Alibaba overhauls CoCreate Pitch startup competition for 2026 with a focus on AI innovation

Alibaba.com has announced the return of CoCreate Pitch, now reworked as an AI powered product innovation competition with a total prize pool of over $1 million.

The US and Europe finals will take place during CoCreate 2026 in Los Angeles (9th-10th September) and London (19th-20th November), respectively, with a new Asia-Pacific regional round launching this year.

“In a world where execution is automated, your perspective is your greatest asset,” says Kuo Zhang, President at Alibaba.com. “Accio Work (Alibaba’s plug and play enterprise AI agent) is the essential toolkit for every entrepreneur in this AI era, allowing anyone with a strong idea to reach the world. Now is the best time to start, and we’re excited to see what founders will build.”

This year’s competition includes three tracks:

·      General SMEs Track, for established small and medium businesses ready to scale;

·      0-to-1 Startup Track, for founders using Accio Work to bring raw ideas to life; and

·      Students Track, for current students building next-generation products.

All applicants will register through Accio Work, which now includes a dedicated CoCreate Pitch Agent to help turn early-stage concepts into structured pitch proposals and actionable plans.

Submissions will be evaluated based on innovation, feasibility and market potential, as well as how effectively participants use Accio Work to sharpen their ideas and improve execution.

The Los Angeles and London finals will each feature 20 finalists competing live at CoCreate. Winners will be selected by a panel of industry leaders and investors. In each final, the first-, second-, and third-place winners will receive $200,000, $100,000, and $50,000, respectively, while the other 17 finalists will each bag $10,000. The total prize pool for the newly introduced Asia-Pacific regional competition will be announced at a later date.

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.