New York – The World Economic Forum announced its latest selection of Technology Pioneers, consisting of 36 of the world’s most innovative technology start-ups. These companies are being recognised for their potential to transform the future of business and society. Their achievements will be honoured at the Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2013 in Dalian, People’s Republic of China, from 11 to 13 September.
Viki was recognised for its groundbreaking subtitling technology, which enables its community of viewers from around the world to subtitle TV shows, movies and music videos into more than 160 different languages. The technology helps people break down the traditional barriers of language and culture that stand between great entertainment and new audiences. Viki’s community of volunteer-fans has subtitled more than 400 million words — the equivalent of 10,000 novels — in under three years.
“We’re thrilled and honoured to be recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Tech Pioneer for 2014,” said Razmig Hovaghimian, Viki CEO and co-founder. “By removing the wedge that has stood between great entertainment and its fans, we’re being honoured for opening up the world to great content previously trapped by geographical boundaries.”
“The impact of technology continues to increase in all aspects of society,” said David Aikman, Managing Director, Head of New Champions at the World Economic Forum. “The diversity of the innovative thinking and possible solutions they offer are why leaders from all sectors of society are interested in interacting with the Technology Pioneers.”
Some of this year’s Technology Pioneers are being acknowledged for their efforts to cure genetic diseases, provide affordable drinking water and enable access to higher education, as well as to create innovative approaches to distributing natural light in buildings and offering wireless charging for electronic devices.
Technology Pioneers are a part of the World Economic Forum’s community of pioneers, disruptors and innovators. These New Champions help other Forum members to better understand the future context of how business and society is being transformed.
The Technology Pioneers for 2014 are (in alphabetical order): Adtelligence, Advantix Systems, Agios Pharmaceuticals, Airbnb, Alphabet Energy, AppNexus, BIND Therapeutics, bluebird bio, Bug Agentes Biologicos, Codecademy, Coursera, Cyberdyne, Data4, Dnevnik.ru, D-Rev: Design Revolution , EcoNation, Foundation Medicine, GitHub, Jana, Kaggle, Kebony, Koemei, Lenddo, LiveU, Natera, Nest Labs, Oasys Water, OMC Power, Rethink Robotics, Second Sight Medical Products, Selecta Biosciences, SunPartner, SynTouch, TruTag Technologies, Viki and Witricity Corporation.
Previous Technology Pioneers include Google (2001), Mozilla Corporation (2007), Wikimedia (2008), Twitter (2010), Dropbox (2012), SoundCloud (2013), Kickstarter (2012), Qifang (2009), MC10 (2013), TaKaDu (2011), NetQin (2011), BloomEnergy (2010), Recyclebank (2009), 23&Me (2008), MBA polymers (2007) and Monitise (2006)
Each year the World Economic Forum chooses a select number of Technology Pioneers from hundreds of applicants. Candidate companies are nominated by Members, constituents and collaborators of the World Economic Forum, and by the public. A selection committee, comprised of top technology and innovation experts, academics and venture capitalists, reviews all applications before making its recommendation to the World Economic Forum.
The Technology Pioneers 2014 will be awarded for their achievements in a ceremony on 12 September at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2013. The Meeting is the foremost global business gathering in Asia, which brings together leaders from top-ranked multinationals and chief executive officers of dynamic and fast-growing companies.
