The SXSW Innovation Awards recognize the most exciting creative developments in the connected world, celebrating a variety of technological advancements, achievements, and discoveries.

Five finalists in each category will be chosen to exhibit their projects at the seventh annual Innovation Awards Finalist Showcase during SXSW 2025, where the Finalist Judges will determine the winners as well as Best of Show. SXSW audiences attending the Finalist Showcase will also vote to determine the winner of the People’s Choice award. Participation in the Finalist Showcase is required for consideration in all award categories.

Winners will be announced and presented their awards at the 26th annual SXSW Innovation Awards Ceremony on the evening of Monday, March 10 at the Austin Convention Center (Ballroom D) from 6-8pm CT.

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Join us for SXSW 2025 from March 7–15 in Austin, TX. Register and book your hotel. Explore the latest news and stay tuned for announcements throughout the season. Subscribe to Event Updates and community newsletters.

2025 Winners

Artificial Intelligence

Wandercraft’s Self-Balancing Exoskeleton
New York, NY

Audio Experience

"I SEE MUSIC!" by Synegram.com
Clermont-Ferrand, France and Miami, FL, USA

Community Empowerment

Share@MealConnect
Chicago, IL

Connection and Communication

855-HOW-TO-QUIT-(OPIOIDS)
Chicago, IL

Health & Biotech

BetterWay: Blood Testing Reimagined
Austin, TX

Interface Design

Posha: Your family's private robot chef
San Mateo, CA

Product Design

The Daylight Computer
San Francisco, CA

Student Innovation

GismoPower’s Mobile Solar Carport "MEGA"
Sarasota, FL

Sustainability Solutions

Uluu
Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Urban Experience

Sustainable 3D-Printed homes by Azure
Los Angeles, CA

WTF (What the Future)

SWEAR Security
Boise, ID

People's Choice Award

Engineering the world’s first Smart Lipstick
São José dos Pinhais, Paraná, Brazil

Best In Show

SolarSPELL
Tempe, AZ

Artificial Intelligence

• Wandercraft’s Self-Balancing Exoskeleton (New York, NY)
• Breakout Learning: AI-Powered Small-Group Discussions (Dallas, TX)
• AI Unlocking Food Allergy Freedom (Long Beach, CA)
• Newton: AI for the Physical World (Palo Alto, CA)
• CMR-M1: The First AI-Powered Movie Camera (Madrid, Spain and Los Angeles, CA)

Audio Experience

• alphabeats - Master your Mind. Master your Performance (Laguna Beach, CA)
• "I SEE MUSIC!" by Synegram.com (Clermont-Ferrand, France and Miami, FL, USA)
• Multichannel Sound Over Headphones (Ilmenau, Thuringia, Germany)
• Neural DSP: Nano Cortex (Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland)
• Holography Records: "Polytempo Music" Interactive 3D Album (Alameda, CA)

Community Empowerment

• Innovating to Make Abortion Affordable (New York, NY)
• SolarSPELL digital libraries (Tempe, AZ)
• Share@MealConnect (Chicago, IL)
• TIAA – Paper Right (New York, NY)
• Ruth: Your Digital Guardian (Hillsborough, NJ)

Connection and Communication

• Switch-Lit (Utrecht, Netherlands and Portland, OR)
• HeyGen's Interactive Avatars (Los Angeles, CA)
• Crowd Compass: Stay Connected, Stay Safe (Spokane, WA)
• GRIEF SUCKS by Experience Camps (Westport, CT)
• 855-HOW-TO-QUIT-(OPIOIDS) (Chicago, IL)

Health & Biotech

• TRAUMAGEL by Cresilon (Brooklyn, NY)
• Alzheimer's Intelligence (London, England)
• PherDal Fertility Kit (Dixon, IL)
• BetterWay: Blood Testing Reimagined (Austin, TX)
• Signia Active Pro IX Hearing Aids (Iselin, NJ)

Interface Design

• XR-Objects Augmented Object Intelligence (Seattle, WA)
• GOES: Outdoor Health and Safety Guide (Redwood City, CA)
• Bedtime AI Storymaker (Madrid, Spain and Los Angeles, CA)
• Engineering the world’s first Smart Lipstick (São José dos Pinhais, Paraná, Brazil)
• Posha: Your family's private robot chef (San Mateo, CA)

Product Design

• The Daylight Computer (San Francisco, CA)
• Sentante - Teleoperated Surgical Robot for Endovascular Interventions (San Francisco, CA)
• Quantinuum’s H Series Quantum Computer (Broomfield, CO)
• Pioneering Drone Swarms in Agriculture (Richmond, TX)
• Scantinel Single-Chip FMCW LiDAR Module (Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany)

Student Innovation

• Theater of Future Puppetry (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
• GismoPower’s Mobile Solar Carport "MEGA" (Sarasota, FL)
• Flow (Shenzhen, China and Pittsburgh, PA)
• Smell like Home (Irvine, CA)
• SMART Wearable Thermoregulatory Device (Cambridge, MA and Calistoga, CA)

Sustainability Solutions

• Uluu (Perth, Western Australia, Australia)
• Liquidplant™ by von Holzhausen (West Hollywood, CA)
• Low-Light Indoor Bifacial Solar Cell (Scott Valley, CA)
• Dimensional Energy: Creating fuels and products from CO₂ (Ithaca, NY)
• Voodin Biodegradable Wind Turbine Blades (Lichtenfels, Hesse, Germany)

Urban Experience

• Sustainable 3D-Printed homes by Azure (Los Angeles, CA)
• BOLT: democratizing access to e-biking (Brooklyn, NY)
• Overheard on a Train (Austin, TX)
• Pathfinder: GPS-Free Geolocation (Cambridge, MA)
• From Smart Campus to Real Smart Cities (Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil)

WTF (What the Future)

• Space Trash Signs (Chicago, IL)
• SWEAR Security (Boise, ID)
• SOLAMENT™︎ (Tokyo, Japan)
• Dynex: Quantum Computing for Anyone, Anywhere (Vaduz, Liechtenstein)
• The Halo – Lucid Dreaming Wearable Device by Prophetic (San Francisco, CA)

Artificial Intelligence

The Artificial Intelligence category showcases projects that responsibly leverage the groundbreaking power of machine learning, LLMs and generative AI.

Audio Experience

From cutting-edge podcasts to apps that help you create your own music, the Audio Experience category serves as the landing spot for projects that reimagine the way humans interact with audio-based platforms.

Community Empowerment

The Community Empowerment category spotlights projects that help empower underserved groups and peoples around the world.

Connection and Communication

The Connection and Communication category features projects aimed at helping people discover meaningful ways of enriching human experiences and interactions.

Health & Biotech

The Health & Biotech category uncovers the best new projects serving wellness and medicine.

Interface Design

The Interface Design category recognizes the best new ideas for human interaction with software and machines.

Product Design

The Product Design category highlights the world's best new hardware, including products, devices, gadgets and appliances.

Student Innovation

The Student Innovation category honors exceptional student projects and startups that focus on interactive technology for the future.

Sustainability Solutions

The Sustainability Solutions category focuses on projects big and small that positively address the crisis of global warming.

Urban Experience

The Urban Experience category gathers ahead-of-the-curve solutions around livability and mobility (and beyond) to create an improved and more equitable city environment.

WTF

The WTF (What the Future) category collects futuristic projects that don’t fit elsewhere. From quantum physics to nanotech to bio-engineering moonshots, this category pulls together all the amazing endeavors that make us excited about tomorrow.

Artificial Intelligence

• Truveta - AI-Enabled Health Research
  Bellevue, WA

Audio Experience

• SPOKE- Music&Voice-Led Therapy Audio App
  London, UK

Climate Change

• TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Accelerator powered by Lonely Whale
  New York, NY

Community Empowerment

• Aya Contigo App
  Toronto, ON

Health & Biotech

• FDA Breakthrough Skin Cancer Device
  Miami, FL

Interface Design

• Lune - your music companion
  Littleton, CO

Product Design

First Winner
* Miroka Prototype: A Robot With Character
Paris, France

Second Winner
* Boomerang Water at ACC
Midland, NC

Social Media

• Brand Safety Secured with Viral Nation
  Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Student Innovation

• FireBot
  Austin, TX

Urban Design

• STEEL+SPARK
  Phoenix, AZ

WTF

• UbiGro Cover
  Los Alamos, NM

People's Choice Award

• Kulture City: Inclusion For All
  Birmingham, AL

Best In Show

• Dotpad
  Seoul, South Korea