In March 2014 EIT ICT Labs kicked of the first wave of the Idea Challenge, an EU wide innovation contest that invites students and early-stage startups to submit business ideas that address the topics Health & Wellbeing, Smart Spaces, Cyber Physical Systems, Future Cloud, Smart Energy Systems, Internet of Things, Cyber Security & Privacy, and Urban Life & Mobility. To date the competition has produced 12 winners in the EU that have the potential to shape the future of ICT in Europe.
Over 300 applications were submitted from 25 EU countries. As a requirement for consideration, entrants were not required to provide a full business plan but to tell what makes the idea unique, who’s behind it, which market is targeted, and how to make money with it. The proposals were evaluated by investors, successful entrepreneurs, and thematic experts and experienced Business Developers at EIT ICT Labs.
Prizes to boost startups
The innovators who have submitted their ideas were not only looking for a chance to win up to 40,000 Euro, office space and mentoring support from the EIT ICT Labs Business Development Accelerator but also for the invaluable opportunity to become part of a unique ecosystem that provides access to a network of investors, venture capitalists and worldwide leading companies.
4 topics, 4 cities, 12 winners
36 finalists were invited to pitch their ideas at finals in Eindhoven (HWB), Munich (CPS), Helsinki (SSP) and Rennes (FCL). In each category three winners were announced: first prize (40K), second prize (25K) and third prize (15K).
1st prizewinners
Category | Startup | Country | Idea |
Health & Wellbeing | Germany | Mobile adaption of the Tinnitracks technology that treats tinnitus with music. | |
Smart Spaces | Netherlands | Speech-controlled home automation that combines the possibilities of home automation with entertainment systems and information services. | |
Cyber Physical Systems | Germany | Customizable sensor solutions to equipment manufacturers.
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Future Cloud | Germany | Cloud software that automatically tests web applications across browsers |
2nd prizewinners
Category | Startup | Country | Idea |
Health & Wellbeing | United Kingdom | Patent pending technology that—with a smartphone only—is able to measure stress-related changes in behaviour, visualize them to the user and provide personalized interventions to help prevent harmful conditions. | |
Smart Spaces | Austria | System which uses graphical data collected through cameras and analysed through an algorithm, in order to quantify the number of people in a queue and estimate the amount of time a person has to wait in line, given the circumstances | |
Cyber Physical Systems | Gemrany | Cloud-based application transforms the resulting big data into smart data that helps to optimize processes and products. | |
Future Cloud | Spain | Agricultural cloud that gathers real time data collected from fields, tractors and machinery though sensors. |
3rd prizewinners
Category | Startup | Country | Idea |
Health & Wellbeing | Italy | Small device to be put on any pair of glasses that allows visually impaired people to have a better understanding of the world around them. It interacts with the user through voice and it works standalone. | |
Smart Spaces | Finland | Advanced real-time consumer behavioural and product performance analytics in retail environments across all chains and geographical locations. | |
Cyber Physical Systems |
| Germany | 3D-Printing button for CAD programs. With our plugin modelers save time and money creating professional 3D-Printed models. |
Future Cloud | LeanXcale | Spain | Cloud database that is able to process millions of transactions per second, solve analytical queries over TBs of data in seconds and correlate millions of events per second with stored data. |
New Wave starts Sep 1
Aspiring innovators can learn more about the second wave of the Idea Challenge by visiting www.ideachallenge.eitictlabs.eu. The rights to designs and creations from the teams will belong to their developers, giving them the opportunity to decide what they want to do in order to progress their ideas.
Download here the complete overview of the Idea Challenge first wave winners.