Apply for PowerUp!, the largest European start-up competition for companies in the energy sector

At the press conference for the largest European start-up competition PowerUp! by InnoEnergy, the importance of the project was highlighted, providing an opportunity for Croatian companies in the energy sector to secure initial investments of up to €150,000 for individual projects. Interested parties have 10 more days to submit their ideas on the website powerup.innoenergy.com.

On the way to the finals, as part of the PowerUp! by InnoEnergy competition, entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to receive expert feedback on their innovation, meet other teams, connect with investors, and ultimately obtain funding that will help them commercialize their idea and become visible in the global market. Young entrepreneurs are offered new knowledge and significant support in the areas of product development and patent protection, market entry, team strengthening, or access to seed financing. They can also be in constant contact with 150 of the largest partners in the energy sector, facilitating their entry into the global market. Winners will receive cash prizes, as well as access to the prestigious Highway® accelerator supported by InnoEnergy, where ideas and projects are transformed into products and services.

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-The goal of this competition is primarily to raise awareness about entrepreneurship. To prove that it has a purpose, its own logic. Unlike the IT sector, start-ups in the energy sector require contacts with large companies, and this is an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs to connect with them. I believe that this year the competition will be strong and that it will be difficult to select the winning ideas. In the past three years, more than a hundred start-ups in 23 countries of Central and Eastern Europe have shown interest in participating in this competition. This is an ideal opportunity for entrepreneurs to prove themselves on the European stage,” said Dalibor Marijanović, founder and partner of Invento Capital Partners, who is responsible for supporting the competition in Croatia as the local HUB for Croatia.

Marko Rašić from Thorium A+, one of the Croatian representatives at last year’s competition in Warsaw, attended the conference and described his experience presenting a software program for engineers involved in energy certification, building physics, and mechanical calculations. “This competition was a great and important experience for me and my team. It provided us with the opportunity to present and test our solutions, but it also opened new opportunities for learning and generating new business ideas. We also created many contacts that opened new doors in our current business,” Rašić emphasized, inviting young entrepreneurs to apply and test their technological solutions in such a context.

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PowerUp! competition creates numerous opportunities and opens many doors, as confirmed by last year’s winners: PolarSol from Estonia, PleioneEnergy from Greece, GreenerGizer from Hungary, and Bin-E from Poland are now global companies that have developed and commercialized their projects with the support of InnoEnergy in markets across Europe, Asia, and the USA.

Project applications for the third edition of the largest competition for start-ups in the field of sustainable energy in 23 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, and part of the Mediterranean opened on June 19, 2017, and all interested parties are invited to submit their ideas by September 11, 2017.