Posted by It is now well established that advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology have opened up new markets and new opportunities. So much so, that hearing early-stage investors preaching how AI will automate everything is not a surprise nor a far fetched idea anymore. Even though, investors are keen to admit the disruptive power of AI, they still have a harder time admitting the same when it comes to the venture capital industry itself. The idea of automating early-stage investments is slowly taking ground in the VC community, but a lot convincing still needs to be done. Thus said, and knowing the industry’s appetite for competition, what a better way than organizing a startup contest with the jury being an AI? That is why we created the AI Startup Battle, our best attempt to show the world that even VCs can be disrupted one advancement at a time.
The last edition of the AI Startup Battle took place last Wednesday (Oct. 12 2016) during PAPIs ‘16, the 3rd International Conference on Predictive Applications and APIs. Four startups competed on stage at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center (MIT Campus) and an impartial AI, powered by PreSeries and Telefónica Open Future_ chose the winner without having humans influencing the outcome.
After being questioned live on-stage by the algorithm, the four startups were delivered a score from 0 to 100 representing their long-term likelihood of success. This edition’s winner with a total score of 89.24 is Joonko, which provides data-driven solutions to help companies improve the diversity and inclusion of their workforce. They will be offered an investment of up $50,000, an incredible place to work, access to mentors, business partners, a global network of talent as well as the opportunity to reach millions of customers.
The second place was for Cognii with a close score of 83.84, they are dedicated to improve the quality, affordability and scalability of education with the help of Artificial Intelligence. The third position went to Heartbeat Ai Technologies with a score of 70.73; they aim to design emotionally intelligent technologies and tools to help machines understand people’s feelings, needs and motivations. Finally the fourth position, was for Palatine Analytics with a score of 70.71; they help companies evaluate the current and future performance of their employees by using Artificial Intelligence and Predictive Analytics.
Following the event, Francisco J. Martin, President of PreSeries, and Cofounder and CEO of BigML said “Today was further testament to the increasing level of interest in a quantifiable, data-driven approach to evaluating early stage startups. We have been continuously improving the models that make PreSeries possible as evidenced by the variety of questions ranging from team experience and depth to prior investor interest, as well as intellectual property and current traction. Many traditional investors were skeptical when we started this journey, but we are now witnessing that a growing number of institutional investors are starting to see the merit in PreSeries’ approach. It’s safe to say our ‘crazy idea’ will move onward with an emboldened spirit”.
Stay tuned for updates on the next AI Startup Battle!
The Official Blog of BigML.com 