We invite all entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in the robotics field to join the competition for the prestigious euRobotics Entrepreneurship Award.  

The euRobotics Entrepreneurship Award is given out 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 2023 edition of the Entrepreneurship Award will take place as part of the European Robotics Forum 2023, 14th – 16th March 2023: https://erf2023.sdu.dk/

Benefits from participation 

Five participants will be selected as Finalists and have ERF attendance paid for one person. The Finalists will pitch in the open Entrepreneurship Award workshop along with a robotic entrepreneurship role model and will receive a Finalists diploma and recognition in ERF and euRobotics social media.  

All qualified entrants will receive feedback on their pitch and project from the screening committee and an offer of a further five hours of counselling from European-level robotic entrepreneurship experts. 

The Entrepreneurship Award winner will additionally receive extended coverage on ERF social media and recognition in ERF public promotion materials and in a press release and an ERF Entrepreneurship Award winner diploma. 

Please note: a cash prize might also be awarded to the 1st placed participant depending on available sponsorships. Updates will be published in this section continuously.  

Sponsorship 

This event is sponsored by euRobotics aisbl and Odense Robotics. More sponsors to be announced.  

Time of workshop 

The Finalists workshop will take place on 15th of March at 09:05 – 10:25 and 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 ahead of ERF during the second half of 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 ERF 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 Entrepreneurship Award during ERF. 

The number of entrants will be restricted to a maximum of 20. The organizers 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 subsidized 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 organizers will ensure that no conflict of interests 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. 

Organizers 

Troels Oliver Vilms Pedersen, Danish Technological Institute, tovp@teknologisk.dk 

Franziska Kirstein, Blue Ocean Robotics, fk@blue-ocean-robotics.com 

Jon Agirre Ibarbia, Tecnalia, jon.agirre@tecnalia.com 

Participants 

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 sales and turnover yet.  

Judging parameters 

Entrants will be coached and judged based on these parameters: 

* Market position 

* Product technology 

* Scalability 

* Team 

* Roadmap 

Participating and coaching 

Interested participants must submit an application as an email with the following content:  

1: Contact details (Name, company/affiliation, email, phone number – you must include ALL these informations) 

2: Year of establishment of the company/initiation of the project 

3: A presentation/your current pitch as attachment in .pptx or similar format 

Deadline 

Applications are to be sent by 23:00 CET on 1st of February 2023 to the following email address: tovp@teknologisk.dk