The prestigious international BOLD Awards recognizes top companies, projects and individuals powering breakthroughs around the world in open innovation, AI, sustainability and numerous technology sectors. At a gala dinner ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, an international crowd celebrated the BOLD Awards VI winners – leading innovators who have created breakthroughs.
BOLD Awards was created by Crowdsourcing Week to establish a high recognition platform that celebrates and honours the BOLD innovators and disruptors from all four corners of the world. The audience at this year’s gala dinner award ceremony, which included attendees from North America, Europe and Asia, witnessed the awards we presented to winners in various digital industries.
The event itself was held at the magnificent Pestana Palace Hotel, located in the heart of Lisbon, Portugal. It is a restored 19th century palace and a listed national monument. In the 15th century, Lisbon was the departure point for many of Europe’s top explorers who opened routes to the Americas, Africa and Asia. Today, while modern day explorers prepare to head to Mars, Lisbon is a notable modern hub for digital nomads and remote workers who conduct their business all around the world online, enjoying the city’s culture, cuisine and 300 days a year of sunshine.
Pre-Awards Presentations
Before the Awards were announced, Rick Verma, Head of Digital at digital payments service provider Tipalti in London, UK, and Russell Martin, Tipalti’s Director of Integrated Marketing, presented their thoughts on The Challenge of Scaling Business. Central to that theme is the never-ending quest to raise investment funding, all the way from pre-Seed to Series E and beyond. Also, speed of action is an asset, though it must be managed the right way. And these guys know what they are talking about: within five years, Tipalti has grown from a startup to employing 1,2000 people around the world.
After the Tipalti presentation, Epi shared some of the insights and challenges that innovators face in current markets. He mentioned that the agency of Change is Here in this Room, and called for everyone to join in a group affirmation to make change happen. It is a commitment no-one else can take away from us: you either believe you can bring about change, or you don’t. So believe it, and go all the way!
A keynote presentation was delivered by José Luis Cordeiro, author of The Death of Death. His book provides an accessible, clear, and entertaining overview of the near-term prospects for using technology to eliminate disease and death. Scientific research has shown that aging can be reversed. The scientific and medical community is ironically learning from cancer, whose cells do not age, to prolong life expectancy far beyond current norms. A recent article in Time Magazine explains more about this topic.
Then it was time to announce the BOLD Awards 6th edition winners. Initial entry submissions had been reduced to a shortlist of up to seven nominees per category by online public voting. In the second stage, those votes were combined with the assessments of an international panel of judges to finalize the winners. The Awards thus combined the power of the crowd, the judges’ expert insight, and the inspiration and hard work of exceptional entrepreneurs, disruptors and innovators.
In presenting the awards, BOLD Awards CEO Epi Ludvik was assisted by Bryan Kramer, a renowned entrepreneur, author and marketer, and Irina Konova, co-founder of CryptoMondays in Lisbon.
BOLD Awards VI Winners
We offer our congratulations to the BOLD Awards VI winners of each of the categories. Here is the full list of the winners on the night.
Boldest AI, presented by LXT. FundamentalVR
Boldest Cybersecurity. WIBU Systems
Boldest AR / VR. FundamentalVR & American Academy of Ophthalmology
Boldest Mobility. CarHunt
Boldest Blockchain. AdLunam Inc.
Boldest Marketplace. BILI Social
Boldest Crowdsourcing, presented by Crowdsourcing Week. Collective Intelligence Design, …and dos Santos
Boldest eGaming, presented by Tipalti. Valiant Game Studio
Boldest Sustainability. Finish: The Torture Test Challenge
Boldest Healthtech. FundamentalVR & Philips
Boldest Insurtech. ISBIS
Boldest Crypto. AdLunam Inc.
Boldest SAAS. ISBIS
Boldest Open Innovation. Migdal
Boldest Fintech. Financial Finesse/Aimee
Boldest Edtech. Saratoga
Boldest Design. sport tv
Boldest Fashiontech. D/Sphere AI Platform
Boldest IOT. NextGenSurgery
Boldest CPG Brand, presented by Roamler. Giuseppe Pizza
Boldest Future Of Work. Augmentalix
We sincerely thank everyone who submitted entries, took part in the online voting, the international panel of judges, the category partners, and all attendees at the ceremony. The names of all the BOLD Awards were put in a hat, and Chris Scattergood of FundamentalVR won a luxury Galvarro watch. It was a unique product created for the BOLD Awards, with a value of €4,000.
Images from the event are available to view in a Facebook album.
BOLD Awards VII Edition 2026
We have been impressed hugely by the vibrancy of Lisbon, the splendour of the Pestana Palace Hotel, and the support provided by strategic partnerships with APDC (Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications) and Unicorn Factory Lisboa, two prominent organizations dedicated to fostering innovation and entrepreneurial success.
Subscribe to BOLD Awards, and follow our social media channels, to make sure you’re among the first to know when entries open and secure yours at an Earlybird Rate. You can then return to to your entry as many times as you want up to the final deadline which will be a date in December 2025.
