ucked away in the depths of MWC was an entire hall dedicated to 4YFN, an initiative aimed at bolstering startups.

At a Pitch the Press event, I had the opportunity to speak with startup founders who, despite representing completely different industries, countries, and growth stages, shared one thing in common: using today's AI to solve practical problems.

In under-15-minute speed-dating sessions, I got a glimpse into each company's ethos, mission, and milestones and came away impressed. Here are the highlights:

• Ultralytics: This open-source platform is helping millions of developers democratize computer vision. Founded in 2022, the company has since accumulated 125,000 GitHub stars, 500 clients, and 2.5 billion inferences. Some applications of the technology include defect detection in manufacturing, order and package size verification, and medical research examinations.
• Biorce: This AI solution helps clinical trial researchers design and develop trials faster. Its clients include biotech and pharmaceutical companies across Spain, APAC, and now the US. Founded in 2024, the company closed one of the largest seed rounds in Spanish startup history, raising over $52 million.
• NeuralTrust: This cybersecurity platform for AI gives enterprises a firewall-like layer to detect sensitive data leakage, prompt injections, hallucinations, and more. Founded two years ago, the company has since earned backing from the EU, which has also invested in the platform.

Other startups I spoke to included DRUO, a direct-debit payment method; Sycai Medical, an AI imaging solution for pre-cancerous detection; and Medwise AI, an AI search engine built for doctors. The full 4YFN exhibitors list has lots of other startups worth a look.

Our Deeper View

When thinking about AI startups, it's easy to focus on the companies building flashy things like frontier models. But the founders highlighted above tell a different story: there is plenty of room to build beyond the model layer, by developing solutions that put these technologies to work. When I spoke with the co-founder of Medwise AI, Keith Tsui, he shared that he thinks it is “unwise” to build your own model because you can’t keep up with frontier models. While much of the focus remains on the models themselves, it's good to remember that there's a lot of value accruing in novel applications and applied solutions.