On the tenth day of the tenth month in Munich, there were ten.
Deeply ambitious AI startups, that is, going head to head at GTC Europe. They were vying for the title of Europe's Hottest Startup in a series of lightning-fast pitches and Q&A with a panel of startup specialists at the show's Inception Awards.
With some 400 tech execs, developers and academics looking on, Germany's BrighterAI took the bragging rights, along with a tidy prize valued at about $200,000 in cash and an NVIDIA DGX Station personal AI supercomputer. At news of the victory, much of the company's young 12-member team, who had made the 600-kilometer trip from Berlin, leapt from their seats hooting and pumping fists.
BrighterAI's co-founder and CEO Marian Gl ser had just three minutes to describe their work, which uses deep neural networks to enable businesses to store and process images and video in a way that complies with GDPR and other increasingly important privacy laws and practices. The company creates perception layers from camera inputs to anonymize images in a natural way, while also stripping out distortions from weather and other factors. He projected revenue from the two-year-old company to grow to $70 million in five years.
All 10 Inception finalists were focused on applying AI to specific vertical industries - healthcare, financial analysis, manufacturing optimization and call-center operations, among others.
In presenting the award to BrighterAI, Jensen Huang, who admitted to being far less polished when he founded NVIDIA 25 years ago, said that the next wave of computing will be focused on such companies.
The revolution of the past was inventing computing tools, but the revolution of now is applying computing technology to solve the great challenges of humanity, he said. The last 35 years were about the computer industry, the next 35 years is about your industries.
The finalists had been whittled down from a list of more than 140 entrants from the 1,600 European AI startups in NVIDIA's Inception program, a virtual incubator for AI companies that in total has more than 3,000 members.
Other finalists included:
axial3D (Ireland): Produces medical 3D printing software to advance the standard and efficiency of surgical intervention.
ATLAN Space (Morocco): Makes drones smarter and enables them to monitor vast areas, identify risks and make smart decisions.
Axyon AI (Italy): Uses its deep learning platform to augment work in financial areas from credit risk and wealth management to churn-rate prediction and fraud detection.
Conundrum (Russia): Uses AI and machine learning to predict failures, malfunctions and quality issues in complex industrial equipment and processes.
Corti Labs (Denmark): Uses deep learning to help medical personnel in call centers and other settings to make critical decisions when time is of the essence. It provides accurate diagnostic support to emergency services, allowing patients to get the right treatment faster.
IPT (Germany): Deploys its software to enable engineers to combine their own experience, AI and data to optimize manufacturing processes.
RetinAI (Switzerland): Develops preventative treatment for such eye diseases as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.
Serket (Netherlands): Uses AI to assist farmers in tracking and monitoring the health of livestock. It's named for the Egyptian goddess of nature, animals, medicine and magic.
TheraPanacea (France): Uses AI, high performance computing, physics-based simulation and medical imaging to improve the efficiency and accuracy of radiotherapy treatment planning.
Special thanks to our Inception Awards sponsors: Infineon, MD Elektronik and Qwant.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
21/07/2026
In a time of disarray in regional sports broadcasting, the league will provide c...
21/07/2026
When NEP designed one of its largest recurring mobile production unit fleets for PGA TOUR
coverage, the leading media services provider faced a familiar challe...
21/07/2026
High-end analogue channel strip boasts plug-in recall
Originally revealed as a prototype back at NAMM 2024, the Channex Studio channel strip represented a b...
21/07/2026
Relies on same DSP as plug-in range
Musik Hack's line-up has been influenced heavily by founder Stan Greene's work as a mixing engineer, and their M...
21/07/2026
Official collaboration with boutique builder Dirty Boy Pedals
Warm Audio have just announced the launch of a new guitar pedal range created in collaboration...
21/07/2026
SBS scores biggest ever FIFA World Cup Reach as Spain triumph in the final
21 July, 2026
Media releases
Spain v Argentina attracted a Total TV reach of al...
21/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases broad range of EMC test solutions at EMC SIPI 2026 in ...
21/07/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's unbroken lead is interrupted as sports and live mus...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Across the TV and streaming ecosystem, industry players face mounting pressure to do more with less. They must simplify operations, protect premium content and ...
21/07/2026
Tuxera, a leading prover of quality-assured file systems and networking technologies, is bringing its latest advances in connectivity performance to the media w...
21/07/2026
COW Jobs: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP Rigged Graphics Package
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
HIRING: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP ...
21/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will use its presence at IBC2026 (stand 7.A01, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to...
21/07/2026
Calrec will be located in Hall 8, on Stand C47
Beyond bigger
For years, broadcast facilities were built around one assumption: provision for the biggest pro...
21/07/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, will discuss its future-facing developments for the new generation of medi...
21/07/2026
nxtedition returns to IBC2026 with its consolidated production platform, showing how scripting, editing, graphics, AI-assisted tools and automation can work wit...
21/07/2026
C2PA content signing helps broadcasters, public institutions, and publishers give audiences a verifiable record of where their video content came from and how i...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
New capability centralizes collaboration, feedback, security and status tracking within VIDA, providing a structured, auditable approach to master quality contr...
21/07/2026
Lightcraft Launches Exclusive Spark Story Beta for Filmmakers and Creators at SI...
21/07/2026
Indie Road Movie Where in the Hell Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Brie Clayton July 20, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist blends vintage film looks to shape...
21/07/2026
Which USS Defiant Pulse Phaser effect is better?
Graham Quince July 20, 2026
0 Comments
Aargh, ever since @DarkRavenProductions posted a comment ask...
21/07/2026
The AI era runs on AI infrastructure. Many of these advanced systems are built a...
21/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and NIFT Partner to Build Color Management Skills for India's...
On the tenth day of the tenth month in Munich, there were ten.
