The competition showcases the best and most promising startups from the Baltics, Nordics and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), giving all 50 finalists an opportunity to pitch their idea on stage in front of investors, potential clients, media and other attendees.
The Fifty Founders battle is partnering with Silicon Vikings Startup World Cup, a global startup competition with a goal to foster innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities for startup ecosystems all over the world. In addition to ten grand for the winner, Silicon Vikings Startup World Cup will choose one startup that will receive the fast track to their Finals in San Francisco, USA on May 17, 2019.
The 50 competing startup finalist teams will be divided into 5 groups ("verticals" in trendy startup-speak) according to their industry - fintech, deep-tech, software as a service (SaaS), hardware & IoT and social startups (impact).
Fifty Founders Battle is back! We’ve partnered up with @SiliconVikings to give you a chance to not only compete for the main 10 000 EUR prize, but also for an opportunity to get fast-tracked to Startup World Cup Finals! #50foundershttps://t.co/MfnShM3x0l
— TechChill (@TechChill) October 22, 2018
In the semi-finals of the Fifty Founders battle, on the first day of the conference - February 21, 2019, the teams will have time for 3-minute pitches on Founders stage evaluated by a professional jury that includes experts from each particular field. Afterwards 5 finalists will be given a chance to pitch again on the second day of the TechChill 2019 on the main Superhero stage. Startups will have a chance to pitch their ideas not only to the official jury, but also to international VC’s, business angels, accelerators, media, and, of course, to the conference’s audience.
Previous Fifty Founders battle winners include Baltic success stories such as Infogr.am, TrackDuck, Edurio, Nordigen and Sprayprinter.
Last year Anatomy Next, the VR human body simulator for doctors practice, won the annual TechChill conference pitch competition, receiving the main prize 10 000 EUR.
"From the application process to pitching on stage, the Fifty Founders battle played a major role in making us clarify our value proposition during the fundraising. Winning the battle not only added 10 000 EUR to our cash flow but also to the business development by offering great publicity in international media already from the announcement of the 50 selected founders," said Sandis Kondrats, the Co-founder and CEO of Anatomy Next.
“TechChill was the obvious choice for hosting this competition for us because they share the same passion for startups that we do and the same commitment to get Baltic startups truly recognized on the world map. There is so much great innovation coming out of the Baltics and Startup World Cup will help bring the Baltic region to the next level by building new connections for the region worldwide,” said Charlotte Danielsson, the CEO of Silicon Vikings.
All early-stage startups with up to 100k in funding and with a valid TechChill 2019 Startup pass are welcome to apply, with no country restrictions.
Apply here until December 14: www.techchill.co/fifty-founders-2019/
TechChill has grown to become one of the leading tech, startup and entrepreneurship inspiration events in the Baltic states. For 2 days in February 21-22, 2019, the event in Riga will host up to 2000 international attendees. Read more: www.techchill.co