We invite all entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in the robotics field to join the competition for the prestigious euRobotics Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award.
The euRobotics Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award is given each year at the European Robotics Forum (ERF) to the most promising robotic start-up as judged by a jury of robotic entrepreneurship pioneers and experts.
Entrants to the competition stand the chance to gain interest in their company from the robotics and investment community. The 2025 edition of the euRobotics Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award will take place as part of the European Robotics Forum 2025, 25th – 27th March 2025: https://erf2025.eu/.
Benefits from participation
Five participants will be selected as finalists, and one person for each finalist’s ERF attendance will be paid. The finalist will pitch in the open Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award workshop along with a robotic entrepreneurship role model, receive a finalist diploma, and be recognized at the ERF and on euRobotics social media. All five finalists will receive one year of free euRobotics membership.
All qualified entrants will receive feedback on their pitch and project from the screening committee and an offer of a further five hours of counseling from European-level robotic entrepreneurship experts.
The Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award winner will additionally receive extended coverage on euRobotics social media and in a press release as well as receive a Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award winner diploma.
Sponsorship
This event is sponsored by euRobotics aisbl, Odense Robotics, BlueBotics, and Intrinsic.
Time of workshop
The finalist workshop slot is yet to be decided. It will be an open event to all registered attendees of the European Robotics Forum.
Approach
The award process is initiated with a round of private pitching and discussion sessions at which the 20 best entrants are invited to individually pitch their ideas to a panel of expert robotic entrepreneurship coaches.
These sessions will be scheduled as online meetings between 3rd and 7th February and will involve each selected entrant pitching in a 10-minute slot.
The online sessions will result in five entrepreneurs going forward to the euRobotics Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award workshop – the five finalists will do a public pitch in front of a jury of robotics entrepreneurship role models and experts. This jury will then consider the presentations and declare a winner of the Renaud Champion Entrepreneurship Award during ERF.
The number of entrants will be restricted to a maximum of 20. The organisers team supported by some of the coaches will select the 20 most promising or innovative ideas based on the application.
Only one person per finalist will be subsidised to join the ERF event. The support is given as a flat rate contribution to travel and accommodation of €500 per finalist and as one ticket to ERF including the ERF banquet.
In order to address the confidentiality issue, it is suggested that presentations be kept to information you are happy to be in the public domain.
The organisers will ensure that no conflict of interest arises and/or take the necessary steps to immediately mitigate any conflict of interest that should arise in connection with the competition and the handling of company information.
If there is any information that you feel is essential to your presentation, but you do not want to be fully public then this can be discussed with the coaching committee during the first sessions, but no NDA’s will be signed by the coaches.
Coaching committee, jury, and role models
Qualified entrants will be followed by a team of expert coaches, who are also open to giving follow-up counselling after ERF. Robotic entrepreneurship role models and experts will form the jury and could give specific input and assistance in the further development of your investment pitch and your company.
Any applicant selected as a finalist who is also selected as a finalist in another euRobotics award in the same year will be requested to select only one award to take part in.
Participation
How can participants contribute to, and prepare for, the workshop?
The participants are expected to have already developed an idea for a product or service and done some background work in researching the marketplace in which it could be exploited. Entries can be both individuals who have not yet established a company or teams with established companies and proof-of-technology, but without significant commercial sales and turnover from the market on the future core product yet.
Timeline and Applicant Commitment
Applicants will receive notifications of acceptance between 27th and 31st January, 2025. Accepted candidates will need to be available between 3rd and 7th February to pitch in front of a jury online. The jury will choose the finalists based on the best online pitch. Notifications for finalists will be sent out between the 10th and 16th February.
Finalists need to confirm their attendance at the ERF 2025 until 26th February. They will need to arrange for their own travels, but will receive 500Euro compensation after the ERF. The final pitch presentation needs to be submitted by finalists by March 20th in PDF or Google Slides format.
Eligibility Criteria
Companies, teams, and individuals from within the EU are invited to apply.
Judging parameters
Entrants will be coached and judged based on these parameters:
* Market Position
* Product Technology
* Scalability
* Team
* Roadmap
* Clarity of Strategy
Participating and coaching
Interested participants must send their application to RoboticsEntrepreneurship@gmail.com. With the following content and information:
1: Contact details (Name, company/affiliation, email, phone number – you must include ALL this information)
2: Year of establishment of the company/initiation of the project
3: A presentation/your current pitch as an attachment in PDF format
Deadline
Applications are to be submitted by 23:00 CET on January 21, 2025. Please send your application here to RoboticsEntrepreneurship@gmail.com.
Organisers
Troels Oliver Pedersen, Odense Robotics, trp@odenserobotics.dk
Jon Agirre Ibarbia, Tecnalia, jon.agirre@tecnalia.com
Franziska Kirstein, Franziska.Kirstein@gmail.com