Klimahouse Startup Award 2018 goes to Europe
«Nature of building, nature of living». This is the title of the second edition of the Klimahouse Startup Award, a prize powered by Klimahouse, the leading trade show for innovation in the green building industry who has recently launched a Europe-wide call for entries. Under the slogan «building according to nature means living according to nature» the 2018 Klimahouse Startup Award is dedicated to all European startups, operating in the fields of smart building, smart living and smart cities, that develop innovative technologies with a special focus on the sustainable relationship between humans and nature. The Klimahouse Startup Award aims at boosting the green tech sector by creating concrete business opportunities for young and competitive enterprises. And this is exactly why the competition will be held in conjunction with the Klimahouse Innovation Days, a four-day programme full of meeting and matchmaking occasions especially dedicated to startup companies operating in the green building sector. Another highlight of the event will be a special prize awarded by the South Tyrolean Agency CasaClima.
Klimahouse Startup Award, premiazioni 2017
The prize
The Klimahouse Innovation Days will run alongside Klimahouse 2018, from the 24th to the 27th of January at the Fiera Bolzano Exhibition Center. «Building according to nature means living according to nature, » explains Thomas Mur, Director of Fiera Bolzano. «This concept is deeply rooted in the South Tyrolean culture and mentality. In fact, also the upcoming Bolzano-based science and tech park – NOI (Nature of Innovation) Techpark – has positioned itself according to this concept. By combining ecology and technology, we will be able to create a new ecosystem that focuses on the balance between humans and nature. With the Klimahouse Startup Award 2018 we intent to launch this message also in the rest of Europe, not only with regard to the CasaClima’s energy efficiency guidelines but also in relation to technologies that aim at making homes and buildings become smarter and more comfortable». «The Klimahouse Innovation Days 2018, » says Luca Barbieri, scientific chair of the competition, «promote and encourage innovation that makes man feel part of something to which he belongs: within the walls of an intelligent and connected home, and outside the home in the smart cities of tomorrow. A new form of urban living that reconciles man with nature».
Klimahouse Startup Award 2018: how to participate
All startups operating in the sectors of construction, energy, IT (Information Technology) and IoT (Internet of Things) are qualified to compete for the Klimahouse Startup Award, provided that their products and services are applicable to the field of energy efficiency in building. «Startup» refers to any company based in the European Union, founded not before 2014 and whose main activities are strongly characterized by innovative elements. Startups that would like to be considered for the award should apply by filling in the online form available at http://www.fierabolzano.it/klimahouse/en/application-startup.htm and by attaching their entrepreneurial project. Applications must be submitted by 6 p.m. on the 20th of November 2017. For further information please write to: Klimahousestartupaward@klimahouse.it.
Ten finalists
By the 11th of December 2017 a technical judging panel – also SEP (Startup Europe Partnership), a programme dedicated to supporting the growth of young and innovative European businesses, is part of the jury – will select 10 finalists. These will be invited to exhibit their products and services from the 24th to the 27th of January 2018 at Klimahouse in Bolzano, in the Klimahouse Innovation Days expo area. There will be two pitch sessions per day in order to allow the startup finalists to present themselves to the Klimahouse audience. Over the course of the first three days of the event the specialist jury will select three startups that will compete for the first prize at the grand finale of the Klimahouse Startup Award on the 26th of January 2018. The winner of the Klimahouse Startup Award 2018 will be awarded with a comprehensive package of business opportunity services: participation as exhibitor at the 2019 edition of Klimahouse at Fiera Bolzano with a fully set up display booth; participation as exhibitor at Klimahouse Toscana, held in Florence from the 13th to the 15th of April 2018; publicity services related to the participation at Klimahouse 2019 consisting of a press release and a video interview; visibility space on the Klimahouse catalogue and on the exhibition’s official website; 150 invitation vouchers for Klimahouse 2019; a competency mapping light by IDM Alto Adige-Südtirol, agency for economic development and innovation run on behalf of the Province of South Tyrol and the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano. The total prize pool amounts to 20,000 euros and includes the costs of the 10 finalists’ participation at the Klimahouse Innovation Days. The Klimahouse Startup Award is organized by Fiera Bolzano, IDM Alto Adige-Südtirol and Blum Comunicazione.
