Unveiling the 2024 Data Streaming Startup Challenge Finalists

Five months ago, Confluent announced the Data Streaming Startup Challenge. This exciting new initiative aims to recognize and reward early-stage startups that are building innovative applications and redefining industries with data streaming and Confluent. 

We received nearly 100 applications from 22 countries around the world and were blown away by the exciting new use cases these early-stage pioneers were creating with data streaming architecture. But three companies stood out above the rest for their creativity and potential. 

So without further ado, join us in congratulating this year’s three global finalists in the Data Streaming Startup Challenge!

Atomic Tessallator (Auckland, NZ): Atomic Tessellator is an AI-powered, real-time computational chemistry platform with a focus on small molecule chemistry. "Atomic Tessellator is a prime example of a customer using real-time data pipelines to create a brand-new industry category,” says Peter Bershatsky, VP of corporate development at Confluent. “We're delighted to support innovative startups like Atomic Tessallator that are disrupting entire industries, as they have the potential for a huge impact on human health as well as a great return for their investors." 

One of Atomic Tessellator’s key differentiators is the use of Confluent’s data streaming platform to achieve high-throughput simulations with real-time feedback. “Confluent tremendously speeds up our rate of innovation and discovery,” says Alain Richardt, Atomic Tessellator’s founder and CEO. “Tight feedback loops using the Confluent streaming architecture means we can take a more modern approach to data pipelines—having our experiments continually refine themselves in real time rather than wait for outdated batch workloads.” 

Busie (Kingston, NY): Busie is the operating system for group transportation. Their end-to-end charter platform facilitates the digitization and modernization of transportation providers’ sales and operational workflows. The company's platform offers online booking services that feature instant quoting, seamless interaction, dynamic pricing, and real-time analytics along with an online routing software application, enabling clients to grow their charter business, save time and money, and improve efficiency and conversions. 

“Busie leverages Confluent to enhance the agility, responsiveness, and overall efficiency of their complex logistics and transportation operations,” says Kevin McGee, VP, digital native and emerging markets at Confluent. “It’s a perfect use case for this powerful technology.” 

Confluent allows Busie to perform asynchronous inter-service communication, reducing the overall complexity of Busie's architecture as well as the operational burden of adding or removing business capabilities according to business requirements. “Confluent has a massive role in enabling us to revolutionize an entire industry,” said Brady Perry, co-founder and CTO of Busie. “Our clients are amazed at the speed and agility with which we can iterate on our product to add business value, and it’s our ability to build on top of Confluent’s robust, feature rich, and ever improving platform that ensures our ability to do just that.”

TwinLabs.ai (London, UK): TwinLabs.ai is a real-time SaaS digital twin platform that makes digital twins easy using AI. A digital twin is a virtual model of a real-world object, system, or place. It mirrors the physical entity, collecting and analyzing data in real time to monitor conditions, optimize performance, and support decision-making. The TwinLabs.ai platform is initially focused on the sports and entertainment industry and can be used to monitor events and venues in real time, from venue asset utilization, festival crowds and race vehicle management to environmental impact.

TwinLabs.ai really impressed Kai Waehner, Confluent’s field CTO. “Digital twin is a very valuable concept across industries, not just for Industrial IoT,” he says. “With the scalability, flexibility, and true application decoupling of the data streaming platform, TwinLabs.ai enables fast and simple rollouts of digital twins across business units, partners, and open APIs.” The TwinLabs.ai platform uses Confluent to ingest, integrate, and process diverse data sources in real time and in a scalable manner. “As an early-stage startup there is a lot to do!,” says Tim Wade, TwinLabs.ai’s CTO. “Moving to Confluent Cloud has been critical in simplifying our whole data pipeline, allowing our small team to focus on what matters most to our customers—a digital twin that just works.”

The finals of the Data Streaming Startup Challenge will take place on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at Kafka Summit London. Come watch as each finalist makes their “Shark Tank”-style pitch in front of our panel of distinguished judges—including investment partners from three of the most successful venture firms in the world: Benchmark Capital’s Eric Vishria, Index Ventures’ Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas, and Sequoia Capital’s Matt Miller—as well as approximately 2,000 of your fellow attendees during the morning keynote session. The grand prize winner will receive up to a $500,000 investment from Confluent; the two runners-up will receive up to $250,000 each.

Congratulations to our three global finalists and good luck in the finals at Kafka Summit London!

Register to attend Kafka Summit London with the promo code PRMSTCH24 to receive a 30% discount and see the winner of the Data Streaming Startup Challenge announced live on stage!