Impact Pitch Competitions in Europe 2023-2024
Plamen Ivanov
Fostering Innovation Ecosystems Worldwide ?? | Empowering Impact & Climate Startups. ??
Since inception, startups need to begin testing their initial hypothesis. It is critical for early-stage founders to receive continuous feedback from the crowd about what they are building, which - in addition to developing a thicker skin - helps them to better find product-market fit. There is arguably no better way to do that than by attending pitch competitions and ever more of them have a specific focus on impact.
The?early stage?development of an impact startup is an exciting place to be. Even though it is dominated by a lot of excitement and idealism, driven by strong vision and big ambition, it is also full of uncertainty.?
While there are lots of advantages to exploring unchartered territories, it is also important for founders to set the right course.
It is then critical, since the very beginning, to talk to as many people as possible, to test your assumptions, to be ready to change course, whenever this is needed. Certainly, not everyone is well qualified to properly evaluate your business idea, therefore, it is advisable to go beyond your business circle and embrace the discomfort of sharing your ideas out loud with the wider public.?
Luckily, in the recent years, we are observing the appearance of more and more new startup contests and pitch competitions, specifically developed to appraise impact, sustainability and climate-tech startups.
What is a Pitch Competition?
?
A pitch competition is a startup contest, where early stage entrepreneurs present their business concept to a panel of judges with hope of winning a prize, award or investment capital.?
There is not one universal format for how a pitch competition shall be structured. Such programs can adopt different shape and form.?Accelerators, which we explored in a?previous article, represent startup contests themselves, since participating startups compete with their peers for a spot in their programs.?
There are many events, challenges, awards ceremonies and contests out there that could well qualify as startup competitions. However, with the intention to limit the scope of what we will cover in this article, we will focus on those contests, where startups need to pitch their ideas (publicly or online) and that lead to a given set of prizes, awards and exposure to potential investors.?
While pitch competitions’ financial prizes are most of the time symbolic – even though some of them do provide quite a substantial funding – the benefits of participating and potentially winning are far greater than their monetary value.?
The interaction with the evaluation committee – usually composed by experienced investors and industry experts – provides priceless feedback and validation, constituting a showcase for potential investors.
Furthermore, in most of the cases, pitch competitions are celebrated alongside international industry events, which brings excellent opportunities for networking and wide exposure.
There are plenty of pitch competitions out there – global, regional and local. Some are open to the wider public, while others have a thematic focus. You can easily get overwhelmed with all available options and lose track of those that are relevant to your specific industry niche.
To help you with this challenge, we are hereby highlighting those pitch competitions that are currently (or soon to be) open for startups’ applications, available for startups from Europe, in person or on-line, and which are either entirely impact, sustainability and climate oriented or where these are key ingredients of the program.
Pitch Competitions and Contests for?Impact Startups?in Europe in 2023-2024
Wolves Summit ?is arguably the largest, most active tech & innovation conference in CEE, bringing together the best creative and tech minds in the heart of Central Eastern Europe to network and make connections that matter. While the flagship event has been taking place in Poland since 2015 (next will happen in?Wroclaw in May 2024), Wolves Summit Vienna was introduced in the Autumn of 2022, and in 2023?Alpha Wolves London?edition has also been launched.
Wolves Summit Vienna 2023 is taking place in November 8th-9th and will bring to its attendees 2 productive days of high-class networking, connections that matter, and matchmaking with investors, startups, and businesses from the region.
The?Great Pitch Contest?is a challenge for Startups participating in Wolves Summit. In each edition, we select the top 100+ tech game-changers to present their ideas, solutions and businesses in front of investors, corporations and an international virtual and on-site audience.?
IMPACT FESTIVAL is Europe’s largest B2B event and platform for sustainable innovation, bringing together European GreenTech Start-ups & Scale-ups and key stakeholders to accelerate sustainable transformation.
During the celebration of the festival, which will be attended by impact investors, sustainability experts, greentech startups, impact visionaries and innovative corporates, startups will have the opportunity to pitch in front of investors and receive awards.
??
Oslo Innovation Week invites startups to the heart of Nordic innovation providing an arena for facilitating actions and thought-provoking ideas for bold and new innovation. The annual event focuses on sustainability, providing a place to highlight solutions to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Oslo Innovation Week 2023 is taking place the week of 25-29 September 2023. Sustainable startups are invited to take part in Norway’s biggest pitching competition for investor-ready startups. The big prize of the 100 pitches competition includes 200,000 NOK from DNB and mentoring from top international VCs.
?
Slush , one of the leading European Startup events, brings the global startup ecosystem under one roof. In cold, dark November, a curated group of speakers from across the globe, showcases, and unique networking opportunities are all in Helsinki. Slush 2022 brought together 4,600 startup founders and operators, 2,600 investors?representing +$1 trillion of AUM, a total of 12000 participants. Beyond the main event taking place at Helsinki Expo and Convention Center, some of the main highlights happen during the hundreds of Side Events taking place across the city throughout the Slush Week. Slush 2023 will take place from?November 30th to December 1st. The event is carbon-negative, a proof of its focus on sustainability and positive impact.
Slush 100, its flagship Pitching Competition takes place at the end of Day 2 with three finalists stepping on the Slush main stage?in front of thousands of people. The Top 100 companies compete to get there, carefully selected out of 1000+ applicants. 2022’s winner collected a 1,000,000 Eur funding prize from five of the very best early-stage funds active in Europe. Read about Slush 100 in previous years?here.
?
The Startup Tank Climate Investor Pitch Show, brought by 4WARD.earth: The local-to-global community for climate DOERs moving the world forward! , brings top sustainability, cleantech and impact startup founders to pitch climate VCs looking to fund world-changing companies. If you’re combating climate change by building the next sustainable development (SDG) superstar or circular economy unicorn and looking to fundraise from top tier VCs and angel investors, this is the right place for you to present your idea.
The pitch contests takes place every two weeks, Mondays at 5pm CET. Participating startups (usually about five) have the opportunity to get investment from the VCs invited to the panel. Furthermore, they get meaningful feedback though the Q&A session.
In addition to the pitch contest, by the end of 2022 4WARD.VC also launched its “Partner in Crime”?Climate Accelerator?program – a hands-on, sales & traction-focused accelerator for elite early stage climate companies, as well as has a?Climate Investor Syndicate?to allow accredited investors to participate in the post-program investments in their portfolio companies.
Through the Global Startup Competition, Get in the Ring opens a call for global startups working on solutions aiming to solve the major challenges humanity faces today. The broad impact themes that this competition is focused on are?Food, Energy, Health, Education, Manufacturing and Chemicals. They open continuously regional contests in different hubs all around the world.
Furthermore, Get in the Ring organizes several other startup competitions. Make sure to check their?website?for updates.
??
Often referred to as “the best technology conference on the planet”, Web Summit 2022 brought together 70,000+ people and the companies redefining the tech industry. Even though it is not impact specific, sustainability is a key driver of the conference and climate-friendly companies, working on the Net Zero challenge are highly regarded.
Web Summit’s startup programme – ALPHA – offers the chance to join a global community of startups, participate in Web Summit, access to Investor to Startup meetings, and be eligible to apply for pitch, Startup masterclasses, Mentor Hours and more. The 2023 event will be held in Lisbon, from the 13th to the 16th of November.
?
This (2023-2024) is the 9th edition of Hello Tomorrow 's global challenge – an early-stage, deep-tech startup competition – in search for disruptive solutions across all industries. Even though it is open to startups from wide range of spheres, Impact plays a big role in this contest, identifying – among others –?Sustainable Construction, Energy, Environment and Biodiversity, Food & Agriculture – as key sectors for innovation.
Selected startups gain Visibility, Connections and Funding opportunities. The Challenge concludes with the Grand Finals, which takes place during the?Hello Tomorrow Global Summit?in Paris on 21-22 March 2024. The?Grand Prize for the Winner is €100K. Next challenge will be announced afterwards.
巴斯夫 – the world’s largest chemical company – stands behind this program, which aims to accelerate start-ups with innovative solutions to key environmental challenges of today by providing the funding they need to go to the next level. This year’s focus is on solutions covering Cleantech, Circularity and Farm to Fork areas, regardless of the development phase, from concept to scale-up.
What to expect: 11 countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia), 6 local events, 1 Grand Finale on 23-24 November 2023, with the winner receiving an initial incentive in the amount of EUR 5,000 gross.
?
Green Alley Award 's declared goal is a climate-neutral circular economy, to eliminate waste and minimize pressure on natural resources and ecosystems. This competition is open to startups dedicated to three specific high-potential fields: Recycling, Waste Prevention and Digital Solutions.
Applications open in September 2023 and six startups will be selected to attend the Grand Finale in Berlin in April 2024. In addition to the excellent networking opportunites and the visibility, the most-promising startup will take home a prize of 25.000 €.
?
领英推荐
Finding the right funding to finance the growth of your company can be challenging. With this challenge, Brave New Food wants to make it easier for startups and scale-ups with sustainable or healthy food solutions! To qualify for the challenge, the startup solution should refer to one of these themes: Alternative protein; Zero food waste; Sustainable packaging; Healthier food solutions and other sustainable or healthy food solution. Startup Financing need shall be within the range of €250.000 – €2.500.000.
All participants to this funding challenge will be invited to an online Matchmaking Event with the investors on October 11th, where with 1 pitch you reach the 11 funding partner organizations and the funding networks they represent. To participate, you must send in a short and concise pitch deck which clearly indicates what amount and what kind of funding you are looking for (loan, subsidy, investment).
?
Every quarter, Startup Basecamp ?holds an exciting global climate tech pitch competition involving leading early-stage startups across 6 continents. Startup founders compete and have the opportunity to win access, together with other international founders, to the Startup Basecamp Silicon Valley Startup Online Growth Program.
?
Startup Fair?is an annual and the main international startup ecosystem event in Lithuania organized by Startup Lithuania . Every year they invite the innovators from around the globe to apply for the chance to pitch on the Startup Fair’s stage in front of the investor jury and international audience. If you’re an early-stage founder looking to get your name out there and compete for some amazing prizes, then wait no more and apply for the Startup Fair Pitch Battle!
Among other prizes for the the winners of the competition, BSV Ventures will award selected team with up to 125 000 Eur investment, while FIRSTPICK will award selected team with up to 100 000 Eur investment plus acceleration program.
Pitch Battle and Awards Ceremony will take place on September 7th in Vilnius, Lithuania.
?
Representatives of diverse business support organisations in Moravian-Silesian region, Silesian Voivodeship and ?ilina region decided to come together and form a stronger voice on the startup scene in Central and Eastern Europe ( CEE Startup Network ). The initiative wants to balance the power of capital cities that attract promising projects from other regions.
The Startup Voucher is a startup competition organized by CEE Startup Network welcoming startup entrepreneurs with innovative ideas offering the possibility to get up to 20 000 EUR and priceless services. The competition final will be celebrated during the 4th Unique Summit Ostrava,?which will take place on 22-24 November 2023.
?
The challenge seeks to identify startups and innovators developing tech which can be integrated into 三星电子 ’ wide range of cutting-edge home electronics, as well as their manufacturing processes.
The global challenge is open to tech for good founders and innovators, falling into one of the following categories: Resource Circularity (Resource Processing, Resource Sorting and Resource Extraction) or Climate Change Innovation (Carbon Emission Measurement & Management, Carbon Emission Reduction & Offsets). Selected startups will pitch in a Private Event on September 18, 2023.
?
The Thrive Global Impact Challenge, brought by SVG Ventures | THRIVE , is a global search for the most innovative startups who are advancing a more sustainable future for agriculture.
Aligned with the UN’s SDGs, the Global Impact Challenge is focused on four key themes each one central to supporting the transition to a net-zero future for agriculture: Soil Health & Biodiversity; Increasing Food Security; Reducing and Offsetting GHG Emissions; Water Management & Quality.
The top eight companies selected from the challenge will pitch their groundbreaking solutions to investors, government officials, and industry leaders during the THRIVE Global Impact Summit on November 2nd 2023.
?
sTARTUp Day ?is the most startup-minded business festival, bringing together startups, traditional entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and students. The aim of the event is to connect like-minded people and celebrate entrepreneurship in the smart city of Tartu. In 2023, sTARTUp Day took place for the seventh time, bringing together over 3900 attendees from all over the world. The next edition will take place from 24 to 26 of January 2024.
One of the key ingredients of the sTARTUp day is its pitch competition. The competition is open to startups globally. They are looking for early-stage to scale-up startups who are looking to raise funds. Preferred applicants have a strong mission and a scalable business model. Your startup should have a functioning product with some traction, a strong team, and be ready for an investment.?The TOP 40 teams pitching on stage will receive one free Startup ticket per team. A prize pool of over €350k from their partners is awaiting the winner.
The EU-Startups Summit?is an exclusive annual in-person event showcasing many of Europe’s hottest startups. It gathers over 2,000 founders, startup enthusiasts, corporates, angel investors, VCs, and media from across Europe. The event is a great opportunity for networking, with a dedicated networking app, and a meeting point for aspiring entrepreneurs and investors who are aiming to build international tech companies.
During the EU-Startups Summit, there will also be a big pitch competition with 15 of Europe’s most exciting early-stage startups. The pre-selected startups are going to pitch their business idea with a 3-minute-presentation in front of the attendees and an expert jury of well-known investors. The winning startup team will receive an awesome prize package worth €125k.
?
Energy Tech Challengers?is an annual event part of the Energy Tech Summit that brings together innovative companies working on solutions to decarbonize the planet and connects them with leading venture capitalists, corporations, and media voices. It has been launched by? Contrarian Ventures .
Top 50 startups will be selected to participate and invited to pitch live at?Energy Tech Summit?(April 10-11, 2024). One single company will be announced as the ultimate winner of Energy Tech Challengers 2024 award.
For 16 years, TNW Conference has been at the center of Amsterdam’s tech ecosystem, gathering annually over 10,000 industry executives and tech enthusiasts to discuss the impact of technology on different industries, and explore how tech will shape the world of tomorrow. After the successful launch of TNW València 2023, they will be back again in 2024. This vibrant city is Spain’s fastest growing entrepreneurial ecosystem — and has the most startups per capita of anywhere in the country. It’s rapidly becoming the Mediterranean’s startup powerhouse. And, in 2023, TNW València is set to bring the heart of tech to the region.
TNW Valencia?will take place in April 11 & 12 2024 in La Marina de Valencia. Participating startups will have the chance to pitch their idea at the TNW Pitch Battle and gain the attention and insights from top investors who are actively funding innovative tech startups around the world. There will be two separate categories to compete in: 1) Bootstrap Program: Early stage startups only (founded between 2015-2022 and max. 15 employees OR max. 1 million euros in funding) and 2) Scale-up Program: Growth stage startups only (founded between 2015-2022 and max. 100 employees). The judges will evaluate pitches on investment readiness, innovative market opportunity, the strength of the business concept/model, and overall wow factor.
?
Latitude59 is the flagship startup and tech event of Estonia, the world’s first digital society. Small by design, the event brings a cosy festival vibe. The 2024 edition will take place in 22-24 May, 2024 in Tallinn.
The pitch competition, launched in collaboration with a syndicate by Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN) and TeraVC, is looking for bold and promising startups that are shifting paradigms and changing the world for the better. They are looking for founding teams with a solid mission, a scalable business model, and a functioning product with proven traction. The big prize is €1,000,000.
?
START Summit, run by START Global ,?is the Europe’s leading student-run conference for entrepreneurship & technology and its next edition will take place on 21-22 March 2024. Last year’s edition attracted 6000+ participants (founders, investors, corporate professionals and students).
START Summit is a unique opportunity for startups to pitch their business idea in front of Europe’s most renowned investors, corporate industry leaders, and potential new customers. The four best startups will pitch against each other in the grand finale on the main stage. The 2023 winner received 10’000 CHF in cash and a secret surprise.
?
WMF - We Make Future – previously known as Web Marketing Festival – is the biggest international Startup Competition in Italy. Held for +10 years already, it aims to support initiatives working on the development of a sustainable and inclusive future. WMF welcomes entrepreneurial projects working on solving some of the big challenges of the future through innovation. Through their application, candidates are invited to highlight the impact generated by their innovative project on at least one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
120 candidates (out of 4300 applying) will be pre-selected and have the opportunity to increase the visibility of their project, present their idea to the public, as well as to major incubators and accelerators. 6 of them will join the final in Rimini Expo Center (13 · 14 · 15 June 2024) and present their projects in front of 36,000 attendees.
There are multiple pitch competitions and startup contests being launched throughout the entire year. We will be updating this page on a regular basis.
To stay up to date, follow us in Impact Prosper , where we publish reminders about deadlines of on-going programs and competitions.
Originally posted in?Impact Prosper Blog.
Startup Advisor & Mentor; Chief Knowledge Officer; Board Advisor; Counterintuitive Business Strategist
2 年Great list and lot of fantastic events for impact startups!!! ?? ?? ??
R&D on-demand platform | CEO @RESEARCHPRENEURS | Building the global ResearchTech ecosystem | Business Angel & Mentor | Foresight
2 年Thanks for putting it all together! Highly appreciated!
Also available here:?https://impactprosper.com/impact-pitch-competitions-europe/