ICT KIC targets ‘scale-ups’ in 2015 competition
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ICT KIC targets ‘scale-ups’ in 2015 competition

EIT ICT Labs has announced its call for high-growth European start-ups active in digital technologies to apply for the 2015 edition of its Idea Challenge contest.

Start-ups can submit their application in one of the eight topics and finalists will compete for a top prize of €40,000 and benefit from the pan-European Business Development Accelerator of the Knowledge and Innovation Community. A second prize worth €25,000 and third prize worth €15,000 will also be awarded. Also on offer to the winners is free co-working space, business acceleration in both Europe and beyond, and access to an ecosystem of over 130 excellent partner organisations across the continent.

This year EIT ICT Labs is reaching out to scale-ups, as EIT ICT Labs CEO Willem Jonker explains: “The strength of EIT ICT Labs lies in our pan-European ecosystem. We support fast-growing start-ups that are typically already being noticed in their home country; we help them scale up their business quickly across Europe and beyond.”

The contest focuses on eight strategically-chosen topics, namely: health and wellbeing; smart spaces; cyber-physical systems; future cloud; cyber security and privacy; Internet of Things; urban life and mobility; and smart energy systems.

The call for applications is open from 6 May until 6 July 2015.Ten finalists will pitch in front of a jury in each of the eight topic finals, taking place in autumn 2015.