Top 30 Startups Announced for VivaTech 2025 Innovation of the Year Award

VivaTech 2025 is set to showcase groundbreaking innovation with the announcement of the Top 30 startups nominated for the Innovation of the Year Award. This prestigious award celebrates the most visionary and audacious startups exhibiting at VivaTech, recognizing those who are not just participating in industries but actively redefining them.

Open to all exhibiting companies, the Innovation of the Year Award focuses on startups demonstrating exceptional Innovation & Creativity, significant Market Disruption, and demonstrable Scalability. This year’s selection process was highly competitive, with hundreds of applicants vying for a spot on the short list. From this impressive pool, only 30 startups have been selected to move forward.

The stakes are high for these top contenders. The top five startups will have the exclusive opportunity to pitch their groundbreaking ideas live at VivaTech on June 11. Following these pitches, the ultimate winner will be revealed at the VivaTech Global Awards Ceremony on June 12. The grand prize includes a prominent pitch slot at the awards ceremony, a complimentary Startup Corner at VivaTech 2026, and a coveted position in the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200.

Judges were profoundly impressed by the quality and vision of this year’s applicants. Examples range from innovative applications turning glasses into self-driving guide dogs to photonic chips that could revolutionize computing and methods for converting mining waste into effective carbon sinks. The selected startups showcase breakthrough thinking addressing critical real-world challenges.

Other notable innovations include microrobot swarms designed for space exploration, AI systems capable of interpreting brain activity to control devices, and bioelectronic implants engineered to combat brain cancer. These startups are extending the boundaries of science, design, and engineering, particularly in vital areas such as sustainability, advanced human-machine interfaces, advanced diagnostic tools, and accessible healthcare solutions.

The selected startups are not merely addressing current problems; they are proactively constructing the future. The selection process to determine the five finalists, and ultimately the winner, promises to be exceptionally challenging, given the high caliber of innovation demonstrated by each of the Top 30 startups. Each of these startups has already distinguished itself.

Here are the VivaTech 2025 Innovation of the Year Award top 30 startups, as chosen by VivaTech in partnership with TechCrunch: