Academic Startup Competition

We are excited to announce that  the applications for the 4th edition of the Academic Startup Competition are open!

The Academic Startup Competition (ASC) is a joint initiative of Techleap, UNL, NFU, NAE, UTwente, VU and EZK.  The competition offers a curated batch of 20 selected academic startups the chance to showcase themselves to an audience of (international) investors and businesses. The startups that are in the race to become one of the best Academic Startups will participate in a unique program of workshops, promotion track and peer to peer learning to help the founders to accelerate the growth and scalability of their business. They will be introduced to the innovation ecosystem, and will be offered the opportunity to develop a network of peers, experts, and mentors.

For whom?

Within the Academic Startup Competition we are mainly interested in startups with solutions falling in one of the following eight broad impact domains:

• Health & Wellbeing

• Agriculture, Food & Water

• Energy transition

• Sustainability transition (Clean/Carbon/Green/Circular/Climate)

• Secure Society (Cyber & Physical)

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusive Society

• Smart Industry (4.0) : more efficient, flexible, and sustainable industrial systems and value chains

• Smart Urbanisation / Cities

Eligibility criteria

Companies are eligible when:

• They are addressing an industrial, societal or environmental unmet need or are creating a new market within the 8 defined technology domains.

• They are based on a new technology, a scientific discovery, a complex engineering process or a new disruptive systemic process.

• They have not won the Academic Startup Competition Award in previous editions.

• Their registration at the C.o.C. (K.v.K.) is between 0-3 years.

• They are composed of a team of at least 2 founders.

• They are registered commercial or impact startup originated from scientific knowledge, connected to Dutch Universities, University Medical Centers or Research Institutes.

• They are not a subsidiary or spin-off of an existing company.

What does Academic Startup Competition imply?

For the 20 winners of the competition a support package is available in the first six months of 2024, focusing on the following challenges:

1. Mindset Transition (Shifting from thinking like a scientist to thinking like an entrepreneur)

2. Dare to think BIG

3. Build your team (Who do you need to reach your goals)

To support the journey of overcoming these three challenges, winners will be offered additional services connected to each challenge:

• 1-to-1 deep dives with entrepreneurs and experts to identify and sharpen their goals.

• Peer knowledge-sharing by investors, experienced founders and experts.

• Sessions with relevant stakeholders who are in power to change systems to help them grow faster.

• Media coverage and exposure through various channels and events.

• Joining various (inter)national networking trips and events.

• Team assessment for the founders by a specialized agency.

• Executive recruitment support.

• Access to Global Campus to find the best scientific experts for their scientific board.

Companies can apply until 10 November 2023.