In 2015, Climate-KIC will organise the fifth edition of their Venture Competition. The competition will see Climate-KIC start-ups, selected for the major impact they have on climate change, compete for the title of Europe’s Best Cleantech Start-up 2015.
And in keeping with tradition, the Venture Competition will be held during the Climate-KIC Innovation Festival. Birmingham will host this year’s edition, from 28 to 30 October 2015. On Wednesday the 28th the semi-finals of the Venture Competition will take place with the big final on Thursday the 29th.
The competing teams
The teams selected to take part in this year’s competition represent some of today’s most promising start-ups. Each of these start-ups has the potential to become a leader in Europe when it comes to providing commercial solutions to climate change. During the next few months, each national and regional Climate-KIC centre will organise a series of preliminary finals, with the best two teams progressing to the European Final. These European Finalists will be invited to pitch their start-up to a jury of experienced entrepreneurs, financiers and business people.
All competing start-ups must be legally incorporated at the local registry/Chamber of Commerce (for less than 3 years) and able to put forward a team of at least 3 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs). They need to be participating in the Climate-KIC Accelerator Stage 2 or 3 and have developed a marketable product with a European perspective and the potential to expand globally. Finally, the teams must be ready to professionally pitch and market their concept to a large audience.
What’s in it for the winners
All finalists benefit from the opportunity to pitch to a group of potential customers and investors on an EU stage. In addition, the Venture Competition winners will receive a cash award of €40,000, while there’s €20,000 for the runner-up and €5,000 for third place. Climate-KIC will also be on hand with publicity support (winners typically receive in excess of 1,000,000 website hits) and the winning start-up will have the opportunity to represent Climate-KIC at the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Entrepreneurship Awards.
The teams participating in the European Finals are presented here.