• Third edition of EIT Digital Challenge seeks startups ready to scale up and enter new markets
• Startups can apply in five digital technology categories
• Prizes package includes access to EIT Digital’s pan-European innovation network and €50,000 for the winner in each category
• Submission deadline July 31, 2016

Startups from all over the EU can now apply for the EIT Digital Challenge. With its pan-European contest, EIT Digital seeks to identify the next wave of top European startups in digital technologies to help them scale up. Applications can be submitted in one of the following five digital technology categories:
• Digital Industry
• Digital Cities
• Digital Wellbeing
• Digital Infrastructure
• Digital Finance

The call for applications is open until July 31, 2016.

Five final pitch events and a unique prize package
The best 10 teams per category will be invited to pitch in front of an expert jury at one of five final events taking place in different cities across Europe.

Last year, the Romanian startup IQrypt made it into the final and presented their encryption technology in Trento, Italy.

The finals of the EIT Digital Challenge 2016 will take place in London, Paris, Stockholm, Helsinki and Eindhoven.

This year’s finalists are competing for an exclusive prize package:
– the best three teams in each category will gain access to EIT Digital’s innovation network and will receive significant visibility and publicity.
– they will also have the chance to join the EIT Digital Accelerator for a full year and work with a team of dedicated business developers and finance experts in order to build and develop their market strategy and get support in terms of customer acquisition and funding.
– on top, the best team per category wins a €50,000 cash prize.

From startups to scaleups
“Eighty per cent of European startups plan to internationalize their business, but only about half of them actually take this step”, says Dominik Krabbe, EIT Digital Challenge Lead. While being successful in their respective home country, startups face many barriers when expanding to another country. This includes the fact that Europe’s market and investor landscape is highly fragmented and complex. EIT Digital seeks to close this gap and facilitate access to new markets and customers as well as funding through its pan-European innovation network.
EIT Digital is the leading European organization for innovation and entrepreneurial education and its partner network consists of more than 130 well-established corporates, SMEs, startups, universities and research institutes. The contest can be your pass to enter this valuable ecosystem.

The EIT Digital Accelerator operates in 13 cities across Europe as well as from a hub in Silicon Valley and has already supported 233 startups with raising a total of more than €67 million in investments.

What you need to apply
In order to apply, startups must be incorporated in one of the member countries of the EU. They must prove traction, customers and revenue. They should be growing fast and be ready to scale up internationally.
Are you ready to scale up your business in Europe? Apply now!

RomanianStartups.com partnered with EIT Digital Challenge for making this opportunity known to the Romanian startups scene.