Coreshell Wins $1M at Startup World Cup 2025

Written By Rich Foreman

On October 17, 2025, the Startup World Cup Grand Finale wrapped after a full day of rapid-fire pitches, panels, and investor Q&A. Ten startups—selected from regional winners across six continents—took the main stage. When the judges returned, they named Coreshell the champion and awarded the $1,000,000 investment prize. The winning pitch focused on electric-vehicle batteries that use metallurgical silicon anodes to deliver longer range at lower cost, with an emphasis on scalable manufacturing.

Runners-Up

  • 2nd place — Intuition Robotics (Israel): Creator of ElliQ, an AI companion that supports healthy aging at home.

  • 3rd place — BuuPass (Kenya): A platform for long-distance bus and transport ticketing and payments across Africa.

The Grand Finale capped a three-day program: semi-finals to narrow the field to the top ten, a corporate innovation seminar, and the final pitch competition. Thousands of founders, operators, and investors attended, with talks and fireside chats interspersed between the pitches.

Startup World Cup is organized annually and runs more than a hundred regional events worldwide. Regional winners advance to the semi-finals and then the Grand Finale for a shot at the $1M investment prize. This year’s result puts a spotlight on practical, scalable climate and health innovations—and underscores how global the competition has become.

Rich Foreman
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