Entries for EDP Open Innovation end on August 31
Global prize for startups will allocate € 50,000 and presentation of finalists at the Web Summit, the largest and most important event in the Europe
Startups with creative ideas for the electric sector have until the August 31 to register for the EDP Open Innovation Award, a partnership of EDP Brasil, a company that operates in the areas of energy generation, distribution, marketing and solution, with the Portuguese newspaper Expresso and F‡brica de Startups business accelerator.
"The aim is to stimulate the emergence of innovative and ground-breaking businesses, to anticipate the transformation of the electric sector and contribute to its development, making it more and more efficient and sustainable," says Jo‹o Brito Martins, EDP Brasil Director of Strategy, Organization and Innovation.
The world largest competition for innovation in the energy sector came into being through the merging of the awards EDP Innovation and Energy of Portugal which encouraged entrepreneurship in the area of energy. Interested parties, from anywhere in the world, must submit their projects with potential to reach markets on a global scale.
For the first edition of the contest, the subjects covered were related to clean energy and recent industry trends. The contest covers the following topics: energy efficiency; electric mobility; the internet of things; M2M (Machine-to-Machine); machine learning; information technology; wind, solar, offshore electric production and other forms of energy; storage and distribution of energy; and natural gas.
The teams should consist of 2 to 4 members and can subscribe through the website http://edpopeninnovation.edp.pt.
Contest stages and awards
After the registration phase, up to 30 groups will be selected for interviews conducted by an international jury. At this stage, contestants will have the opportunity to detail their business model and persuade jurors to back their projects.
From these conversations, 15 teams will be chosen, which will benefit from the start-up acceleration program in Lisbon, during the whole month of October. Travel and lodging costs in Portugal shall be the responsibility of the EDP organization, limited to two members per group.
At that time, the teams will work at the F‡brica de Startups to accelerate their projects through the FabStart method, which will allow them to simulate the product in the real world. This is a unique opportunity to share experiences and improve the project, at the same time as receiving assistance in periodic mentoring sessions with renowned professionals from the areas of interest.
The three groups with the best performance throughout the competition according to criteria established by EDP Open Innovation organizing committee will participate in an exhibition at the EDP Stand at Web Summit, the largest and most important technology startups event in Europe. The winning team will be awarded in the amount of Û 50,000 to be used exclusively in the development of the idea.
The winners will be announced in Lisbon in November, after all the members of the acceleration program present their pitches to an audience composed of EDP employees, investors and guests.
Participants with high-potential projects will also be invited to join the EDP Starter Program in Portugal, Spain or Brazil.
The regulations and more information about the award are available at the site:
