Sophia Kirova
It seems like “the time is
now” and is right to be an entrepreneur in Europe. The recent report by Dow
Jones VentureSource showing that European startups have raised their highest quarterly total since
2001, is nothing but good news. The interesting part is, the capital that has
been intensively fueling these startups for
the past 3 months, comes mainly from the USA.
With the establishment of the
Google Ventures Europe and Index Ventures’ new fund, among
others, there seem to be many opportunities to inject some cash in your startup.
But pitching your idea to investors still happens in the old-fashioned way -
during events or through your network. This is why we have made a small
selection of upcoming startup challenges and events, which can give you a solid
push by either a cash prize or VC attention.
“Founders, high-profile investors and entrepreneurial rockstars”, The
PirAAARte Summit is a true networking event. Early-stage startups can take the
"Walk-The-Plank"-pitch challenge. On boat of this-year’s ship, there
will be 3 events and various entrance fees to choose from. For modest pirates,
there are special early-bird offers and also free tickets. But hurry, since the
free roadmaps to Treasure Island are scarce, you will have to AAARply for some.
2. RE.WORK London 18-19 September (Currently Open)
2. RE.WORK London 18-19 September (Currently Open)
A demo stage for all aspiring
leaders from Robotics to SpaceTech to EduTech. Startups have 4 minutes to demo
their product and 4 minutes for questions. Prizes are also included in the
package: a two-hour technical coaching & business mentoring one-to-one session
with iMakr and 1 year's access to GA's online on-demand videos (Front Row) plus
£200 credit to GA classes & workshops in London. Applications close on 15
August.
Webrazzi is Turkey’s most
prominent digital conference covering all things digital - Digital Marketing,
Social Media, E-commerce, Venture Capital, Angel Investment, Online Gaming,
Mobile Applications. Strong accent on the MENA startups, many keynote speakers,
industry guests, founders and media. If you check the attendees, you will spot Mike Butcher (TechCrunch)
and Robin Wauters (Tech.eu). A splendid
networking event.
The Global Webit Congress is the
the largest digital and tech annual conference held in Turkey and probably one
of the biggest in the World with more than 10,000 attendees coming form 110
different countries. During the two-day agenda of the GWC takes place the
Founders Games, which is the most startup friendly digital and tech industry
event. Webit Ambassadors Foundations commits over €1 million to startups
providing 200 of them with free expo stands, tickets and media advertising
budgets together with global partners such as IBM, Blackberry, Qualcomm,
Softlayer, BBC, MTG, ProSieben, ITP and many more. Other focus of the
Foundation is to improve the life of the people in Africa through education and
technology.
The Ukrainian Conference
gathers 300 investors, startups and leaders for 2 days in early October. 3 out
of the 150 startups that will be invited to pitch, will share a €30 total cash
prize. You need to be working in the field of Internet technology, less than 3
years old and have no more than €3M of investment.
Startup Battlefield is the
startup competition of TechCrunch Disrupt. 15 teams
pitch their products live on the Disrupt stage in front of judges, press, live
and online audience. TechCrunch’s editors, VCs, entrepreneurs and product
experts select 6 companies for a final, “drama-filled” round. The winner takes
it all - a £30,000 check and the coveted Disrupt Cup.
The startup program of Pioneers Festival in
Austria welcomes all software and hardware companies - Web & Mobile, AI,
Robotics, IoE, Space, MedTech, Fintech, Data. Startups are entitled to an
exhibit booth and compete for a pitch slot. 50 finalists get their 90 seconds
of stage fame. Success stories and more info here. Applications are open until
September 1.
Takes place within the
November MindTreck
2014 forum on tech, knowledge and media in
Tampere, Finland. The competition is open to all designers, computer
scientists, artists, economists, and engineers who can combine ubiquitous
computing and media. Prizes are in cash. Call is currently open until 31 August.
There is just one thing you
need to know about it: you couldn’t get more exposure at an event. It’s glossy
and chic and famous. Startups can exhibit for free.
You might not really be up for
a slush on a cold November day in Finland, but the event is certainly worth it.
These Finish guys’ mission: “to help the next generation of great,
world-conquering companies forward”. It is a mighty entrepreneurial community
so we can’t help but recommend it to any startup. All teams get pre-set
meetings with more than 100 VCs and a chat with many media people. You will
most certainly get featured in the news as a “promising” new talent.
The ex-”How to Web” conference
in Romania is rebooting and will strike back this year under a new name. The
organizers are preparing a yet stronger event with more light on startups. You
can check the info from previous editions here. Follow their blog and twitteraccount for
the latest updates on the new event.
LeWeb is a biannual industry
conference with two venues - Paris and London. It’s a great place to catch up
with the latest tech trends but also a one-of-a-kind chance to make yourself
known to the startup community. Waze, a social GPS company and previous Startup
Competition winner, was acquired by Google for $1.3bil. Applications will
open soon.
+Bonus - as we talk Europe, we
should never forget the economic power of the Union. EU gives diverse grants to
startups under theHorizon 2020 program.
Startupbootcamp will attend most conferences to meet great startups. If you want to meet, keep an eye on our @Sbootcamptwitter account.
Startupbootcamp will attend most conferences to meet great startups. If you want to meet, keep an eye on our @Sbootcamptwitter account.
Any other hot startup
competitions across Europe on your radar? The list is not exhaustive, so feel
free to add what’s missing in the comments. Cheers, @Sophia & @Peter
Thank you for reading another one of my posts done just for you! If you liked what you read please share it by using one of the buttons up top and check out other posts in this blog. I don’t want you to miss out on future posts so please follow me on Twitter @Eurodude23. If you haven’t done it already, please like my fan page by clicking here! See you next time!
Thank you for reading another one of my posts done just for you! If you liked what you read please share it by using one of the buttons up top and check out other posts in this blog. I don’t want you to miss out on future posts so please follow me on Twitter @Eurodude23. If you haven’t done it already, please like my fan page by clicking here! See you next time!
This is a repost of an article that appeared on http://www.startupbootcamp.org/ on August 4, 2014
There's also '4 Years From Now' @4YFN_MWC. Last February they launch the first edition with great success. Next edition will he hold next march http://www.4yfn.com/#home
ReplyDeleteThanks you for the info!
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