Alibaba CoCreate Pitch competition sees 2026 surge in solo entrepreneurs as AI lowers startup barriers
Alibaba has released insights from more than 15,000 applications it has received to date for its global CoCreate Pitch competition. The findings reveal that AI is rapidly reshaping entrepreneurship, with 71% of applicants identifying as one-person businesses, up from 40% in last year’s competition.
Of these solo founders, 89% said AI tools are essential to their entrepreneurial journey, helping them fill critical capability gaps in areas such as industrial design, coding and marketing. Over 70% of entrepreneur applicants to the CoCreate Pitch competition are now building with AI, a significant jump from last year. This surge is cross-generational, with usage rates surpassing 80% across all age groups, from Gen Z to Millennials to Gen Xers born before 1980.
Alibaba announced the return of CoCreate Pitch last month, with a total prize pool of more than $1 million and competition finals taking place in both the US and Europe. The competition has received applications from entrepreneurs across 132 countries to date.
“This year’s application trends show that AI is rewriting the rules of entrepreneurship and fueling the rise of one-person companies, making it possible for one person to accomplish in a single day what used to require multiple specialists,” says Liz Wang, Global Head of Commercial Strategy at Alibaba.com. “We reduced the CoCreate Pitch application form to just six fields because AI can understand the depth behind even a simple pitch, instantly identifying pain points, logic and potential. This points to the future of agent to agent commerce, where AI can interact with suppliers, logistics providers and factories on a business owner’s behalf, helping small businesses compete and win in the next era.”
Nearly 35% of US applicants cited burnout from their current jobs as a key motivation for starting their own businesses. US founders also showed a strong “idea first” pattern: 40.5% had not yet secured a contract manufacturer, but had already built polished brand websites and 3D product renderings.
Applicants from the United Kingdom stood out for the high share of professionals pursuing entrepreneurship. Nearly 12% currently work as doctors, nurses or physical therapists, while 10% work in engineering or technology and 6% in finance or consulting. In France and Germany, sustainability stood out as a defining entrepreneurial theme. Across applicants from these two markets, 19% of projects focused on environmentally friendly or sustainable products.
This year, CoCreate Pitch is divided into three tracks: the General SMEs Track, the 0-to-1 Startup Track and the Students Track. The 0-to-1 Startup Track, designed for founders using Accio Work (Alibaba’s plug and play enterprise AI agent built for SMEs) to bring raw ideas to life, currently accounts for 65% of all applications.
The US and Europe finals will take place during CoCreate 2026 in Los Angeles on 9th-10th September and in London on 19th-20th November respectively.
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.
