CO2 Angels, MindFood AI, Tecky, Faur.ai, and Fynalyze win big at Innovation Labs 2025 in Romania

Five standout tech startups emerged as winners at the Innovation Labs 2025 Demo Day, the grand finale of Romania’s leading tech pre-acceleration program. CO2 Angels, MindFood AI, Tecky, Faur.ai, and Fynalyze won the Grand Prize, Investment Prize, Best Emerging Startup, Best Product, and Public Vote awards.

CO2 Angels impressed the jury with its AI-driven solution that uses satellite data to monitor soil carbon, aiming to reduce costs and boost productivity for farmers. Their performance earned them the top distinction of the event, presented by Innovation Labs co-founder Andrei Pitiș and Romanian-American Foundation president Roxana Vitan.

MindFood AI, awarded the Investment Prize by strategic partner Early Game Ventures, presented a smart app that analyzes photos of meals to deliver instant nutritional insights and personalized diet recommendations. Cristian Munteanu, founder of Early Game Ventures, handed over the EUR 500,000 investment award to the team.

The Best Emerging Startup trophy went to Tecky, a team of high school students developing a virtual AI-powered assistant that automates repetitive computer tasks through natural language commands. Răzvan Rughiniș, co-founder of Innovation Labs, presented the award.

Faur.ai received the Best Product award for its flexible platform that streamlines the adoption of generative AI in businesses, enabling everything from text generation to video and image processing.

Meanwhile, Fynalyze won the Public Vote trophy, capturing the audience’s support with its AI-based platform that helps financial institutions meet compliance standards and automate internal workflows.

Out of the 262 teams that applied through hackathons in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, and Timișoara, only 17 startups made it to the Demo Day stage. The event marked the culmination of an intensive 10-week mentorship journey, with teams evolving from idea to validated product.

(Photo source: the organizers)