The latest major international company to begin working with Pioneers Discover is Visa, a name most of our readers around the world will probably be able to find in their wallets! We’re scouting startups for the first Visa’s Everywhere Initiative, to be focused on the German-speaking DACH region. Startups going all the way can look forward to support from Visa and its partners as they pilot new solutions. There’s also a prize fund of €50,000 to be shared out amongst the most deserving young companies.
While applications for the Visa Everywhere Initiative are open until August 20th, founders do not have so much time on their side for all of our startup opportunities! Applications for the EIT Digital Challenge close tomorrow, so today really is last-chance territory if you want to be among the growth-stage startups in the mix for prizes totalling €750,000. If you’re a fast-growing European startup with a product in Digital Industry, Digital Cities, Digital Wellbeing, Digital Infrastructure and Digital Finance, then the clock is ticking. The winners in each of these five categories will receive a prize package worth €100,000, including 12 months in the EIT Digital Accelerator.
Once again, applications close at midnight CET tomorrow (Thursday June 14th), so don’t delay and don’t miss out! Put your name forward here.
Returning to Visa’s Everywhere Initiative, startups who feel able to solve Innovation for a Cashless World challenges in the German-speaking market are encouraged to submit their ideas. The two challenges are to find new solutions for daily customer payments experience and a future ecosystem for payments.
Visa’s Everywhere Initiative is a global project which began in the United States in 2015. Last year it expanded to Europe for the first time, and now, with the help of Pioneers Discover, it includes this DACH-specific competition as well. Among last year’s regional winners was bitemojo, the Israeli food experience startup which was also a winner at our Booking.com Booster Lab in Tel Aviv earlier this year.
In another major international opportunity, European startups are invited to apply to take part in its Innovation Challenge 2018 with Wien Energie, the major power supplier in Vienna. Pioneers Discover is not only scouting the external startups who will pitch and demonstrate concepts at a Demo Day in December, but will also support in the execution of the program itself, including the Bootcamp in September and the Demo Day. Both will take place at Wien Energie’s headquarters in Vienna.
We’re looking for startups with smart energy solutions in the following main areas: infrastructure, e-mobility, Work 4.0, PV systems and innovative customer services. For more details on the specifics of each, and to apply, head to the Pioneers Discover Open Calls page and make your voice heard by the July 15th closing date.
Fintech startups will be pleased to learn that we’re once again scouting for the Raiffeisen Bank International Elevator Lab – but here time is also short! International startups with proven and innovative technologies in Advanced Analytics, RegTech, Corporate Banking, Investing & TradingTech, New Branch Experience and Open Banking are invited to apply for the 2018/19 accelerator program before June 24th.
The same deadline applies to the Airbus BizLab program, which ultimately offers the opportunity for startups to win equity-free funding of up to €50,000 and the chance to collaborate closely with the French aviation giant. While we’ve written previously about the program’s unique hybrid concept and how it runs across both Europe and Asia here, we’re happy to add that the Chief Procurement Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Digital Transformation Officer from Airbus will all sit on the jury. With these amazing connections waiting to be made, worldwide startups are invited to head here to read more and apply by June 24th.
Access all ongoing startup opportunities via the Pioneers Discover Open Calls page here.
