Impact Competition FAQs

The Impact Competition is organised by Unknown Group and powered by Impact City (The Municipality of The Hague) to give impact startups with sustainable solutions a platform to showcase their products and connect with investors. The competition consist of a number of satellite city events in Berlin, Lisbon, Geneva, Copenhagen, Oslo and is kicked-off with Get in the Ring Netherlands event in The Hague.

In parallel an online selection with continues selection rounds are happening targeting start-ups outside these cities. The regional winners from the cities and from the online selection rounds will get invited to the big Impact Final in April to compete for a €500K convertible loan.

If you have a connection to one of the contries of the Impact Competition City Events (The Hague, Berlin, Geneva, Copenhagen, Oslo) we recommend applying directly for a city event. If you are based somewhere else in Europe, apply for the Impact Competition Online Selection.

Yes! The competition is open for everybody. However the city events are focusing on the local eco-system for that country. It might be relevant for global companies to apply for the online selection rounds if you are interested to get into the European market.

The impact finals consists of 12 local startup winners at the city events and 8 startup winners from the public voting. The Impact Finals take place in The Hague from 13-14 April 2021.

The process of the online competition consists of: 1 )application, 2) nomination 3) public voting, 4) Winner selection.

1) Application: any startup can apply from now up until 21/2/21. There are four review rounds where an external jury (“superconnectors”) evaluates the startups. Check the online selection page for the upcoming deadline.

2) Nomination: A jury of superconnectors from the industry will evaluate the startups and provide feedback on the applications. Each review round a number of applied startups will be nominated for the public voting. If you wake their interest they will connect you to opportunities in their large networks.

3) Public voting: Start-ups nominated by the superconnectors will go into the public voting campaign. In this phase all startups have the chance to activate their fanbase to help them proceed to the finals with their vote. The public voting will lasts 2 weeks.

4) Winner selection. From the public voting 8 startups will be invited to the Impact Finals. On the selection day, (23 March 2021), the 8 winners will be determined during a live deliberation with the Superconnectors. The number 1 most voted for startup will be directly placed in the Impact Finals.

5) Impact Finals. The impact finals consist of 12 local startup winners at the city events and 8 startup winners from the public voting. The Impact Finals take place in The Hague from 13-14 April 2021.

Any startup can apply from now up until the end of May 2021. There are four review rounds with a deadline: the next deadline for the review round in the Impact Competition is January 30th 2021.

Superconnectors are industry partners interested in impact start-ups within the field of water, food/agriculture, energy companies making sustainable impact on society. They also act as jury members who choses the startups who will be selected for the public voting.

Public voting is the last part of the online selection round where the nominated startups from all four selection rounds will compete for a place at the Impact Finals. Each startup will get their own company page on the Impact Competion platform to share on social media and attract attention to their business idea and engage with their network. The Get in the Ring brand will ensure global exposure and create awareness about the impact startup. The public voting lasts 2 weeks and 8 startups will be selected to the impact finals in the Hague.