OPENAXEL CONTEST 2ND ROUND (2015 EDITION)

GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
OPENAXEL CONTEST 2ND ROUND
(2015 EDITION)
Project co-funded by the European
Commission within the FP7 (2007–2013)
Grant agreement Nº: 611715
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Date: 1.09.2015
OPENAXEL CONTEST
2ND Round 2015
GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
Contents
1
Introduction........................................................................................................................ 3
2
OpenAxel Contests ............................................................................................................. 3
3
Preparation and submission of the proposals ................................................................... 4
4
Beneficiaries ....................................................................................................................... 4
5
Evaluation process.............................................................................................................. 4
6
5.1
External Evaluation ...................................................................................................... 5
5.2
Detailed Evaluation...................................................................................................... 5
5.3
Final Stage .................................................................................................................... 6
Prizes package .................................................................................................................... 6
6.1
Prizes for Semi-Finalists ............................................................................................... 6
6.2
Prizes for Winners........................................................................................................ 6
6.3
Extra Opportunities ..................................................................................................... 7
6.3.1
Example of Partner Initiative: Startup Europe Partnership corporate links ........ 7
6.3.2
Example of Partner Initiative: D-RAFT corporate links......................................... 7
6.3.3
Example of Partner Initiative: CEO-Collaborative Forum..................................... 8
7
Support to proposers ......................................................................................................... 8
8
Annex I: OPENAXEL Contest calendar (2015 edition) ........................................................ 9
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OPENAXEL CONTEST
2ND Round 2015
GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
1
Introduction
OPENAXEL is one of seven projects funded by the EU, under the STARTUP EUROPE HUB
(www.euhub.eu) umbrella, to support ICT companies in accelerating their business growth
through internationalization and cross-border financing.
OPENAXEL brings together three of the accelerators with greater impact at global level
(WAYRA by Telefonica, AppCampus by Nokia & Microsoft, and ACCELERACE, the leading
accelerator in Scandinavia connected to Baltic countries) and 5 other partners with huge
international exposure coming from different European countries: DigitalEurope, Econet,
Opinno, IVSZ, and FundingBox Accelerator in a common objective of opening the
accelerators ecosystem by fostering cooperation between key stakeholders. It will generate
scale effects at European level to deliver world class services to highly innovative startups &
entrepreneurs.
2
OpenAxel Contests
The 1st OPENAXEL contest was held in 2014. 178 startups from 27 countries applied. The 30
best startups received winners package, 12 were invited to pitch at Award Ceremony from
which the 9 best were chosen to benefit from additional rewards like for instance a full
immersion week in Silicon Valley, meetings with investors, world class coaching for each
startup from Top Level Executives from Global Corporations and more prizes.
In the 2nd OPENAXEL contest we will seek for best entrepreneurial talent in Europe.
OPENAXEL will select 30 startups to receive acceleration services from OPENAXEL and nine
winners out of them will receive additional support. This will include coaching and mentoring
from top level executives from global corporations, access to potential offers from
technological partners from the ICT industry, and a trip to Silicon Valley in California, to meet
international investors and existing entrepreneurs.
We are looking for applicants with projects which meet all of the following criteria:
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•
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are at all early stages of development from seed to early growth
have innovative and disruptive ideas
use new technologies in the digital communications space
have high growth potential and a global-scalable focus
have a solid business model
have the potential for a fast commercial time-to-market deployment
have a solid founders team fully committed with the project
This ‘Guide for applicants’ document contains all the information on how to conduct your
project application. It provides guidance on how to structure your proposal. It also describes
how the proposal should be submitted, and the criteria on which it will be evaluated.
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OPENAXEL CONTEST
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GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
3
Preparation and submission of the proposals
Project applications are submitted via an online application form. Specific instructions are
available here: http://www.openaxel.com/contest
Please note that in the application form you will be requested to provide a link to an existing
company profile on an online platform (e.g. FundingBox, Angel.co, F6S, Crunchbase, or
similar), or in alternative a link to a slide presentation describing your business (e.g. on
SlideShare, or similar).
In addition, OPENAXEL will accept applications submitted through one of OPENAXEL’s
partners’ own contests (see a complete list on www.openaxel.com) where the applicant to
those contests has explicitly agreed to share their information with OPENAXEL.
Multiple applications for the same proposal will result in only the last application – in order
of time – to be considered. In case the same proposal was received both via the OPENAXEL
online form and via a Sourcing Partner, the first will be considered.
English is the official language for OPENAXEL contests. Project applications should be
submitted in English only. Parts in other languages will not be evaluated.
The deadline for applying is 30th October 2015 at 1pm (CET – Central European Time). Late
submissions or project applications submitted by any other means, will not be
evaluated.This deadline might be extended following OpenAxel Steering Committee official
decision.
4
Beneficiaries
Applicants can be SMEs already incorporated or entrepreneurial teams of individuals with a
business idea, prior to company incorporation. Applicants will be divided in two categories
based on the funding they have raised at the time of application:
1. Seed: from 0 to €250,000
2. Early Stage: more than €250,000
SMEs or entrepreneurial teams must be based in at least one of EU-281 or FP7 Associated2
countries in order to be eligible.
5
Evaluation process
Applications will be evaluated in three stages. The whole process will be conducted under
the principles of independence, transparency, fairness, impartiality and confidentiality.
1
EU-28 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
2
FP7 Associated countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, FYR Macedonia, Iceland, Israel,
Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey.
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OPENAXEL CONTEST
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GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
5.1
External Evaluation
All applications will be assessed and scored by at least two external and independent
evaluators (non OPENAXEL partners) included in the Experts Directory prepared by
OPENAXEL partners. Each proposal will be scored on the following criteria:
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Business Opportunity: the growth potential, scalable business model, global focus,
and potential for a fast commercial time-to-market deployment.
Management Team: the project founders’ and team competence range, experience,
and commitment to the project.
Each external evaluator will score the applications from 0 to 10 for each criterion. The final
score of each proposal will be calculated using a weighted average of the individual
assessments provided by external evaluators, after normalising their scores in order to
compensate for scoring bias. The weights vary according to the category:
Business Opportunity
Management Team
Seed
40%
60%
Early Stage
60%
40%
Independently of their category, all proposals will enter a single list and ranked according to
their score.
Ties will be solved using the following criteria, in order:
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Business Opportunity Score (without weight),
Management Team Score (without weight),
Additional review,
Date of submission: earlier submitted proposals go first.
In this phase, submitted proposals will also be evaluated for different opportunities, namely
those connected with OPENAXEL’s Partner Initiatives (complete list available on
www.openaxel.com). When a potential fit is identified, OPENAXEL will forward the
applicant’s data to the relevant Partner Initiative.
The 30 top scoring proposals will be awarded with the prize package for Semi-Finalists (see
Section 6), and will pass to the next stage of the context process.
Output: List of Semi-Finalists.
Communication to participants: Only the 30 semi-finalists will be notified that they have
been successful in the initial stage.
5.2
Detailed Evaluation
A selection committee will screen the Semi-Finalists and select the 15 Finalists. The selection
committee will consist of one member appointed by each of the OPENAXEL partners, plus
one or more external experts taken from the Experts Directory. The selection committee
may request additional information from the 30 semi-finalists.
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GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
The evaluation criteria and the scoring procedure are the same as per Section 5.1. The 15
top scoring proposals will be invited to the next stage.
Output: List of Finalists.
Communication to participants: All 30 semi-finalists will be notified of the outcome of the
selection, but specific feedback from evaluators will not be provided.
5.3
Final Stage
The 15 finalists will be invited to pitch their projects in front of a jury, in person or online –
according to arrangements that will be defined case by case. The jury will be composed by
external experts, taken from the Experts Directory and from external investors and industry
executives.
The evaluation criteria and the scoring procedure is the same as per Section 5.1. The jury will
establish the final ranking and select the nine winners.
Output: List of Winners.
Communication to participants: Public announcement of winners.
6
Prizes package
6.1
Prizes for Semi-Finalists
All thirty Semi-Finalists (see Section 5.1) will be awarded with the following prizes:
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6.2
Visibility on www.fundingbox.com for at least 2 weeks (featured company)
Invitation to participate as observer to a final Public Event in Mobile World Congress
2016 in Barcelona (travel expenses to be covered by the companies)
Additional benefits as defined by individual Partner Initiatives (see Section 6.3
below).
Prizes for Winners
The nine Winners (see Section 5.3) will gain access to the following benefits:
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Boot Camp Week in Silicon Valley with selected business meetings with top
companies and investors in the Valley (all travel expenses will be covered by
OPENAXEL for up to 1 founder per company)
Participation to a final Public Event in Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona (all
travel expenses will be covered by OPENAXEL for up to 1 founder per company)
Fast track to Accelerace, Wayra or Next Step Challenge
Participation in selected events in Accelerace and Wayra programmes.
Introduction to key people and institutions in the European startup ecosystem
Coaching sessions with Accelerace business accelerators (coaches)
Visibility on www.fundingbox.com for at least 4 weeks (featured company)
Individual Public Funding Reports with information on current public funding
opportunities in Europe
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GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
•
•
6.3
Additional benefits as defined by individual Partner Initiatives (see Section 6.3
below).
Additional opportunities, as described in Section 6.3 below.
Extra Opportunities
OPENAXEL, having among its objectives the growth of a collaborative network among
acceleration and incubation initiatives in Europe, partners with a number of other initiatives
in its sector (hereafter, the Partner Initiatives). A complete and updated list of Partner
Initiatives can be found on www.openaxel.com, which will be updated as more partnerships
are closed. To foster the creation of an open acceleration community, OPENAXEL will
identify, together with partner projects and contests, applicants with a strong fit with
Partner Initiatives who can be invited to apply or directly to take part in the Partner
Initiatives themselves.
These extra opportunities are not reserved exclusively to the thirty semi-finalists or to the
nine winners. When identified, the extra opportunities will be communicated to interested
companies only. No action is required from OPENAXEL applicants in order to be taken into
considerations for these opportunities with Partner Initiatives.
The following paragraphs describe three examples of Partner Initiatives and their associated
prizes, which are already available at the time of publishing of this document.
For updated information on these and other Partner Initiatives, please refer to the website
www.openaxel.com.
6.3.1 Example of Partner Initiative: Startup Europe Partnership corporate links
The Startup Europe Partnership (http://startupeuropepartnership.eu/), hereafter SEP, aims
at offering an integrated pan-European platform to help the best startups emerge from
these local ecosystems and scale-up by connecting them to large corporations. Up to 100 of
the top startups from the OPENAXEL applicants list will be screened by SEP for identifying
matches with the innovation needs of the large corporations in their network.
The selection criteria for this Partner Initiative are based on the matching between the
startup and SEP’s partners’ needs, and on the stage of development of the startup. Sectors
of interest include, among the others: Smart Payments, Communication and Connectivity,
Web Services, Mobile, Internet of Things, Big Data, Data Analytics, Smart City, E-Learning,
Insurance, eHealth, Cybersecurity, Urban Mobility, Energy Storage, Electric Vehicles, and
more.
Extra opportunity in concrete: out of the screened startups, SEP will select those of potential
interest for the corporations with which SEP cooperates; these companies will have a
preferential path to access SEP matching events.
6.3.2 Example of Partner Initiative: D-RAFT corporate links
D-RAFT (http://d-raft.com/) helps corporations and startups grow together. From 100 to up
to 200 of the top startups from the OPENAXEL applicants list will be screened by D-RAFT to
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OPENAXEL CONTEST
2ND Round 2015
GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
get the opportunity to leverage their resources and relations with leading multinationals to
faster reach global scale.
The selection criteria for this Partner Initiative are based on the matching between the
startup and D-RAFT’s customers’ needs, and on the stage of development of the startup.
Extra opportunities in concrete:
(1) Out of the screened startups, up to 3 will gain the opportunity to start a pilot with
large corporations with which D-RAFT cooperates;
(2) The nine OPENAXEL Winners (see Section 5.3) will be invited to join a workshop to
build the business model, value proposition, pitch and preparation for deals with
corporations;
(3) D-RAFT will facilitate speed dating and meetings with large corporations for up to 15
of the companies participating in OPENAXEL event at the Mobile World Congress
2016 in Barcelona.
6.3.3 Example of Partner Initiative: CEO-Collaborative Forum
The CEO-Collaborative Forum (http://www.ceo-cf.com/) is a collaboration community for
CEOs across Europe. They organize annually the ThisWayUp event (http://thiswayup.eu/).
Extra opportunity in concrete: CEOs of the nine OPENAXEL Winners (see Section 5.3) will be
invited to join the ThisWayUp 2016 event for free.
7
Support to proposers
For more information about the whole process of OPENAXEL contest, please check the FAQs
section included in the website http://www.openaxel.com/contest
You can reach us at [email protected] or at any one of our partners:
Partner
Contact person
Email
Accelerace
David Ventzel
[email protected]
FundingBox
David Bernal
[email protected]
IVSZ
Klara Süveges-Heilingbrunner
[email protected]
Wayra
Jaime Fernandez-Lerga Lopez-Pelegrin
[email protected]
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OPENAXEL CONTEST
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GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS
8
Annex I: OPENAXEL Contest calendar (2015 edition)
Phase
DESCRIPTION
Dates
Call for Applications opens
01 Sept 2015
Deadline for applications
30 Oct 2015
End of external evaluation (Section 5.1)
29 Nov 2015
End of detailed evaluation (Section 5.2)
18 Dec 2015
End of Final Stage (Section 5.3)
18 Jan 2016
Public Event at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona
22-25 Feb 2016
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