Start-ups can apply until April 19 for the next edition of PowerUp!, a competition seeing participants from 24 countries in central Europe. Because of the great interest and demand, its organiser, EIT InnoEnergy, has increased the main prize from €20,000 to €30,000.
Last year, Maltese company FLASC – Integrating Offshore Energy Storage won the Regional Prize.
The key competition area is the energy and cleantech sector but solutions such as mobility, cybersecurity, smart city and technologies limiting the emission of harmful dust particles into the atmosphere are also included.
In addition to the main prize of €30,000, there are also financial prizes for both second and third places (€10,000 and €5,000). The authors of the most interesting projects will be invited to the prestigious EIT InnoEnergy Highway accelerator, offering financing of up to €150,000.
As Jakub Miler, the CEO of EIT InnoEnergy Central Europe, explains, participation in the competition gives the best participants the opportunity to take advantage of EIT InnoEnergy’s unique know-how:
“We are different from other companies investing in start-ups,” he says. “We not only finance but also support the projects until they are commercialised. We offer services related to, for example, team building, training, coaching, mentoring. In addition, we facilitate access to external financing institutions, we help in cooperation with venture capital networks, we also develop the product itself – we cooperate with research institutes and universities, therefore we are able to invite engineers and from various fields to cooperate.”
We not only finance but also support the projects until they are commercialised
Michał Kraszewski, business creation manager at EIT InnoEnergy, emphasises that PowerUp! is also an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of the environment and its protection. The winners of previous editions of the competition have been given just such a chance, successfully developing and commercialising their solutions.
“An example is the Bin-e developed by the Polish team – a smart waste bin which recognises and sorts municipal waste by itself. To date, the start-up has sold over 100 devices and has recently received a subsidy of almost €500,000!,” Mr Kraszewski says.
In May, participants of PowerUp! will take part in bootcamps and country finals. Winners will be invited to Prague for the final bootcamps with European mentors and the grand final, which will take place on June 19.
To participate in the competition, you must have a prototype, the team and fill in the form at: www.powerup.innoenergy.com.