The Builder Series is where semifinalist startups build, refine, and prepare for what is next. Across five focused weeks, student founders move from insight to execution through mentor connections, technical sessions with GitHub and Replit, and dedicated pitch preparation. Each moment is designed to strengthen what they are building and how they show it.
With submissions closing on January 9, selected startups advance into the semifinals and step into this experience. From meeting their mentors to participating in build labs and pitch clinics, founders sharpen their product, their story, and their readiness for the global stage.
In the semifinals, startups present live and step into the next level of the competition.
They pitch in front of a panel of AI experts, startup founders, and investors, each bringing real-world experience in building, scaling, and backing technology. Through live Q&A and direct feedback, startups gain insight that challenges their thinking, strengthens their approach, and helps move their solution forward.
Meet the semifinals judges (listed in alphabetical order):
Mike Abbott
Mike Abbott is a Partner at Antler, co-leading its Australian operations and backing founders from day zero through scale. With a background in equity capital markets and M&A, he was an early Uber leader in Asia and later Head of Operations for Australia and New Zealand, helping scale the business from a small team to a multi-billion-dollar operation. As cofounder of Kaddy, a B2B marketplace acquired within three years, he brings deep experience in building, scaling, and investing in startups.
Todd Anglin
Todd Anglin is a Partner Developer Relations Lead at Microsoft with proven experience building and scaling high-performing teams. With a background spanning web and mobile development, cloud native platforms, and low code tools, he has led product, developer relations, and go-to-market efforts across growing technology companies. Known for his strength in communication, he brings the ability to translate complex technical concepts for any audience while helping teams move quickly and build with impact.
Rania Awad
Rania Awad is Chief Strategy Officer at Helfie.AI and a strategic leader at the intersection of AI, healthcare, and digital transformation. With experience across SaaS, health tech, and global digital businesses, she has led high-impact initiatives that turn bold ideas into scalable outcomes. Known for her cross-functional leadership and strong commercial lens, she brings a focus on connecting strategy to execution to drive meaningful impact.
Rick Clause
Rick Claus is a Cloud Advocate Team Lead at Microsoft with over 25 years of experience in the IT industry. As part of the Developer Relations Cloud Advocacy team, he focuses on enabling cross-team collaboration and engaging global technical communities around Azure and hybrid cloud solutions. With a background in enterprise architecture, virtualization, and technical training, he brings deep expertise in connecting product, engineering, and technical audiences to improve the overall customer experience.
Sonia Cuff
Sonia Cuff leads the Cloud Native & Linux team inside Microsoft's Developer Relations division, connecting with technical communities worldwide. She has over 30 years’ experience in tech, from large enterprises and government to small businesses and partners. Sonia is passionate about the connection between technology and business.
Mal Filipowska
Małgorzata (Mal) Filipowska is a venture capitalist with nearly a decade of experience investing in early-stage companies across emerging markets. As part of Seedstars International Ventures, a fund backed by global institutions including the World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, and Visa Foundation, she manages a portfolio of over 130 companies across 40 countries, supporting founders across diverse and high-growth markets. She brings deep insight into scaling startups in these regions and a strong perspective on early-stage growth.
Alexandra Miele
Alexandra Miele leads Platform at HOF Capital, where she drives portfolio engagement and builds strategic partnerships across the firm’s global network. With experience spanning venture, private capital, and institutional investing, she previously served as a Partner at a family office managing a $1B+ portfolio and held leadership roles at Rockefeller Capital Management and Goldman Sachs. She brings deep insight into alternative investments, growth strategy, and supporting companies from early stage through scale.
Nigel Parker
Nigel Parker is a technology leader with over 30 years of experience across cloud, data platforms, machine learning, and AI. Having led global engineering and architecture teams, including serving as Chief Engineer for Microsoft Asia Commercial Software Engineering, he co-founded Vivara, an AI-driven wellbeing platform and works as a Data & AI consultant at Arinco (The Artificial Intelligence Company). He brings deep expertise in building scalable systems, integrating AI, and designing technology with a strong focus on human outcomes.
Sarah Thiam
Sarah Thiam is the founder and CEO of Germina Labs, a AI x Web3 studio focused on developer-facing products, programs and tooling. With a product and developer relations background at Microsoft, Protocol Labs and the Singapore government, she brings a well-rounded perspective to scaling technical ecosystems.
Zhen Li
Zhen Li created Replit Agent and leads the AI team at Replit, building AI agents that turn ideas into real products. With experience building startups and AI agent, He brings deep expertise in developing intelligent tools that accelerate how software is built and shipped.
Up next
The top three startups will advance to the World Championship, where they will compete on the global stage for the title and a $100,000 USD prize, along with a mentorship session with Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft.
This is where everything comes together, as startups step forward to showcase what they have built and how they are ready to scale.
Follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, X and Facebook for the latest updates, startups announcements, and moments leading up to the World Championship.
