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We’re having a great time at the SME Assembly with 4 amazing startups that are pitching in front of 100s of European policy makers! Taking place from the 23rd of November to 25th of November, the European Network of policymakers, startups and matchmakers gathered to discuss the European Startup and Scaleup Network in the presence of European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska.
Startups from Europe
Four startups were selected to participate in the Get in the Ring demo in Bratislava. TOGlic and Techambition were selected from Get in the Ring Prague, both looking for ways to improve teaching results with technology. Wavie, the homegrown startup from Bratislava, pitched its innovative technology for remote controlling your lightbulbs. And the Dutch impact startup Pearltect was there to take the spotlight to empower women worldwide.
Pitching in front of policymakers
As our Global Ringmaster Keith Wallace started pumping up the crowd as the European startup network had their encounter with Get in the Ring. Viljar Lubi, SME Envoy of Estonia; Irmfried Schwimann, director of DG Growth; and Cristina Fernandez, VP Policy and Research at the Global Entrepreneurship Network, had one of the toughest tasks during the day: judging the startups as Champion Jury.
Pitching for the Global Conference in Singapore
Time to start with the first battle: Techambition against Wavie. As Radoslav Teusinger was pitching their product as a teaching tutor, he got the decisive vote as first winner from the jury!
In the second battle, red corner contestant Pearltect was verbally fighting the Czechian startup TOGlic in the blue corner. An innovative bracelet to empower women worldwide and protect them non-violently by scaring violators off with stench versus an app that provides technological aid in classrooms. After some strong pitching, Roel from Pearltect came out on top, and won the second battle.
For the ticket to the Global Conference, Roel and Radoslav were asked to come up for a final pitch-off to convince the audience. Although a tough decision, an overwhelming enthusiasm from the audience decided for the bracelet of Pearltect, making the red corner win the ticket to the Global Conference.
Global1000
Just before the announcement of the winner, Erwin Koenraads, co-founder of Get in the Ring, was asked on stage, where he launched the Global1000 in the presence of the European Commissioner. “Get in the Ring has been testing challenges in the past 12 months as a means to connect startups to corporates and stimulate collaborations. With the Global1000 we want to realize 1000 pilot projects in the next 10 years on impactful innovations to combine the best of both worlds”. With the Global1000 we will focus on connecting startups to corporates, governments and NGOs based on clearly defined challenges along the SDGs, with the goal to develop innovations together that have the potential of making global impact.
You can find all pictures of the event here.