KPMG Global Tech Innovator Final

Innovating Tomorrow: KPMG Global Tech Innovator Finalists Showcase World-Changing Solutions at Web Summit Lisbon 2025

(This article was generated with AI and it’s based on a AI-generated transcription of a real talk on stage. While we strive for accuracy, we encourage readers to verify important information.)

The KPMG Global Tech Innovator competition, now in its fifth year, culminated at Web Summit Lisbon 2025, bringing together 21 pioneering companies from across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Hosted by Mr. Michael Bancroft, the event showcased groundbreaking innovations poised to transform various industries, including AI, fintech, health tech, and climate tech.

Each finalist had a mere three minutes to impress a distinguished panel of expert judges: Ms. Emily Fontaine, Global Head of Venture Capital at IBM; Mr. Owen Duan, Managing Director of Insight Partners; Ms. Carolyn Weiss, Partner at Plug and Play; and Mr. Eugene Malabrotsky, Managing Partner of One Way Ventures. The judges sought compelling pitches, diverse solutions, and strong founder vision.

Mr. Wilfred Chege, co-founder and CEO of Zendawa (Kenya), presented their digital platform transforming local pharmacies into health powerhouses. By integrating AI, fintech, and telehealth, Zendawa enables neighborhood pharmacies to sell online, manage inventory, facilitate last-mile delivery, and access working capital, addressing critical challenges in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr. Jurgen Meyerhofer, co-founder and CEO of Inspired (Austria), introduced their solution for automating energy trading and cross-market battery storage. Their in-house GPU-based solver, utilizing reinforcement learning and billions of data points, optimizes battery charging and discharging, aiming to stabilize the grid and accelerate renewable energy adoption.

Mr. Luis Fernando Magalais, co-founder and director of O2 Eco (Brazil), highlighted their clean tech innovations for water regeneration. Their “Ecoblock” uses paraffin and minerals to foster beneficial bacteria, while the “Salus dewatering system” converts sludge into reusable water, significantly reducing waste, chemicals, and CO2 emissions.

Ms. Maria, Chief Product Officer of Salva Health (Colombia), presented Julieta, an AI-powered, radiation-free, and painless device for early breast cancer detection. Designed for accessibility in underserved markets, Julieta identifies at-risk women, prioritizing them for diagnosis and treatment, and delivers results in under five minutes.

Ms. Christy Lember, Global Business Developer for IO (Estonia), showcased their biotech startup reshaping sustainable ingredients. Using precision fermentation, IO converts industrial side streams into valuable oils and fats, such as encapsulated oil for vegan products, red oil for cosmetics, and a solid lipid complex to replace palm oil.

Mr. Timo Valtonen, co-founder and CEO of Flow Computing (Finland), introduced their Parallel Processing Unit (PPU), a co-processor designed to supercharge CPU performance. This patented technology offers 5 to 10 times performance improvement, addressing the limitations of Moore’s Law and the escalating demand for computing power.

Mr. George from Ethia (Portugal) presented their autonomous ethical hacking solution, “Hacking.” This AI pentester operates 24/7 with 99.5% accuracy, providing continuous visibility and relentless testing to identify and mitigate cybersecurity risks before attackers exploit them, transforming traditional manual pen testing.

Mr. Jeet Karmaka, founder and CTO of Step Out (India), detailed their AI-powered sports performance analysis platform. By analyzing uploaded videos, their AI identifies players, tracks movements, and provides actionable insights for football teams, coaches, and players, democratizing data-driven talent development beyond top tiers.

Mr. Alex Mazawa, co-founder and CEO of Rhinoflux (Japan), unveiled their technology for unlocking biomass to create clean electricity. Their method uses a special liquid to induce chemical reactions at low temperatures, producing three times more electricity and 99.9% pure CO2 as a byproduct, reducing costs by up to 50%.

Mr. Cristobal Fonseca, CEO of Microendo (Mexico), presented their approach to sustainable agriculture. By restoring plant microbiota, their technology reduces the need for chemical fertilizers by 70%, increases crop yield by 13%, and sequesters CO2 in the soil, offering climate change solutions and carbon credits.

Ms. Lottie Welton, founder and CEO of Selection Lab (Netherlands), introduced their AI and skill-test-driven platform for fairer and more efficient hiring. It automates the selection process, reducing recruiter workload and providing engaging, unbiased experiences for candidates, ensuring people are hired for roles where they can thrive.

Mr. Bo Descarga, founder and CEO of Better Team AI (Philippines), showcased their AI and behavioral science-powered platform that predicts employee resignations. By analyzing existing HR data, the platform identifies employees likely to leave within six months, helping companies proactively mitigate talent loss and save significant costs.

Dr. Ali Al Hassan, founder and CEO of Nano Palm (Saudi Arabia), presented their innovative approach to gene therapies using AI-generated lipid nanoparticles. Their technology creates stable, organ-targeting nanoparticles, enabling faster, more affordable, and scalable delivery of gene therapies to correct genetic defects.

Mr. Sean, founder and CEO of Altify (South Africa), introduced a regulated alternative investment platform. It democratizes access to tokenized private market assets, allowing investments with as little as $100. The platform integrates an AI investing sidekick and a blockchain-based secondary marketplace for liquidity.

Ms. Paula Runstein, co-founder and CEO of Rebamba (Sweden), detailed their circular energy storage systems using upcycled EV batteries. Their unique hardware and software optimize second-life batteries, providing affordable, reliable power for industries and buildings, cutting electricity bills by up to 40% and saving CO2 emissions.

Mr. Volka Yilmaz, co-founder and CEO of We Rover (Turkey), presented their AI-powered monitoring system for wind turbine blades. Their plug-and-play device listens to blades 24/7, detecting anomalies with 92% accuracy, reducing maintenance costs by 50%, and preventing catastrophic failures, applicable to all turbine brands.

Mr. Alfredo Sanger, co-founder and CEO of Electrogenis (UAE), showcased their technology for unlocking green hydrogen. Their patented electrocatalyst achieves 98% efficiency and is five times cheaper to manufacture than European competitors, significantly reducing the cost of green hydrogen production without relying on rare earth metals.

Ms. Rachel Curtis, co-founder and CEO of Anneio AI (UK), introduced “Budgie,” a virtual agent for managing income and expenses. Budgie guides consumers through affordability forms, linking to bank accounts with consent, increasing customer engagement, boosting payment amounts, and halving call times for businesses.

Mr. Jacob Roskamp, Managing Director and CFO of Traceless Materials (Germany), presented their plastic-free biomaterials made from agricultural waste. These fully compostable granulates offer the functionality of plastics but disappear after use, addressing plastic pollution without exacerbating food conflicts.

Ms. Naomh Donnelly, co-founder and CTO of Akara (Ireland), detailed their smart hospital operating room solutions. Their AI-powered thermal sensors monitor activities, predict surgery stages, and coordinate staff, while their autonomous UV disinfection robot cleans rooms faster and to a higher standard, increasing surgery volume by over 40%.

Dr. Viadur Mahajan, CEO of Kael (US), introduced their AI adoption platform for radiology. Kael partners with AI providers, enabling hospitals to test, validate, and deploy AI solutions into clinical workflows via a single interface, addressing the challenge of near-zero AI adoption despite numerous FDA approvals.

During deliberations, Mr. Lambert Hogenhout, a global leader in responsible innovation at the UN, discussed AI misconceptions, emphasizing the importance of trust, responsible design, and human oversight in technology deployment. He highlighted that while AI is overhyped, its potential is vast if approached ethically.

Mr. Conor Moore, KPMG Global Leader – Private Enterprise, joined Mr. Michael Bancroft to announce the winners. The audience’s “People’s Choice” award went to Selection Lab. The “Second Runner-Up” was Step Out, and “First Runner-Up” was Akara. The highly anticipated “KPMG Global Tech Innovator for 2025” was awarded to Rhinoflux from Japan. The event concluded with congratulations to all finalists and a reminder of the profound impact these innovations have on global challenges.