nowEurope

A concrete opportunity for hi-tech innovative companies in the Central Europe is arising from the semi-final of the European Venture Contest (EVC) that will be held in Prague in November. Three winners will be selected for the final in Barcelona (90,000 euros cash prize) and the top 10 presenting companies will receive a free ticket to present at the European Venture Summit in Düsseldorf on December 1-2.

The contest is organised by Europe Unlimited, our long-term partner located in Brussels, that has been working in this field for ten years. Some readers may remember Steven Carlson and me assisting local companies from Hungary and Czech Republic to present their venture at similar events a few years ago.

The EVC aim is to identify, promote and reward the most innovative early stage companies in Europe with breakthrough innovation in technology or services and international ambition and potential. 12 winners have been already selected within four semi-finals held in Brussels, Stuttgart, Linz and Copenhagen. Nine more will be selected within the upcoming semi-finals held in Prague, Pamplona and Eindhoven and get a chance to network with investors, industry leaders and potential partners.

As you can find last year 576 entrepreneurs registered and 99 companies from 19 countries have been selected for presenting their business. According to the contest records on the web the only company from Centrope region qualified into the EVC final so far is RF-iT Solutions (Austria) in 2006. I guess the Prague semi-final provide innovative companies (ICT or biotech) from Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary with a unique chance to get in. The deadline for online applications is mid October (check the website).