Whether it be Prima-Temp in Denver or MyPeegu in Bangalore, start-ups all across the world are solving or helping to solve some of our world’s most complex challenges. Challenge Cup breaks down the barriers to access, resources and funding that most start-ups experience outside of Silicon Valley. Well, here’s a chance for your start-up to gain global exposure and the benefits that come with it on a global scale.
Learning from other entrepreneurs, from the mentors, from people at 1776, and the experience, will make start-ups succeed in the future.All start-ups must meet these criteria in order to apply to compete in Challenge Cup:Your start up must be working within one of these critical industries or emerging technologies:Cities; Education;Energy;Food;Health;Money;Security; Transportation; Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence & Robotics/Automation
Other requirements are that your start up must be a for-profit business;offer a scalable product or service and be in a market with measurable traction; must be beyond “idea stage.” having a pilot program or an MVP in market. While traction may be limited, there should be identifiable traction post-launch. It should also have under $2.5 million dollars in venture funding at the time of application;must have less than $3million in revenue booked to date;
However, the start up does not need proof of regional affiliation so you can compete in a region of your choice. All applications must be submitted via UNION. Local organizers will select 15-20 start-ups to compete in each Challenge Cup Local;These 15-20 start-ups will present in a live pitch competition; Based on the pitches and Q&A sessions, the judges will select one winning start up per local to advance to compete at the Global Finals during Challenge Festival in New York City from November 13-17, 2017.
1776 Challenge Cup is aglobal competition for the world’s most promising start-ups tackling complex, regulated challenges to share their vision on a global stage, engage with industry leaders, and win grand prizes. Each applicant will receive access to UNION for the duration of their time in the competition.One winner will be selected from each Challenge Cup Local to compete in the Global Finals at Challenge Festival in New York City. At Challenge Festival, competing start-ups will have the opportunity to participate in mentor hours, curriculum and pitch coaching as well as make direct connections to potential funders, clients, experts, and 75 of the top start up peer-founders from around the world.
At each local event, each of the 15-20 selected start-ups will deliver a 2-minute elevator pitch, followed by a 1-minute Q&A with a panel of judges, made up of a mix of local investors and industry experts.The judges will select one winning start up per local to advance to the Global Finals.This winning start-up will receive a round-trip flight and hotel accommodations to compete in the Global Finals at Challenge Festival in New York City from November 13-17, 2017.
Semi-finals Round — All 75 of the winning start-ups will participate in the semi-finals round at Challenge Festival. Each start-up will deliver a 2-minute pitch with 2 minutes of Q&A with the judges.Final Round — 8 winners from those semi-finals will advance to the final round, where each will deliver a 4-minute pitch and participate in 3 minutes of Q&A with the judges. The winners will receive grand prizes.
On a local level, through 1776’s UNION network, all competitors in Challenge Cup Locals will have access to expert advice, accelerator curriculum, pitch coaching and the ability to network with start up competitors around the world for the duration of their time in the competition.
A winner from each Local competition will advance to the Global Finals, held during the Challenge Festival in New York City from November 13-17, 2017. The winning start up will receive a flight ticket and a hotel package to attend and participate in the Global Finals.
At the Global Finals, one winner from each Challenge Cup Local will travel to New York City to compete in the Global Finals at the Challenge Festival. These start-ups will have the opportunity to share their ideas on a global stage and compete for grand prizes. All competitors will receive:A round trip ticket and hotel stay in New York City to compete in the Global Finals at Challenge Festival.Exclusive access to 1776’s UNION network, connecting thousands of entrepreneurs, mentors, experts, investors, and start up ecosystems worldwide.Onsite programming at Challenge Festival as well as direct connections to potential funders, clients, mentors and 75 of the top start upfounders from around the world.
The initiative by 1776, a start up incubator focused on public good brought start-ups from 16 cities in 11 countries to Washington D.C. to compete in its annual Challenge Festival. The week-long start up competition focused on four areas of public innovation: education, energy & sustainability, health, and transportation. Unlike other well-known incubators and seed funds, 1776 solely funds start-ups that are focused on making a major impact in heavily regulated industries.
At the Challenge Festival, start-ups like as BaseTrace, which “uses DNA-based tracers to track where industrial fluids are going in large, complex environments” and Reliefwatch, a cloud-based system that uses smartphone technology to track inventory and diseases for healthcare organizations in the developing world, battled it out on stage for a grand prize of $150,000 in investment.
Twiga Fruits, a Kenya-based start up that builds fair and sustainable distribution systems to export fresh fruit without going through a middleman took the top prize. The company aims to treat farmers fairly while helping to distribute their goods to the widest network. Twiga Fruits is currently Kenya’s leading exporter of bananas, pineapples and avocados
Along with fresh funding, Twiga Fruits and other finalists will receive the “swat team” of support from mentors, government officials, and institutional market partners that 2-year-old 1776 has become known for.
Here are a few of the other finalists: Cognotion identifies talent, delivers functional utilization of knowledge, and decreases employee churn rate by using gaming and video tools to teach entry level millennials about personal finance.
Handsfree Learning helps students, teachers, and institutions learn and teach hands-on technical skills by applying a range of hardware and software solutions to expand possibilities in subjects like dentistry, medicine, culinary arts, fine arts, cosmetology, and lab sciences.
LearnLux creates online learning tools to teach people personal finance and allows companies to empower their employees to become financially autonomous by giving them the skills and knowledge they need to make the best financial decisions.
Radiator Labs uses a unique patent-pending product offering to improve radiator’s heating efficiencies and turn them into smartphone-controlled climate systems.
Unima is a biotechnology start up that developed a fast and low-cost diagnostics technology for global health data collection and analytics in real time.
EverCharge has created a proprietary device and service for drivers of electric vehicles who park in common-area garages, enabling users to charge their vehicles at their convenience.
The Challenge Cup is co-produced by 1776 and Revolution, Steve Case’s VC firm, and will take place is 75 cities around the world over the course of the next months. These include Accra, Ghana, Seoul, South Korea, Wilmington, North Carolina and more. In each of these cities 1776 is partnering with a local start up incubator or coworking space to run the event. The D.C. local edition will kick off the whole thing on May 22.
Applications are now open for start-ups wishing to pitch at any of the first few cities (including D.C.).
The Challenge Cup helps with forging partnerships between government officials, institutions, and entrepreneurs tackling complex challenges. Evan Burfield, cofounder and CEO of 1776 said in a statement that by partnering with Revolution they are reinforcing the networks necessary for start-ups to solve meaningful problems on a global stage.
The event will wrap up with a multi-day festival in November at 1776’s new campus in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
1776 started Challenge Cup four years ago to discover the most promising, highly scalable start-ups poised to solve complex challenges across borders, regulated industries and emerging technologies.
This year, Challenge Cup is presented in partnership with investment firm Revolution, an active champion for the emergence of entrepreneurial communities and start-ups outside of Silicon Valley. This partnership reinforces 1776’s and Revolution’s core belief around start-ups and innovation: great companies can start and scale anywhere.
Challenge Cup takes place in 75 cities. In each of these cities, 1776 partners with a leading local start up program to host a Challenge Cup experience on 1776’s UNION Network, a digital platform that connects start up ecosystems around the world.
These qualifying competitions identify one winning start up from each city to advance to the Global Finals at Challenge Festival. Challenge Festival convenes investors, policymakers, and innovators from across the globe convene to examine and discuss pressing global challenges. This year’s event will be hosted November 13-17, 2017, at 1776’s newest campus in New York City.
At 1776, we believe entrepreneurs have the power to change the world. In 2016, MUrgency was the Challenge Cup Champion. MUrgency is a Dubai-based company that uses the power of mobile technology and networks to create one seamless global emergency response network.
Applications are being accepted through 1776’s UNION network, a digital platform that offers your start up access to pitch-coaching, industry advice, and key connections with the right people to help you scale in your industry. Each applicant will receive access to UNION for the duration of their time in the competition.One winner will be selected from each Challenge Cup Local to compete in the Global Finals at Challenge Festival in New York City. These start-ups will have the opportunity to share their ideas on a global stage and compete for grand prizes. At Challenge Festival, competing start-ups will have the opportunity to participate in mentor hours, curriculum and pitch coaching as well as make direct connections to potential funders, clients, experts, and 75 of the top start up peer-founders from around the world.
Steve Case, CEO and Chairman of Revolution LLC and Co-founder of AOL said that the Challenge Cup shows that great companies can start and scale anywhere whilst talent is evenly distributed. Revolution isworking with 1776 on this effort to provide start-ups around the world with the tools they need and the attention they deserve.
Challenge Cup will take place in 75 global cities, including cities drawn from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest program as well as over 20 US state capitals. In each of these cities, 1776 will partner with a leading local start up program to host a Challenge Cup experience on 1776’s UNION Network, a digital platform that connects start up ecosystems around the world.
Applications are accepted through 1776’s UNION network, a digital platform that offers your start up access to pitch-coaching, industry advice, and key connections with the right people to help you scale in your industry. Each applicant will receive access to UNION for the duration of their time in the competition
One winner will be selected from each Challenge Cup Local to compete in the Global Finals at Challenge Festival in New York City. These start-ups will have the opportunity to share their ideas on a global stage and compete for grand prizes. At Challenge Festival, competing start-ups will have the opportunity to participate in mentor hours, curriculum and pitch coaching as well as make direct connections to potential funders, clients, experts, and 75 of the top start up peer-founders from around the world.
The program culminates in the 2017 Challenge Festival, a multi-day event in November taking place at 1776’s newest campus located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Article by Nelson Madzima.
