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Eplus ecosystem

Call for startups! ePlus Investment Forum at EBAN Annual Congress, Málaga, Spain!

EBAN is happy to announce that it will host the last ePlus Investment Forum for web entrepreneurs as part of its Annual Congress!

The investment forum will take place on 7th June but all selected entrepreneurs will get a free pass to attend the EBAN Annual Congress on 8th and 9th June.

The EBAN Annual Congress is one of Europe’s largest and most international business angel events held annually by EBAN in cooperation with its best members. After 17 successful editions of the event, the last of which in Eindhoven 2015 and Porto 2016, this year’s edition of the event is coming to Malaga on the 7-9 of June 2017 and will be hosted by the City of Malaga and Promalaga at the grand Palacio de ferias y congresos de Malaga.

The EBAN Annual Congress 2017 will be a spring of new ideas and trends, bringing together the world’s most eminent business angels, entrepreneurs and opinion makers, and enabling networking and dealmaking with experts in the field. We are expecting more than 500 participants from the early stage investing market as well as 100 startups from all over Europe and beyond.

Interested? Apply here before 1st May!
Selection results will be announced soon after.

 

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eMentoring opportunities with ePlus project!

ePlus is a project of Startup Europe and are offering ‘eMentoring’ opportunities. Read more below!

For entrepreneurs

Are you a web-entrepreneur with a great idea and looking for a mentor for practical career advice?

Then join the ePlus eMentoring platform and we will match and pair you with the best mentors who offer practical advice and guidance on business planning, access to finance, growth strategies, go-to-market, internationalisation, customer acquisition and retention to mention a few.

Register here and then signup as Mentee or contact Iuliia Skorykova  for further details.

For Mentors

Are you a professional Mentor, a seasoned entrepreneur, investor or industry experts willing to share your expertise, guide and provide less experienced entrepreneurs practical career advice?

Then join the ePlus eMentoring platform where you can come in contact with the next wave of technology leaders and disrupters, stay updated on the latest trends and to develop a long term relationship with the most promising startups!

Register here and then signup as Mentor or contact Iuliia Skorykova  for further details.

 

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Join ePlus project’s startup-researcher matchmaking event!

Are you a startup? Want to grow your business through collaboration with researchers?
Join the startups-researchers matchmaking event in Salamanca, Spain on the 25th March! Find the talent and research results that will boost your project! This will take place during the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) Annual Conference.

What?
The ePlus project is organizing a matchmaking event between European web entrepreneurs and researchers so that you both can explore collaboration possibilities. Moreover, you will be able to
reach out to the MCAA – Marie Curie Alumni Association (a European researchers organization) network through open access to their annual conference.

The pool of researchers at the event will be varied, some of them very keen on collaborating with startups, and it will be up to you both to discuss your own interests and needs and from there, if you
see a fit, discuss possibilities for collaborations. The outcome is up to you!

How?
Register your profile now in the ePlus platform to join the pool of startups open for collaboration with research community.

Please follow these steps:
i. Register to create your user account
ii. Get into the matchmaking process (eTalent page)
iii. In the box “I am an entrepreneur” choose “Date-a-researcher”

You will become eligible to participate in the on-site matchmaking (speed-dating) at the MCAA annual conference in Salamanca, thus ensuring that you both can get to know a different range of profiles,
with different interests and needs. You may also receive online matching suggestions for further collaborations.

Registered web entrepreneurs interested in attending the event on the 25th March may become eligible for financial support (for travel and accommodation in Salamanca, up to 500€). Yet, this
funding is limited, so register now and don’t waste this chance!

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ePlus Ecosystem – a retrospective

2

ePlus connects three local ecosystems (Lisbon, Nice/Côte D’Azur, Baden-Württemberg) to prepare European businesses and potential entrepreneurs for the changing global digital market, equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to offer new products and services by digital means, to compete, thrive, and to create new jobs. This is achieved via a unique combination of talents, tools and services of a European scale, in all key elements: team, concept, technology and capital.

In this past 2 years, ePlus has been offering tailored serviced to startups, including mentoring, meet-up with relevant investors, training, networking or funding support for attending relevant events.

Ultimately it is about supporting web entrepreneurs go global. Through a combination of the partnership own experience with external experts, a successful experience is offered to startups helping them reach higher.

 

HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2017

ePlus work will continue to offer its services until June 2017 to support the startup ecosystem:

Nitro acceleration programme:tailored and high level training for startups this time taking place in Lisbon during May! Applications will be available soon.

Micro-grants: financial support for startups to participate in events that are useful for their growth strategy. Final round is now open –  http://epluseurope.eu/blog-entry/open-call-announcement-mg-round-4

eMentoring: an on-going process to match mentors with startups – join-in now – http://epluseurope.eu/basic-page/ementoring

eTalent:want to grow your business through direct knowledge transfer from a researcher? Join this on-going service http://epluseurope.eu/basic-page/etalent

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Join a free Startup Europe webinar on crowdfunding!

The webinar will be run by ECN (European Crowdfunding Network), a partner of Startup Europe project ePlus.

Learn in this webinar:

  • How does crowdfunding relate to the financial system –is it an alternative or supplement?
  • Which crowdfunding model is most suitable for my project or organization?
  • Which platform should I choose?
  • How do I proceed?
  • What are essential elements to consider before starting a crowdfunding campaign?

On 15 November 2016, 12.30-13.00 CET

REGISTER NOW!

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“Startup Europe India Network will help in cross-fertilisation of talent: EU envoy to India”

The Startup Europe India Network will help cross-fertilisation of talent between the growing Indian market and the dynamic European market, European Union’s Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski tells ET’s Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury in an interview. Edited excerpts:

What is the EU’s role in this mega India-Europe startup initiative?

In both India and Europe the startup ecosystems are thriving. But interconnections between the growing Indian market and the dynamic European market have largely been missing. Very little investment and cross-fertilisation of talent between the markets is happening in this area. The Startup Europe India Network is doing exactly this. It is a privately driven initiative coordinated by a venture capital expert, which we support. It is aimed at tapping into opportunities through increasedc cooperation between companies, investors, support institutions and at expert level, and of course investments on the two sides. The Startup Europe India Network is a first step, and the meetings between October 17 and October 20 were a first of its kind between Europe and India. It was a success, with 250-300 very active participants in the main event in Bengaluru alone.

What can the EU offer in the area of startups?

The European Union is an attractive single market with over 500 million customers. Establishment in one of the EU member states automatically opens the door to all 28 member states. Also, internet penetration and purchasing power in the EU are very high, which offer good business opportunities for Indian startups. There are large amounts of venture capital available in the EU, and many support organisations. Indian companies bring a different innovation that can be differentiated in the European market.

What are the strengths of startups in EU member states and how can those complement the Startup India mission?

Europe has many dynamic and skilled tech professionals, entrepreneurs and investors. There are thousands of innovators who are world leaders at what they do. Our startup ecosystem is maturing, with a significant increase in venture capital funding for startups in Europe, and currently 47 unicorns. European startups have strengths in the fields of entertainment, media, gaming, music streaming, fintech, transport, health, energy and water. There are many European companies in India with a strong interest in cooperating with startups, for example in the fields of telecom, software, education and automotive.

Which sectors from Europe were represented at the event?

The European delegation included venture capitalists, financial and research institutions and support organisations, officials from the EU and member states, and startups. These were from sectors such as e-learning, e-fashion, fintech, enterprise software and software as a service, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, drones and electric vehicles. European investors present in the meetings in India expressed interest in fintech, healthcare, e-learning, smart cities and intelligence (data, machine and artificial), and software as a service. Also of particular interest are the media and entertainment sectors.”
Retrieved from: The Economic Times

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Go to European Venture Summit with Startup Europe project ePlus!

The goal of Startup Europe project, ePlus, is to foster web entrepreneurship in Europe, and offer a unique new platform to help web-entrepreneurs go global, through a unique combination of talents, tools and services of a European scale in all key elements required to create great companies: team, concept, technology, and capital.

This year, ePlus ecosystem, in association with the European Venture Summit, the largest Tech Investment matchmaking event, is offering web entrepreneurs that are looking for investments in the next 6 months the chance to attend this event to present their business proposition in front of investors and meet with investors.

The 10th edition of European Venture Summit – Europe’s foremost networking and investment event for high growth technology start-ups, venture capital investors and technology corporations is to take place on 5-6 December 2016 in Düsseldorf.  It offers to entrepreneurs the opportunity to grow their businesses across borders, and engage directly with Europe’s most active investors across investor-types. The European Venture Summit will present 100+ innovative ICT, Life Sciences and Cleantech companies from across Europe to an international audience of investors, key corporates and innovation experts.

The European Venture Summit in bullet points:

  • Europe’s largest Tech Investment and matchmaking event
  • Annual flagship event of Europe Unlimited
  • Presentations by the Top 120 Companies selected though the European Venture Contest
  • Attended by over 400 people, of which 200 of Europe’s most active venture capital or corporate investors
  • Attended by high-tech entrepreneurs, advisors, corporates and government partners
  • Presentation sessions, pre-arranged one-on-one meetings, discussion sessions, partner roundtables and more

To see more information about the Summit, please check here

Registration is required to attend the European Venture Summit on 5-6 December 2016. After the registration is closed, ePlus will select 12-15 companies based on the profile and the pitch deck provided. The selected companies will get free access to the event with the following benefits:

  • Access for 1 participant
  • Prestigious presenting opportunity for selected presenters
  • Networking with corporate contacts, VCs & fast-growing companies
  • Visibility through website & Company Profile
  • Up to 4 pre-arranged meetings from a selection of 10 potential One2One partners
  • Free participation at our Masterclasses (5 December)
  • Networking coffee breaks, lunch, dinner
  • Full conference information pack

Please register here using the code: pitchingEVS2016.

The deadline for registration is November 9, 2016

All companies will have to go through the selection process which will take place one week after the deadline, based on their filled in profile and uploaded pitch deck on Europe Unlimited website, to be able to present at the Summit.

For more information about the event participation, please contact:

Iuliia Skorykova

 

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Startup Olé & Startup Europe coverage: Drones and alt energy tech star at Spanish start-up fiesta

Skill and enthusiasm on the Iberian peninsula

Hardware tech such as drones and energy reclamation technology predominated at the Startup Ole conference in Salamanca, Spain last week.

The two day event gathered 100 startups and more than 1,000 attendees to the historic University town in Western Spain. Similar events in the UK would be dominated by app developers or in Israel by cyber security firms – many of them alumni of the IDF’s famous Unit 8200 intelligence unit.

The Spanish crop featured a far more diverse group of companies across a greater range of technologies including energy and aviation as well as information technologies. Among the firms we met were AEInnova, which is using thermal cells to create power generation from waste heat. Applications include power sensors in industrial environments without relying on battery or mains power supplies.

The second annual Startup Ole showcase also featured Canard Drones, a startup that wants to replace specialist light aircraft for drones in calibrating the navigation aides at airports.

“There’s an eccentric element to it and startups are working from the bottom up on technologies,” Joe Haslam, professor at IE business school Madrid and founder of Hot Hotels, explained. “People do what they want to to do.”

Haslam added that unlike the UK and the USA – where places of learning such as the University of Cambridge and Stanford University – act as feeders as incubators for tech startups Spanish Universities don’t fulfil the same role. The University of Salamanca, for example focuses on the arts. Barcelona University has good technology courses but that alone isn’t enough. Madrid Universities tend to act as feeders to big companies. Accelerators in the country service “start-up tourism” without much output, according to Haslam.

Spain has never produced a Nasdaq listed tech firm. Part of the reason is cultural. “Starting a business is seen as disruptive to family life,” Haslam explained. “People don’t believe in themselves.”

There was certainly no shortage of energy, skill or enthusiasm on display at Startup Ole and reason for optimism, when it comes to funding. The Spanish government was mandated to put money into startups as part of the 2008 bank bail-out by the EU.

Startup Ole also incorporated Startup Europe – the European Commission’s initiative for startups. Panels on acceleration trends, how corporates want to interact with startups, universities and their role in startup ecosystems featured during the show as well as a pitching competition that (much like a school sports day) seemed to reward everyone with some prize or other.

Disruption

Your own correspondent chaired a 30 minute session of disruptive technology during the conference. Alejandro Delgado Sanchez of IBM talked about the application of artificial intelligence in applications such as customer relationship management.

Miguel Amador of Startup Braga discussed how startups lead the way to new products based in nanotechnology and new materials, bridging the gap between science and market in the process. Miguel Arjona of Altran delved into virtual reality and, specifically, in the emerging technologies that will allow a full cognitive and sensorial immersion in the virtual worlds. he mentioned applications including real-time 3D mapping and avatars creation), touch sense through haptic and mechanics globes and brain machine interfaces (EGG headsets).

Article by: John Leyden
Retrieved from: The Register 

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Results of the 3rd Round of Micro-Grants

Results of the 3rd Round of Micro-Grants

We are happy to announce the results of the 3rd Round of Startup Europe Micro-Grants!  Having received over 160 applications from 35 countries, the evaluation committee had a very hard time to make its final decision.

If the goal of ePlus is to improve the connections between distinct European regions – which initially started with the ecosystem of Lisbon, Nice, and Baden-Württemberg – the great results of Micro-grants calls demonstrate that startups all over Europe are eager to discover what’s available for them all over the continent. ePlus is of course here to support them in the early stage of the startup, when it is especially hard financially-wise to participate in such events or services.

Great startups – coming from Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, and Germany – are already taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Micro-grants, but virtually all countries are represented, from the Northern regions to Eastern Europe. It is also relevant to highlight that major European events such as Slush and the Websummit are helping startups to discover that Europe is full of great opportunity for networking and funding. We are happy to support startups discovering crowdfunding events, as Crowdcon and Crowd Dialogue Europe or to be able to pitch to investors during events as EBAN Winter School.

Our most sincere congratulations go to the 35 winners listed in the table below.

Winners will receive Micro-Grant covering travel and accommodation expenses up to 1.000€

Would you like to apply for the next round of Micro-Grant or stay up-to-date to on all amazing opportunities available for European Startup? Then sign-up on the ePlus website to receive all updates.

 

COMPANY COUNTRY SERVICE/EVENTS
OptiShower Portugal Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
Hupp France Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
tsenso Germany European Food Venture Forum / 31st August – 1st Sept 2016
Orange Bird Portugal 5th ECN Crowdfunding Convention – CROWDCON / November 2016
Mash&Co Italy MIP Junior / 15-16 October 2016
CardioID Technologies Portugal AutoSens Accelerator, 20-22 September 2016, Brussels
Halfway Poland Productized Conference 2016 / 20 – 21 October 2016
Viable Report Portugal Slush – Helsinki / 30 Nov. – 1 Dec.
EasyPonic Spain Startup Olé / 7 – 8 September 2016
Hello Rocks Germany Productized Conference 2016 / 20 – 21 October 2016
MultiDub Spain Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
PublishDrive Hungary Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
Scuter S.r.l. Italy Startup Olé / 7 – 8 September 2016
BetterTaxi Germany Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
Dublin Design Studio – Scriba Ireland Slush – Helsinki / 30 Nov. – 1 Dec.
Oneplanetcrowd The Netherlands Crowd Dialog Europe / 8 September 2016
Swike France Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
BiotechZone – Online Marketplace Portugal Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
CloudRoom Spain Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
InstantCare United Kingdom Startup Olé / 7 – 8 September 2016
Open Business Italy Websummit – Lisbon / 7-10 November 2016
Nively France 5th ECN Crowdfunding Convention – CROWDCON / November 2016
AABO Croatia Productized Conference 2016 / 20 – 21 October 2016
Flower Power – Home Garden Portugal Slush – Helsinki / 30 Nov. – 1 Dec.
Mr Jeff App Spain 2016 EBAN Winter University / 28 – 30 November 2016
Hithit.com Czech Republic Crowd Dialog Europe/ 8 September 2016
Juga Tv Spain MIP COM / 17-20 October 2016
Lendahand Mesofinance The Netherlands Crowd Dialog Europe / 8 September 2016
OpenMove Italy Smart Open Lisboa http://www.smartopenlisboa.com/
ALLINBYTE, S.L. Spain Slush – Helsinki / 30 Nov. – 1 Dec.
AgriVeritas – Veritas eX Viti (VXV) Cyprus European Food Venture Forum / 31st August – 1st Sept 2016
Bruxlab B.V. The Netherlands Nordic Venture Forum / 8 November 2016
Parking Free Market Greece Arena 42 – IoT Accelerator
Whootgames Spain Creative Business Cup / 22-23 November 2016
Cognitiv+ UK EBN Congress 2016 | Design for Innovation / 28 – 30 Sept. 2016

 

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Junbi, not an ordinary Box!

Nitro stories: Startups looking for the next episode in their development

 

In the next days, we would like to introduce you three of the most outstanding companies that participated into Nitro: the Extreme Acceleration Event, that took place for the first time in Utrecht in May 2016. Discover what they do and which reasons move experience entrepreneurs to take part to events such as Nitro.

The first startup of the series is introducing in the market a product who raised the curiosity of all Nitro’s attendants and experts present during the two days. Keep on reading to discover more!

 

Junbi, not an ordinary Box!

 

Have you ever wished a magic box?

One of the Nitro’s winner has developed one: Junbi.

Junbi is a box that allows small business, event manager and individuals to solve some of their problems by mean of a simple QR-code scan system. How does it work?

Jumbi pic-2

Junbi is a device that collects information about users’ interactions through its sensors, allowing you to track users’ behaviour, improve engagement and increase revenue.

Sound complicated? It is not. Imagine planning an event with only small resources available: you will need for example to manually check-in all the participants, a task that requires time and employees. Junbi offers you a simple solution to automate the task: each participant gets a QR code that is scanned at the entrance of the event with the Junbi box. Junbi is also able to print you the badge. Besides, Junbi allows you to collect data on the participants and it is an easy and affordable plug & play system.

But it is not just that: the Junbi box supports in fact different services, so you can use it for the registration at events but also as time punch system for small companies, or to generate promotion for small retail business. The only limit is your imagination. Junbi allows in fact to integrate your own system and solution into its box.

Behind Junbi there is a team of experienced and creative Portuguese people, who have already created in the past successful businesses. The CEO DiogoRomão, also co-Founder of Monday.pt and two other companies, strongly believes in its new product: “Junbi was born for a real problem to which there was no real solution, so we built one. Now that Junbi is available it can be used for several scenarios and applications. Imagine it as a fast and affordable way to connect the physical world touchpoints to the cloud. Your imagination is the limit. ”

By participating at Nitro, Diogo wanted to consult with experts of different fields to get valuable insights into product life cycle management, as well as investment and marketing strategies. Why should an experienced entrepreneur attend an event as Nitro? Diogo explains “We had a great experience that helped us to rethink our business and strategy. A really powerful hands-on event with lots of experienced and talented people helping you out, along with other great Startups sharing the same passion for making a difference in the world, can only lead to great results, and it sure did.”

If you want to know more about Junbi visit www.junbi.co or contact Diogo https://www.linkedin.com/in/diogoromao

 

Also take a look at the Eplus Ecosystem blog and website!

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