The final of Pizza Pitch took place at Astana Hub, where the inclusive startup Hearo was announced the winner. In total, ten teams presented their projects to a panel of experts and members of the tech community.
Pizza Pitch received over 65 applications, with ten teams selected through an online process. The winner was Hearo, an app that connects people with hearing disabilities and helps them learn international sign language.
The project’s founder, Amina Usina, believes that Hearo can make sign language accessible to everyone.
Hearo was created with the goal of breaking communication barriers for people with hearing disabilities. “We realized that international sign language is still inaccessible to many, so we are developing an app that makes the learning process easy, simple, and interactive — with the help of AI capable of recognizing gestures in real life,” the team explained.
The second-place winner was the startup Aspan, an educational app that transforms learning into an interactive gaming experience. CortexAI took third place with its AI-based solution for diagnosing oncological diseases.
Pizza Pitch is part of the large IT technopark ecosystem in Central Asia, Astana Hub, which was established in 2018. The event is an informal platform where startups can showcase their projects and network in a relaxed “pizza” format.
Participants deliver a 3-minute PDF presentation, and after the final bell, startups receive expert evaluations. Winners of Pizza Pitch are awarded prizes from event partners.
