Deep Tech scaleups: apply now to the EIT Digital Challenge 2020

The aim of the Tehnopol research and business campus is to help Estonian technology companies grow and reach the wide world. We are super happy to invite all fast-growing startups in digital technologies to take part in the 2020 edition of the flagship competition to win international growth support.

The EIT Digital Challenge, the competition for European digital deep tech companies, is now accepting applications. Fast-growing startups with existing customers – so called scaleups – are invited to apply in one of the following five thematic areas: Digital Tech, Digital Cities, Digital Industry, Digital Wellbeing and Digital Finance. The best five companies will receive prizes totaling €350,000 in cash and in kind. The application deadline is 7 June 2020.

“Among all applicants to the competition, we will select 20 companies and invite them to an exclusive event in November where they will pitch to a jury of high-profile corporates and investors,” says Dolf Wittkamper, Head of the EIT Digital Accelerator. “A total of 5 winners will be announced during this event, one Challenge winner and four runners-up; they all will receive a full year of tailored support from the EIT Digital Accelerator, valued at €50,000. On top of that, the Challenge winner will receive a cash prize of €100,000.”

The competition is focusing on ‘deep tech’ scaleups, broadly defined as technology companies with a differentiating product offering, leveraging sophisticated technology which is often protected or hard to reproduce.

Application criteria

To apply for the EIT Digital Challenge, companies must fulfil the following criteria: they must be based in one of the member states of the European Union, United Kingdom, or in one of the Horizon 2020 associated countries, they have to be in the growth stage (to be proven by showing annual revenue of over €300,000 or at least €2m in total funding), and they should be in their first ten years of existence.

Since its launch in 2014, the competition has attracted more than 2000 entries from all over Europe. Most of the winning scaleups have gone on to become internationally successful companies. Now it’s your turn!

The deadline for applications is 7 June 2020. For further information and to apply, please visit http://www.eitdigital.eu/challenge

Tehnopol is also partnering up with the project Scale-up Champions, which has set the long-term strategic objective to scale up innovative businesses across the EU and help startups achieve market success. Many interesting and practical events coming soon!