It’s a middle of the summer and it might seem that not much is going on in the world of European startups. Not true.
Although there are no big conferences around at the moment, preparations are underway for at least three notable startup events in September and October. The EU-Startups conference with pitch competition in Munich, annual Europioneers awards and also Startup Rally, chain of nine events in big European tech hubs with six startups pitching in every city.
Antoher €100 million on the table
But before we get to explore these events, let’s talk about funding. Big European media house Bauer Media announced its plan to open €100 million fund for EU startups. The fund will be managed by a new VC firm Bauer Venture Partners and it will focus on innovative and “highly scalable business models”. Judging from various news about new VC funds being created for European startups (e.g. European Google Ventures fund), the scene is getting pretty crowded.
EU-Startups Conference, organized by EU-Startups.com, will be held on November 7th in Munich, but if you want to participate as a startup, you have much less time. To be able to pitch, you must apply till 7th of September at the latest. All pitches will be maximum 5 minutes long and will be held in front of a group of investors, startup people and an expert jury. There is no cash prize, but all participants will get valuable feedback, public visibility and the winner will be prominently featured on EU-Startups.com.
Even more interesting for startups seeking publicility is Startup Rally, chain of startup events in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Zurich, Paris, and London between 10th and 29th of September. Startups can decide whether they want to join for the entire tour or just some of the cities depending on their needs. There is a maximum of 54 startups participating, with six startups pitching 4+4 minutes in every city.
It’s important to note that startups need to cover their own expenses, including transportation. At the moment there is no deadline to apply, but the sooner you do, the better for your team.
Best of the best
The third event is a full-fledged startup entrepreneurs awards Europioneers. The idea is to inspire European entrepreneurs by identifying and recognising successful European web initiatives and promoting the role web entrepreneurs play in European society.
This year, nominated entrepreneurs will compete in four award categories:
- Web Entrepreneur Award: entrepreneurs creating new digital services and products
- Young Web Entrepreneur Award: for web entrepreneurs below the age of 30
- Female Web Entrepreneur Award: for female web entrepreneurs
- High Growth Web Entrepreneur Award: for entrepreneurs in a high growth company with and average yearly growth of 20% over a 3 year period
If you know someone you think deserves one of those prizes, go to the nominations page and get them into the competition. If they win, they will get their valuable spot next to former winners Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, founders of well-known Soundcloud. You can nominate your favourite web entrepreneurs until August 31st and the names of the winners will be unveiled at the beginning of November.