ITEXPO 2025, part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW, has come to a close, and the final event was the IDEA Showcase Startup Pitches & Reception.
Startups are of vital importance. They help drive innovation, economic growth and job creation. They introduce groundbreaking ideas, challenge traditional industries and push technological advancements that improve efficiency and quality of life. In many cases, startups also drive social change by addressing pressing global challenges, such as sustainability, healthcare and education.
Erik Linask (News - Alert), group editorial director, TMC, was emcee of the showcase and introduced the judges:
- Terry Cusse, founder and CEO, Impactifi.
- Terry Ingram, founder and CEO, Ingram Advisory Group.
- Tahl Milburn, board member and investor, Seedfunders.
- Rhys Williams, co-founder and investor, New World Angels.
- Akshay Sharma (News - Alert), technology advisor, Lionfish Advisors.
AP2T Labs was first of the startups with Reese Tuttle, founder, president, chief technology officer, presenting. AP2T Labs is Cyber Threat Research and Training platform that is designed to strengthen organizational defenses through continuous, integrated training and realistic threat simulations. AP2T Labs uses AI and machine learning to analyze user behavior, real-world threat factors and sourced intelligence to deliver an adaptive and highly effective cybersecurity training experience.
RagMetrics was second with Olivier Cohen, chief business officer, presenting. Testing AI apps is manual, expensive, slow and ineffective. Humans are really slow at testing AI. RagMetrics removes the human bottleneck by making the LLM itself the judge. RagMetrics accelerates experimentation 100x without losing control.
Next up was Dan Fitzgerald, founder of Rosi Giving. Rosi Giving is a comprehensive and transparent easy-to-use giving platform. Rosi Giving empowers people to come together and meaningfully support causes that are important to them anytime, anywhere and in any way possible. The plan is to transform charitable giving by creating a trusted, transparent platform and community for consumers, charities and corporations that make the process easier, more personal and where everyone sees and shares the impact of their contributions.
Ajay Dankar, co-founder and CEO, of Trussed AI, came onto the stage next. Trussed AI enables teams building GenAI and Agentic AI platforms to centralize LLM access and streamline lifecycle management. All of that is done to ensure resilience, controlling costs and powering seamless operations from POC to production.
Nicolas Fry, founder and CEO, of TurboDocx, was next. Traditional document creation workflows cause friction, delay deals and divert time and attention away from other priorities that drive growth. TurboDocx automates the document creation process. With TurboDocx's AI-assisted templating platform, users generate contracts, proposal, statements of work, and more, with a few clicks.
Danielle Newman, founder and CEO, Walky; and Jeremiah Newman, co-founder, CMO, Walky, presented next. Walky is an exclusive, closed-network platform that enables in-person connections with the goal to bring students back to campus and ensure their continued presence. Walky is focused on helping students forge meaningful friendships in a safe environment without the pressures of comments, likes and ads. With Walky, students can go on walks together on campus, create events and collaborate on innovative ideas to launch right out of their school. Walky’s filters let students find new peers by similar interests, shared languages or physical activities to name a few.
Lastly was Vinay Mamidi, CEO, Whiteswan Identity Security. Whiteswan is set to shake up cybersecurity by unifying identity management and security controls in one platform. The platform: protecting digital assets with advanced Zero Trust principles, securing apps and infrastructure through passwordless access, just-in-time privileges and advanced identity threat detection.
After the pitches were made, Nikki Cabus, CEO, South Florida Tech Hub, came out onto the stage. South Florida Tech Hub is the sponsor of the IDEA Showcase.
And...drum roll, please...the winners:
- Judge’s winners: Trussed AI, first place; Whiteswan Identity Security, second place; and Turbodocx, third place.
- Audience (News - Alert) winners: Turbodocx, first place; AP2T Labs, second; and Walky, third place.
The winners will receive support packages from South Florida Tech Hub, Delta and Ingram Advisory Group.
That wraps up ITEXPO (News - Alert) 2025. Hope to see y’all again next year!
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
