World Economic Forum Honors 31 Startups as “Technology Pioneers”

From Audrey Watters in ReadWriteWeb:

As I argued earlier this week, words like “disruptive,” “innovative,” and “transformational” can lose their punch when applied to every new company, every new product, every new feature. But there are undoubtedly plenty of areas in which innovation and transformation are not just happening and warranted, but absolutely crucial.

It is with that in mind that each year the World Economic Forum selects a group of startups to honor as Technology Pioneers. The WEF announced the recipients of the 2011 award today – 31 companies selected from over 300 nominations from 13 different countries.

The startups selected are rated in terms of innovation, impact, growth, proof of concept, and leadership. Over 450 companies have been honored since the award began in 2000, and past winners include Twitter and crisis mapping platform Ushahidi.

For more …