It allows mobile phones to be used for proximity payments before NFC-enabled smartphones become widespread.
The short burst of encoded noise can also be used with special locks to turn your phone into a key if you were so inclined.
Piiine
Location: Russia
Piiine was founded out of one man’s frustration in trying to plan a roadtrip. Having difficulty planning which hotels across the USA to stay in, Piiine was born.
Users put in the start and end points, as well as where they want to stop along the way and the website generates a list of hotels along the route. The site also offers guides to tourist areas around the world.
Swissleg
Location: Europe
Swissleg work under the mantra: “Walking is a basic human right that should be affordable to everyone everywhere”
They offer affordable artificial limbs to amputees in the developing world.
By producing comfortably fitted prosthetic legs that combine an innovative design, a simple and fast manufacturing process they can help people all over the world walk for an affordable price.
Steadidrone
Location: Africa
Steadidrone does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. They sell pre-built multi rotor drones.
The drones come with gimlets that make sure cameras loaded to the machine constantly stay level. This means you can get perfectly smooth footage like in the video below.
The drones are loaded with GPS and can be controlled over a range of 1km.
Over
Location: Africa
Originally from the USA, founder Aaron Marshall moved to Cape Town where the Over is now headquartered.
Over allow users to overlay their digital photos with text, artwork and icons. They said in their pitch that they want to be an addition to the repertoire of ‘mobile creatives’ and struck a chord with the judges as they went on to take home top prize.