Big Ideas, Bold Pitches: Inside Sui Tank with Kevin O’Leary

At SuiFest 2025, five builder teams stepped onto their biggest stage yet: Sui Tank, where $150,000 in funding was up for grabs. With Kevin O’Leary joining Mysten Labs Co-Founders Adeniyi Abiodun and Kostas Chalkias on the judges’ panel, the event turned high-stakes pitching into a celebration of the creativity and community shaping the Sui ecosystem.

The teams stood waiting backstage, their slides rehearsed, anxiously waiting for their moment in front of the judges. When the lights came up, so did the energy. Sui Tank had officially begun.

But unlike the TV version of a pitch competition, this wasn’t a battle for equity or survival. At SuiFest, Sui Tank invited builders to step into the spotlight to test their ideas and showcase creativity, to get feedback from some of the most recognizable names around, and even some funding.

Pressure is a privilege

Sui Tank brought five teams to the stage, with each judge able to award up to $10,000 to any project, for a potential award total of $30,000. With real funding and live feedback on the line, each team approached the stage with their own way of standing out.

When pitching finally began, months of building came down to a few minutes on stage. “It was probably the most nervous I’ve ever felt before a pitch,” admitted Zac Steele, CEO and Co-Founder of Flashback. “With thousands of community members and a panel of seriously successful entrepreneurs watching your every move, saying I was locked in would be an understatement. But pressure is a privilege.”

That feeling echoed across every team. Some lightened the mood with props or playful staging—Noodles sent one team member dressed as a cup of noodles—while others relied on creative storytelling to connect with the audience and judges. Between laughs, applause, and a few sharp questions from the judges, it was clear this was more than a pitch competition, it was an opportunity for builders to put their visions to the test with real money up for grabs.

And while Kevin O’Leary’s presence added star power, his curiosity grounded the session. “I’m always looking for what’s coming and what’s new,” he told the crowd. “And, definitely, Sui is it.”

Join us as we take a closer look at the five teams that stepped onto the stage — their ideas, their moments in the spotlight, and what it was like to survive the Sui Tank!

DoubleUp Eats

Sometimes innovation starts close to home. DoubleUp Eats began as a way to simplify placing food delivery orders, but has since evolved into something greater. Leveraging DoubleUp to add a social element, DoubleUp Eats introduces rewards, mini-games, and community challenges to food delivery.

The judges saw real potential in the concept, with Adeniyi encouraging the team to think bigger, to develop DoubleUp Eats into a full platform.

Business Development Manager of DoubleUp, Mike Aguilar, shared that the experience at SuiFest was unforgettable. “Over 500 people came by our booth, and then we got to pitch to Kevin O’Leary all in the same day,” he said. “The atmosphere was crazy, everyone was engaged and curious. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

Flashback

Flashback is reimagining how companies manage and store their data. Instead of locking users into one cloud provider, it combines multiple storage options, from AWS to Walrus, in a single, automated system. For Zac Steele, CEO and Co-Founder of Flashback, the chance to present their vision live on stage was both exhilarating and validating. He described the event as “the most nervous I’ve ever felt before a pitch,” but said the recognition that followed made every moment worth it.

That recognition was well-earned: the judges awarded Flashback the largest award possible, $30,000 total. Zac reflected that Sui’s culture of collaboration made the event uniquely rewarding, adding, “Sui has such a rapidly growing ecosystem with so many exciting projects launching all the time. As a founder, you want to build in a place that’s expanding fast, gives you opportunities to participate, and has a genuinely collaborative community. Sui ticks all of those boxes.”

LockIn

For LockIn, the journey began with a common frustration: losing track of conversations and tasks buried in endless Telegram threads. The team built a solution that combines chat and task management while preserving privacy through Nautilus, securing off-chain computation, and Seal, ensuring encrypted data access.

Co-Founder Jesse Sum explained that their choice to build on Sui came naturally, having already worked closely with the ecosystem in other avenues. “We’ve worked with Sui before and were already part of this great community,” he said, noting that the event opened new doors. “After pitching, so many people came up to chat, give feedback, and share ideas. The community support was amazing.”

Their pitch mixed sharp ideas with humor, featuring a literal “rug pull” that got the crowd’s attention. At the end, they left with feedback from the judges encouraging them to think bigger about how the product could serve wider audiences, along with some cash to continue building.

Noodles

Noodles is building an onchain analytics tool that makes it easy to explore tokens, charts, and trends across Sui’s DeFi ecosystem. The team’s pitch was as memorable as its branding, complete with a team member dressed as a literal cup of noodles and a “Slurp-to-Earn” contest at their booth.

The energy paid off. Noodles impressed the judges enough to earn one of the highest awards of the session, coming out with over $25,000.

Co-Founder Adrian Briones described what it felt like to be on stage. “Watching Kevin O’Leary take notes while you’re pitching is an indescribable feeling,” he said. “It wasn’t just fun though, a lot of people approached us afterward with ideas for partnerships and support. Sui’s community is incredibly active and eager to try new products.”

PlaiPin

PlaiPin was inspired by point-and-click games and an observation that many players shared a small but meaningful habit: carrying collectible charms that reflected their personality. That observation became the seed for PlaiPin, a social identity platform built on Sui.

The live demo during the event made PlaiPin stand out, as PlaiPin was the only team to show a product in real time. Even after receiving Kevin O’Leary’s signature tough-love feedback, PlaiPin Founder Natalie remained optimistic about the path ahead. “There’s so much interesting new tech coming out on Sui,” she said. “Poseidon, privacy and data tools, even robots onchain, it’s an exciting time to experiment and keep building.”

Beyond the Tank

By the end of the session, it was clear Sui Tank wasn’t just about the prizes. The judges shared feedback and encouragement, turning into a genuine exchange between builders and mentors.

For the builders, the real takeaway wasn’t the size of the check but the experience of having their work analyzed and critiqued on stage for the world to see. This not only gives them greater insight into their own product’s potential but also adds to the collective momentum driving the Sui ecosystem forward.

As Zac from Flashback put it, “SuiFest just took it to another level. I honestly think it was even better than the main conference.” That feeling captured what Sui Tank represented: not a competition, but an opportunity for founders to test their ideas in public and learn from each other. Sui Tank may have ended when the lights dimmed, but the ideas, feedback, and momentum will keep driving builders long after the stage.