The content partner of the startup competition during the European Future Forum is Plug and Play, an accelerator from the Silicon Valley, bringing together young technology companies, global corporations and investors. Plug and Play connects the best technological startups with the world’s largest corporations.

This famous business accelerator will look for the first unicorn in the Silesian Voivodeship during the InSilesia – Investment SFR Award Competition. Startups in Plug and Play programs have access to world-class mentors who help them with business coaching and consulting.

The Plug and Play network consists of over 30,000 start-ups, over 500 leading global corporations and hundreds of venture capital companies, universities and government agencies from many industries. Together with partners, a unique ecosystem is created for the development and implementation of tomorrow’s technologies.

The aim of the competition is to promote enterprising people who create innovative enterprises and to develop an innovative economy

• Additionally, the competition is to select technological solutions that support and accelerate the development goals of the region
• The competition creates opportunities for young entrepreneurs to implement their own concepts through active networking / matchmaking with Investors present during the event
• Participation in the competition gives start-ups the opportunity to develop, scale their business and build brand recognition in the international arena

Entities participating in the competition must meet the following criteria and belong to one of the groups:

• A natural person or a group of natural persons developing innovative solutions (products, services, processes) that can be used in regions implementing economic transformation processes.
• A micro, small or medium-sized enterprise developing innovative solutions (products, services, processes) that can be used in regions implementing economic transformation processes.
• The applicant companies should have a product in the MVP phase (minimum viable product) – the basic version of the product with a sufficient number of functionalities to meet the needs of potential customers.

Announcing the competition and submitting applications:

23.07.2021 – 17.09.2021

Selection of 20 startups from among the submitted applications:

18.09.2021 – 28.09.2021

The Organizer and the Competition Partner Team evaluate the submitted Participants’ Presentations. The Twenty Participants (Finalists) with the best scores will go to stage 3.

Mentoring workshops with a Partner on the 30.09.2021 and on the 5.10.2021

Competition finalists will be invited to participate in an on-line workshop with a Plug and Play Austria GmbH Partner, during which they will work on preparation for the final pitching session.

Pitching Session – Final – 7.10.2021.

The presentations of the Competition Finalists will take place during the second day of the European Future Forum. During 3-minute speeches, participants will present their solutions to the jury. Each startup will get an additional two minutes for questions from the Jury and the audience (also online). The jury will select the Winner and two Laureates. Then the Awards will be presented.