MockAI Wins Burning Heroes Startup Competition in London, Showcasing Generative AI Innovation

Top Venture Capital Firms Recognise the UK’s Most Exceptional Startups at Burning Heroes Pitch Competition

The Burning Heroes Founders Association is proud to announce the winners of its highly anticipated London Pitch Competition. The event provided a unique platform for early-stage startups to present their innovations to leading venture capitalists, including Begin Capital, Future Planet Capital, Main Set, Mercia Ventures, Palta, and Ultra.VC, Wayra, and others.

In addition to valuable networking opportunities and media exposure, selected winners received four annual subscriptions to the ‘Big Business’ plan from ANNA, the business account that automates tax management.

The final pitch event occurred on 10 February 2025 at Home Grown Members’ Club, where participants competed for awards in three categories: Best Startup, Best Product, and Best Business Model.

A Global Initiative Empowering Early-Stage Startups

The Pitch Competition is part of a global initiative led by the non-profit Burning Heroes Founders Association. It has already hosted over ten startup events across the USA, LATAM, the UK, Europe, APAC, and Africa.

Meet the Standout Startups of the Competition

🏆 Best Startup & Overall Winner: MockAI

Revolutionising the Animation Industry with AI

MockAI redefines animation technology with its intuitive, fully controllable AI-driven motion foundation model. By streamlining complex animation workflows, MockAI empowers creative professionals to produce high-quality animations with unprecedented speed and precision.

Traditional animation methods often require extensive manual effort and are time-consuming. MockAI eliminates these inefficiencies, allowing artists to focus on creativity rather than technical constraints.

🥇 Best Product: FUSS

An AI-Powered Discovery App for London’s Hidden Gems

FUSS is an AI-driven city discovery platform designed for newcomers in London. The app helps users find curated experiences, hidden gems, and exciting activities, allowing them to explore the city like a local and feel at home faster.

🏆 Best Business Model: Blend

Bringing AI-Powered Micro-Learning to Frontline Workers

Blend is an AI-powered, video-first micro-learning platform, revolutionising workplace training for frontline workers. Inspired by TikTok-style content, Blend helps hospitality businesses onboard and train staff twice as fast, while seamlessly tracking employee progress.

With the growing demand for fast, effective training solutions, Blend is reshaping skill-based learning for deskless workers.

🌟 Special Recognition: Blend

🏅 Women in Tech® Global & Ultra.VC Nomination

Blend also received a special nomination for impact-driven, women-led startups, earning a fast-track opportunity to join ULTRA.VC’s accelerator programme.

This nomination allows Blend to bypass initial selection stages and move directly to the final evaluation round, where it will receive expert feedback, mentorship, and potential investment opportunities.

ULTRA.VC, an early-stage investor with an in-house accelerator, focuses on business growth, founder well-being, and structured mentorship to support startups in scaling successfully.

Celebrating Startup Excellence in AI & Innovation

The Burning Heroes London Awards once again highlighted that AI alone is not enough—startups must demonstrate real traction, deep user understanding, and strong distribution strategies to stand out.

“This year’s Burning Heroes London Awards proved that AI alone isn’t enough—startups need real traction, a deep understanding of users, and strong distribution strategies to stand out. MockAI exemplifies this with its solid R&D and proprietary market-focused solution. Burning Heroes is proud to be a platform where high-potential startups gain visibility and connect with top investors.

This year, we were thrilled to provide such strong projects the opportunity to showcase their solutions in front of a distinguished jury panel of eight UK/EU-focused early-stage funds, making it a truly valuable experience for founders.”

– Kirill Baranov, London Contest Leader, Burning Heroes