Vochlea Music and DeafTawk Reign Supreme at Raw Ventures’ Annual Global MediaTech Pitch Day

On September 26th, in partnership with the organisers of MediaTech Hub Conference, Raw Ventures hosted its annual Global MediaTech Pitch Day. The event, now an established gathering for mediatech innovators, investors, and visionaries, took place at the prominent Studio Babelsberg, in Potsdam, Germany. 

This year, over 400 companies applied to participate, with eight promising ventures making it to the final. After much deliberation, the jury opted to select two winners, both of whom captured our minds and hearts with their impressive innovations. 

“Today, while every participant showcased exceptional promise, we faced an unprecedented scenario — two startups that so compellingly embodied our vision of the future that choosing between them became impossible. Based on this, we’ve made the bold decision to recognize not one, but two winners,” said Victoria Palatnik, Managing Partner at Raw Ventures.

The first winner was DeafTawk, a company founded by Ali Shabbar, Wamiq Hasan and Abdul Qadeer. Headquartered in Denmark, the startup is bridging the communication gap that affects hearing-impaired communities, providing a real-time sign language solution that makes it possible for them to access the services they need. 

Beyond their technology and creativity, what captured us about DeafTawk was the passion they bring into the company, and how it is connected to their personal stories. Two of the founders are differently-abled—Ali visually and Wamiq hearing-wise—and their commitment to leveraging their experiences to help others who face the same obstacles is remarkable. 

On the other hand, Vochlea Music, founded by George Wright and Daven Sanassy in the United Kingdom, also captivated us with the way it creates a bridge between mind and music. Their cutting-edge latest solution, Dubler 2, is changing the way music is created. This innovative tool allows users to transform their voice—whether singing, beatboxing, humming, or even whistling—into real-time MIDI. Musicians can craft entire songs with nothing more than their voice, producing beats and melodies instantly and turning creativity into sound at lightning speed.

As Global MediaTech Pitch Day champions, both startups won a €10,000 prize each.

This year’s pipeline was incredibly strong and full of promise, showcasing remarkable innovation across the board. Raw Ventures extends sincere thanks to all finalists – AerariumChain (Audience Choice winner), Vocal Image, JYMMiN, QuestPass, Largo.ai, and Hightag. Each demonstrated significant potential and remains under consideration for possible investment as we enter the active phase of investment analysis, providing any startup from the pipeline with the opportunity to secure up to €1M in funding for further growth.

The successful conclusion of the event underscores Raw Ventures’ commitment to creating and nurturing a supportive space for disruptive mediatech ideas to break ground, and to congregate key stakeholders in the field. We were honoured that our event featured experts from companies and organisations like Meta, OPPO, Sifted, SEO Entertainment GmbH, medianet berlinbrandenburg e.V., Startup Wise Guys, Germany Trade and Invest and Music Tech France.

These partnerships are strategic for Raw Ventures to bolster its mission of catalysing a thriving global mediatech ecosystem. Together with these relentless innovators and disruptors, we will keep shaping the future of media technology.