Displaying items by tag: competition

CSR activities in Baden-Württemberg are awarded!

SME Award for Social Responsibility in Baden-Württemberg, Performance - Commitment - Recognition 2018 (Lea SME Award)

Social commitment pays off and the companies in Baden-Württemberg have known this for a long time. Together with cooperation partners from the third sector they face concrete social challenges. With diverse, innovative "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) activities, they work to solve societal problems and thus form an essential cornerstone for an open, stable and solidary society. At the same time, you ensure your own future viability. As part of the Lea-Mittelstandspreis, exemplary CSR activities will again be honored with the Lea trophy in 2018 and the companies will be thanked for their commitment.

From now on, all Baden-Württemberg based companies with a maximum of 500 full-time employees can apply, who work in cooperation with an organization from the Third Sector, eg. a carity, an association or an environmental initiative and have jointly realized a project to tackle societal challenges. Application deadline is March 31, 2018. Further information about the competition and the application process can be found at www.lea-mittelstandspreis.de.

The Techstars METRO Accelerator for Retail is recruiting for our 2018 program in Berlin! Applications close on 2nd Feb though, so if you’re an entrepreneur in the retail space, we hope you’ll check out the info below and get an application started!

Apply Now!

We’re looking for startups disrupting any part of the retail experience (anything across the value chain - from something like logistics or warehousing to customer analytics or AR applications in retail). For more info, please watch our program webinar.

A few highlights about the METRO Accelerator:

• We handpick 10 startups for an intensive three-month program in mid-2018, built on a foundation of marked funding, commercial piloting and investment opportunities.
• Within the program, startups gain close purpose-driven mentorship from industry leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs from different verticals of Retail, Tech and Wholesale trade.
• Strategically integrated with unparalleled access to the intellectual capital of METRO, one of the world's most extensive wholesale food networks.

Primera Impact is a collaboration of reasearchers ath the University of Cambridge and the SF based venture capital fund Primera Capital.

This investment challenge is seraching for startups tackeling health care!

Prizes include GPB 100.000 of equity investment and further merit-based grants. Application Deadline is the 16 March 2018.

Fina all the information at https://www.primeraimpact.com/.

Students, research assistants and professors are encouraged to join the start2grow entrepreneurship competition 38 -  a contest for people with an exciting business idea. Application is now open!

Start2 grow offers the following benefits:

• Free participation
• High prize money
• Special technology prize 
• Special digital enterprises prize
• Contacts to capital and business
• Interactive events
• Network to 600 coaches

Apply Now!

For more information regarding the application please visit www.start2grow.de.

Merck is looking for young entrepreneurs with business ideas in the fields of healthcare, life science, performance materials, and additional search fields, including, but not limited to:

- bio-interfaces and sensors
- enablers of precision farming
- 3D printing
- future organic chemistry
- microbiome
- smart site management
- chemical surface solutions
- surface modification and functionalization
- functional materials

As in previous rounds, the startups will receive funding of up to € 50,000. Moreover, the startups will gain access to tailored support and coaching for three months. The selected startups will move into the brand new Innovation Center at the heart of our headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, which will open at the beginning of 2018.

Apply until November 13, 2017!

What a reopening after summer break! On September 26th, the Startup Lounge Pitch Battle in Café L3 was a fantastic start of this fall´s event series with a lot of networking and new opportunities. We counted about 140 participants excited to witness the pitches of three very promising startups: Orderpoints, VlO Coffee and CoTutor.

We counted about 140 participants and this constitutes a new MCEI Startup Lounge record!

ku.bus (Kurpfalz Business Briefing) founder Oliver Brümmer opened the evening with a brief presentation about the ku.bus tour. On October 12th ku.bus embarks upon a special bus ride taking along corporate executives, entrepreneurs and founders on a journey through the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan area. ku.bus orchestrates news on business, entrepreneurial personalities, and lifestyle of the Rhine-Neckar region in a two-weekly newsletter.

Orderpoints started with the first pitch of the evening. They aim to simplify ordering for hotels, restaurants or catering services via their app. Guests can order food or drinks from special order points in the shortest possible time with their own smartphones. A pilot project is already running in a Best Western Hotel in Mannheim.

The second pitch was held by V|O Coffee - an online coffee retailer of high quality Vietnamese coffee in Germany. The founder Petra Vo and her team intend to disrupt the highly attractive coffee market through a brand driven approach.
 
Last but not least, the team of CoTutor presented their idea to the crowd. CoTutor is an innovative e-learning start-up offering exercises with high variability and an adaptive algorithm guarantying individualized learning paths based on performance. CoTutor is assisted by students of any field for content creation.

The winning team: Marc Philipp Janson and Niklas Katte of Cotutor and Oliver Brümmer (ku.bus)

The first prize (taking part in the ku.bus tour) went to Cotutor. Orderpoints and V|O coffee shared the second place. Orderpoints won MCEI cups for the team, filled with Café L3 Vouchers. V|O Coffee won an Innovation Box by our partner WhatAVenture. After the award ceremony, the floor was open for networking and discussions.

We would like to thank our partners ku.bus and WhatAVenture for sponsoring the prizes for our Startup Lounge Special. We are looking forward to continue these partnerships! We also thank the Café L3 for hosting another great event and making the time most enjoyable for our guests.

Orderpoints and V|O coffee with Jan (MCEI)

The Startup Lounge is back from its summer break and to celebrate, we will start with a Pitch Special. Meet 3 awesome Startups from the Spring Entrepreneurial Spirit and Thinking Beyond Boxes accelerator cohort: Orderpoints, V|O Coffee and CoTutor! Who will convince the judges and the audience the most?

Your first time to the Startup Lounge? The Startup Lounge is your place to get inspired to create something new, to discuss great ideas while hanging out with cool people and to meet startups, students and creative minds in a laid-back atmosphere. Join us if you are into startups and want to build a network in the Rhein-Neckar area. As usual, the first rounds of drinks are on us.

The first drinks will be free!

Yoin the Facebook Event!

Date & Time: Septmeber 26, 2017 from 7:30 pm

Location & full address: Cafe L3, L3 9, 68161 Mannheim

The European Commission is launching today the fifth edition of the EU Prize for Women Innovators to award women entrepreneurs who have achieved outstanding innovations and brought them to market. The first prize is €100 000, with second and third prizes of €50 000 and €30 000 respectively. A special prize of €20 000 will be dedicated to the Rising Innovator Award (30-years-old or younger) for an exceptional innovator at the beginning of her career.

Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said: "The EU Prize for Women Innovators gives public recognition to outstanding women entrepreneurs and inspires other women to follow in their footsteps. We have seen some exceptional achievements since the start of the competition. For example, the 2017 winners created an innovation lab bringing together scientists and artists, or invented the first ever digital tablet for blind users. I look forward to seeing many more fresh ideas and talent in the new edition of the contest."

The contest is open to women across the EU (or country associated to Horizon 2020) who have founded or co-founded their existing and active company before 1st January 2016. The contestant or company must have benefitted from public or private research and innovation funding. See further information on the eligibility and award criteria for the competition.

After the application deadline of 15 November 2017, a high-level jury will evaluate and select the four winners, to be announced on International Women's Day on 8 March 2018.

Apply Now!

Because of popular demand the application period for  the „Start-up Night! Kommunalwirtschaft“ has been extended! Use this opportunity and apply until Friday, 18.08.2017 at 24.00 hrs.

You can find all the info here!

New format at herCAREER 2017: Male founders and start-up teams, who are looking for a co-founder, are given the chance to present their startup as well as the area and the tasks for which they are looking a co-founder for. Therefore the male founder or team presents before a mainly female audience.

Male founders and entrepreneurs can apply for the pitch. To do so, write an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with a brief description of the task or area for which you are looking for a co-founder. The selected startups will pitch at the herCAREER on 12th and 13th October, 2017. The presentation in the framework of a Meetup with up to 60 minutes is free of charge for male founders. However, the time units are limited.

You can find further info here.

Apply now!