Awards application process

Applying for an ILPEx award is easy. Simply tell us about your business in the five areas we assess. Pay the application fee (fully refundable if you’re unsuccessful), and we’ll notify you in our quarterly event.

First, choose from one of three categories:

Award categories

For the inaugural ILPEx AI awards, there are three categories:

1. Business to business
2. Business to consumer
3. Third sector and non-profit

If your company is a mix of B2B and B2C, choose the most appropriate and explain in your application.

Size or stage of business isn’t too important other than to demonstrate traction and commercial viability. Both startups and established companies can apply for an ILPEx award.

Awards scoring criteria

Every category is scored in the same five areas:

Originality

How unique is this idea or how is it doing something differently? We understand that not all great products and business are totally revolutionary, but we’re looking for projects that have differentiating qualities. How are you standing out? Why are customers choosing you? Remember to tell us about how you’re using NLP or related technologies.

Commercial traction

What have you achieved commercially to date? We’re not only awarding well-funded businesses or those already making millions, but we are looking for signs of traction. Traction that indicates progress towards product-market fit or something scalable.

Long term viability

So you’ve got some traction, but what about the future? There must be some threats and risks on the horizon. What competitive advantages do you have? What are your defendable moats? The AI space is fast moving with dangerous players all around you, convince us you’ll stand the test of time.

Business plan and vision

Now we want some specifics about the business. What’s the strategy? What’s the vision? We’re looking for businesses that demonstrate they have a plan for growth in the next 3-5 years, showing they’ve considered technical progression, scaling a team, and handling more customers.

Founder strength

Who’s flying the rocket ship? Tell us about the founding team, their track record and why they’re well-placed to take this business forward.

Tailor your responses to fit the category the application is in.

What do companies win?

There are no set number of winners. Each entry is assessed on its merit and recognized with an ILPEx award or not. Award winners are listed in our award-winning AI company directory with a brief description of the business, why they were awarded an ILPEx and a link to their site. They may use the ILPEx award logo on their website, social media and anywhere else as a trust indicator.

Remember, entries that do not meet the criteria for an ILPEx award are refunded their application fee as there is no website administration cost (and no hard feelings!).

Above our recognition award, we also offer distinctions to exceptional entries. There are different levels of achievement and these are awarded purely on merit. There is no additional cost to be considered for these awards.

Can my entry be fast-tracked?

The ILPEx awards are handed out quarterly, but if you would like to be fast-tracked and assessed within two weeks, you can pay for fast-tracking. This does not influence the outcome of the assessment in any way.

What types of business are ineligible?

There are three main reasons that an entry would not be considered for an ILPEx award.

1. The business is an already established tech company. Think Google, HubSpot, Meta. We’re not here to champion giants of the AI world.
2. The business does not utilize any form of NLP (natural language processing) in its business. This is fundamental to our commitment to highlight businesses that are in some way making AI accessible to an audience through natural language.
3. The application has obviously been written using an LLM. Obviously(!) we’re not averse to using LLMs, but if your business is “navigating the ever-evolving landscape” of whichever niche you’re in, we’ll reject your application.