2025 Finalists

Barty AI

Barty revolutionizes technical hiring by conducting comprehensive AI-powered interviews for every candidate, eliminating the drawbacks of traditional ATS keyword filtering. Our platform features Bart, an intelligent interview agent that adapts to specific roles, industries, and company needs through advanced contextual understanding.

Unlike competitors, Barty evaluates all applicants through customizable interview formats including technical assessments, behavioral evaluations, and screening conversations. Our solution offers hiring teams natural language candidate discovery, bias mitigation, and detailed performance analytics.

The platform supports real-time coding evaluations, portfolio assessment, and predictive success metrics while maintaining complete candidate records rather than automatic rejections. Built on a scalable, multi-tenant architecture using Next.js, WebRTC, and Supabase, Barty can handle 1000+ concurrent interviews while delivering seamless experiences for both candidates and hiring teams.

Qhaven

Modern companies handle secret and top-secret data under strict compliance (CMMC, FedRamp, etc.) and meanwhile, quantum computing research is accelerating. These technologies pose a significant threat to modern cryptographical measures, rendering our current data security worthless in the face of quantum computers. While there is a significant time frame between now and the era when quantum computers will be highly functional, Qhaven meets this challenge with an AI-copilot and software scanner environment fully integrated with quantumsafe cryptography. Our approach helps contractors effortlessly meet CMMC, NIST, and FedRAMP mandates while also protecting themselves from future security risks.

The Allocated at Delia’s House

The Allocated at Delia’s House (TADH) is a faith-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to providing essential resources and support to individuals and families in need. Founded with a deep-rooted commitment to service, TADH operates through community outreach initiatives, donation drives, and relief programs to uplift underserved populations. Since its inception, TADH has made a significant impact by distributing thousands of pounds of food and clothing, hosting community events, and fostering meaningful connections with those in need. The organization also collaborates with local businesses, sponsors, and volunteers to sustain and expand its mission. Looking ahead, TADH is focused on strengthening its infrastructure, increasing community engagement, and expanding its relief efforts. With a structured leadership approach and growing media presence, the organization is positioning itself for sustainable growth, ensuring continued support for the community while fostering a culture of generosity and service.

CarbonSecure

CarbonSecure is a decision support platform changing the way sustainability officers select carbon offsets. In a market plagued by uncertainty, low transparency, and high reputational risk, CarbonSecure empowers users to make informed, confident decisions aligned with their organization’s climate goals. 

CarbonSecure assesses the risk and quality of carbon offset projects using a standardized evaluation framework and provides optimized purchasing recommendations based on the organization’s risk tolerance. We serve sustainability officers at universities and small businesses—segments eager to meet climate pledges but constrained by time and resources. 

By reducing vetting time up to 62%, CarbonSecure streamlines the path to climate action while prioritizing climate impact. Join us in building a carbon-neutral future—CarbonSecure: offset wisely, impact globally.

NOVAFoam 

Synthetic lumber can be produced from recycled materials and exhibits properties of impermeability, anti-bacterial resistance, and low weight. NOVAFoam is a synthetic lumber made from recycled expanded polystyrene (EPS). It is impermeable, anti-bacterial, and weighs 30% less than traditional hardwood. NOVAFoam was previously manufactured in Italy until production ceased. Over 30 customer interviews identified impermeability, anti-bacterial resistance, and low weight as differentiators. A target market is temporary shelters for disaster response, including housing, food storage, and healthcare. These applications benefit from NOVAFoam’s mold resistance, insulation, and reduced transport weight. The preferred structure is a hexayurt, a widely used six-sided, easy-to-build shelter. Production involves five stages: collecting, cleaning, grinding, extruding, and packaging EPS. Recycled EPS is sourced from industrial and consumer streams, then processed and formed into NOVAFoam boards. Boards are packaged and prepared for shipment to deployment sites or storage. A stochastic simulation explored layouts, constraints, reliability, and supply volatility. Using real-world parameters, the model produced outputs like costs, machine utilization, storage capacity, and throughput under various configurations. The simulation helps identify capacity limitations, evaluate scalability, and optimize resources to meet urgent disaster response needs while maintaining manufacturing efficiency and minimizing waste in the production process.

Valor 

Valor is a B2B online counseling platform designed specifically for veterans in the workforce, connecting them with trained veteran mentors who understand their unique challenges. By partnering with companies to offer Valor as an employee benefit, we remove financial and privacy barriers, ensuring veterans receive confidential, specialized mental health support to ease not just their transition into civilian life, but any other challenges life may bring.

EchoPods 

EchoPods was born from a pressing problem—traditional earbuds block the ear canal, causing discomfort, hearing damage, and hygiene issues, yet millions of people wear them daily. Whether it’s fitness enthusiasts, commuters, professionals, social media users, or those who use earbuds for long hours, many struggle with ear pain, infections, and lack of awareness of their surroundings. 

Determined to create a better alternative, we designed EchoPods—a non-intrusive, open-ear audio device that rests in the Cymba Concha rather than blocking the ear canal. This design ensures all-day comfort, hearing safety, and situational awareness while delivering high-quality sound. 

Currently, we are developing the first fully optimized prototype. Our next steps involve manufacturing, securing funding, and partnerships to bring EchoPods to market. We aim to redefine personal audio and offer everyone a healthier, more natural listening experience.

Viralbite 

Viralbite is the first scalable, word-of-mouth referral engine for restaurants. We’ve revolutionized the way restaurants grow through performance-based influencer marketing–risk-free, trackable, and results driven. Unlike traditional marketing campaigns where restaurants have no guaranteed return on their dollar spent—Viralbite gives restaurants instant exposure to thousands by only rewarding influencers based on real engagement they generate. 

We’re unlocking synergy between the $24B influencer marketing industry and the $1.1T restaurant market. Viralbite makes the most powerful form of marketing—organic word-of-mouth—finally measurable and scalable. And it’s never been done like this before.