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22/07/2019

Call for startups: IREN Startup Award, 3rd edition - Deadline: 22nd September 2019

IREN STARTUP AWARD - CALL FOR STARTUPS

IREN, a top player among Italian multi-utilities, is seeking startups and technology companies that aim to revolutionize the utilities sector for the third edition of its IREN Startup Award, powered by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center through its international acceleration program, the Intesa Sanpaolo StartUp Initiative.

IREN has launched IREN UP, the new Corporate Venture Capital instrument that provides investments up to EUR 2 million for high potential technology initiatives. All startups applying for the competition will automatically enter the IREN UPdeal flow (to learn more, visit https://www.gruppoiren.it/iren-up).

The competition envisions two categories with two distinct programs:

  1. SEED CATEGORY: all startups or university spin-offs that have developed a technology or a product (even in prototype form) or have filed a patent, can participate
  2. GROWTH CATEGORY: all startups or SMEs with innovative solutions that have previously carried out a seed investment round or a post-revenue technology initiative that has already accounted for revenues of at least € 1 MLN, can participate

 

SOLUTION SPACES ADDRESSED BY THIS CALL INCLUDE

  • Energy (power generation, district heating, energy management)
  • Water (distribution networks, purification & treatment)
  • Waste (management, treatment, circular economy)
  • Utility Networks (operations and maintenance, metering and billing, smart grid)
  • Mobility (e-mobility, mobility as a service, sharing, vehicle-to-X, etc.)
  • Value Added Services (customer engagement, marketing, new services, support to public admin.)

 

AWARDS

  • SEED category winner:
    • Sponsorship of EUR 15.000 
    • One-month customized acceleration program (with non-continuous presence) in collaboration with IREN and key players of the Cleantech ecosystem.
  • GROWTH category winner
    • Sponsorship of EUR 15.000 
    • Partnership Program: one-month customized program (with non-continuous presence) aimed at preparing and structuring a partnership proposal that can be implemented with IREN.
  • SPECIAL PRIZE Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center: the company will be included in the ISP-IC high-potential startups portfolio with fast track access to business development services such as scaleup programs and tech-matching services.

 

INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLY

REGISTRATION DATA SECTION

  • Fill in the blanks with the Startup information
  • Indicate before the short description of your start-up/Business idea, the category you are applying for: SEED or GROWTH
  • Sign the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

USER FILES SECTION

Upload the requested files:

  • SEED category:
    • business plan or executive summary of the project
  • GROWTH category:
    • pitch deck
    • latest approved Financial Statement
    • detailed Business Plan 3y/5y including the statement of Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow (The startups admitted to the program may be asked to provide further detailed documentation in addition to the documents initially requested).

 

Interested entrepreneurs can apply no later than September 22nd2019. The program is free of charge; selected companies will need to cover their own travel and accommodation costs.

If you are already registered on www.startupinitiative.com, you can apply even more easily. Just send an email to startup@intesasanpaolo.com attaching the requested documents and indicating the category (SEED or GROWTH) for which you would like to apply.

 

 

APPLICATIONS WILL BE REVIEWED AND SCREENED BY THE ORGANIZERS ON THE BASIS OF SIX KEY DRIVERS

  • Team (complementary skills, commitment and own resources, ability to involve relevant advisors)
  • Market opportunity (addressable market size and growth projections, go-to-market, competitive landscape)
  • Product (need you are solving, design and innovation, competitive advantages, development stage)
  • Defensibility (barriers to entry such as IP if applicable, otherwise time-to-market and traction)
  • Economics (5-year plan with robust assumptions, use of funds raised, ROI strategy)
  • Fit with IREN’s strategy (to learn more about our business units visit https://www.gruppoiren.it/attivita)

 

THE PROGRAM IS STRUCTURED AS FOLLOWS

Sep 22 – Deadline Call

Sep 28 Communication of the results

Oct 1 Confirmation of participation from admitted startups

Oct 7-8"The World Class" for technology Deployment, a Growth-Stage Entrepreneur Master Class. Admitted startups will receive two full days of investor alignment and business development tools delivered by the course developer, Bill Barber, California serial entrepreneur, business angel, current Head for Startup and Growth Acceleration programs at Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center. He will be supported by a Global tech M&A veteran. This phase is mandatory for the SEED category and optional (though highly recommended) for the GROWTH category.

Oct 14-25 BOTH CategoriesOne-to-one: advisory sessions will be scheduled directly with Bill Barber from Oct 7 to Oct 10.

Oct 28 to Nov 18 GROWTH Category  One-to-Iren & Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center. During this phase we are going to organize meetings for the startups with Iren & Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center in order to investigate the business plan assumptions, valuation and common fields of cooperation in order to find “early wins” in the deal flow process.

Nov 21 BOTH CategoriesDeal Line-Up: startups will pitch in front of a panel of experts, who will provide structured feedback and select the finalists that will move forward in the program.

Dec 3 – BOTH Categories  Arena Meeting and Demo Center: the startups selected at the Deal Line-Up will pitch their project in front of a targeted audience of IREN executives and selected VC investors who are looking for business and investment opportunities.

 

By applying you allow the organizers to film the program’s activities and use your image in promotional footage. For any further questions, feel free to contact us.