About a year ago we reported that Innovate!Europe was holding a workshop and networking event in Israel, through which one startup would be selected to participate in Guidewire STUDIO, an in-residence business accelerator in Silicon Valley.
Well, Innovate!Europe is coming back to Israel, but this time as the Innovate!2010 global competition. The goal of the competition is to identify and promote up-and-coming technology and media startups. They’re looking for early-stage companies that “have what it takes to be named one of the world’s most promising startups.”
Here’s more info from an email they sent around:
The top 100 companies will be featured in a prestigious list known as the Innovate!100 – and the best of the best will receive a share of prizes valued at nearly $250,000. In addition, every startup that applies will receive promotional exposure and free training designed to improve their chances of success.
Participating startups will be evaluated using Guidewire Group’s proprietary G/Score assessment methodology, which is based on our team’s experience vetting more than 20,000 startups for DEMO and Guidewire Group. Finalists will then be invited to deliver rapid-fire pitches in front of a panel of expert judges and audience members at one of our Innovate!2010 Pitch Slams.
We have scheduled Innovate!2010 Pitch Slams in over a dozen European cities between March 1 and March 29, and additional events will be held in the United States in the coming months. There will also be an online evaluation process for finalists that are not able to attend in person.
The Innovate!2010 Pitch Slams will be held in a bunch of cities, including Tel Aviv on March 15. To apply go to the Innovate!2010 application page. Here are some bits about the application stages according to that page:
Step 1: Startups apply online to receive:
- 2 tickets to an Innovate!2010 Pitch Slams (worth over $100 USD)
- Access to online pitch training
- Promotion to local journalists and through a network of over 5,000 news sites
- The chance to be chosen to pitch at a local Pitch Slam to win a place on the Innovate!100, cash and other prizes.
There is a $75 application fee – approximately €54 – which will not be charged until you complete the form.
Guidewire Group’s analysts will evaluate all applications and invite 10-15 Finalists to pitch at a local Pitch Slam.
Step 2: Local Pitch Slams take place
Startups invited to pitch at the Innovate! Pitch Slams will be notified by email 7-10 days before the event where:
- Each finalist pitches for 5 minutes
- Each company is evaluated by our team of expert judges and provided with a G-Score.
- The Most Promising Startup of the night is chosen.
Finalists who are not able to attend their Pitch Slam will be invited to participate in a web-based pitch session.
Step 3: Promotion of the Innovate!100
Pitch videos for all of the Innovate!100 Finalists will be used to promote pitching companies to local journalists and a network of over 5,000 news sites and via the Innovate! Connections Program. Startups with the top G/Scores will be named to the Innovate!100 list for 2010 and the Innovate! Challenges prizes will be awarded.
I think this is a great opportunity for some early-stage startups to get the resources and support they may need to take their company to the next level.
Good luck to all the applicants!
This past Wednesday, July 8 I was privileged to be the “keynote speaker” (I find that term kind of amusing, thus the quotation marks) at IBM for the latest SSVN (The Startups & Societal Ventures Network) event.
The challenge of talking to a large group about social media is trying to make sure that the information is not too overwhelming for the newbies, but at the same time is not too boring for the seasoned users. The feedback from the audience was pretty enthusiastic, so I hope I managed to reach that happy medium.
The talk covers recent landmark events on twitter, such as Dell reaching $3m in sales via twitter, the success of the Iran Election protesters who used twitter to bring their cause to the world, and some other events. We looked at strategies, tips and tools for creating an effective online presence.
Without further ado, here’s the presentation:
Here are some upcoming events posted on our Israeli hi-tech and business events calendar. Check out the calendar to see a full list of all the events and conferences in February 2009.
February 12, 2009, Jerusalem, Israel. Jerusalem Twestival, over 180 cities worldwide will be hosting Twestival 2009 to raise money for Charity:Water which provides clean drinking water to villages in Africa. More details.
February 15-20, 2009. Jerusalem, Israel. Jerusalem International Book Fair is a unique biennial event which draws over 1200 publishers from more that 40 countries who display more than 100,000 books in different languages. More details.
February 16, 2009. Ranaana, Israel. Lecture by Prof. Judith Donath on social media and networks “ Visible interactions: The Design of Sociable Media “Designers of online environments shape the social potential of these spaces far more profoundly than do the architects of our familiar physical spaces: they determine whether participants are anonymous or named, whether history persists, whether reputations are prominently displayed or privately discussed.
February 17-19, 2009. Eilat, Israel. International Renewable Energy Conference & Exhibition. Technologies, Investments, Implementations and Regional Development. The focus will be on formulating strategies to fight the global energy crisis. Examples of successful industrial or governmental strategies will be presented. Networking will be conducive to transforming specific threats into business opportunities. More details.
See all upcoming events and conferences in Israel for February 2009
December 1-2,2008. Ramat Gan, Israel. The World Summit of Cloud Computing IGT Annual Event & Exhibition. This year the IGT Annual event IGT2008 will focus on Cloud Computing, and its impact on the enterprise IT, the next generation data center, SaaS and Utility Computing. Speakers from cloudera, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Forrester, DataLine, Microsoft, Reservoir, NYSE Euronext, HP, Salesforce, Animoto, Sun Microsystems, Merill Lynch, and many more. More details.
December 3, 2008. Tel Aviv, Israel. John Bryce is hosting a seminar series on Web2.0 – 4 meetings of 4 hours each to discuss web2.0 – blogging, social networking, wikipedia, Ajax, enterprise2.0, and more. More details.
December 3, 2008. Tel Aviv, Israel. Amazon Web Services, Tel-Aviv Meetup. At the Afeka Tel Aviv College of Engineering, The Ficus Building, Room 30. From 6:30 to 11:00 PM. Come meet the Amazon Web Services EMEA team and learn about how Cloud Computing is enabling Israeli companies to flourish in these troubled times.
December 3, 3008. 9 Hamenofim St. Herzeliya, Israel. “Head to Head” with Rich Zippel, VP CTO Sun Microsystems. At Ackerstein Tower A, 8th floor. From 13:00 – 15:00 you can be part of an open forum with Rich and ask him whatever you like. For instance: the future of cloud computing; how does Sun Labs manage its project flow; what is new with Sun; etc. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to interact with one of Sun’s driving forces.
December 3, 2008, Jerusalem, Israel. The Jerusalem Investing Meetup. Meet others interested in investing in stocks, bonds, options, and whatever financial strategy you care to learn more about. Join us at the Jerusalem Investment Group’s December meeting to learn and discuss how to persevere through this bear market and begin rebuilding your portfolio and wealth with an eye towards the future. Starts at 6:30 PM; join the meetup group for a precise location.
December 4, 2008, Petach Tikva, Israel. Job Search 2.0 – A workshop to help you build your profile on LinkedIn, tips for networking, good practices for dealing with human resources, and more. More details and to sign up.
December 4, 2008, Israel. Welcome, Herzeliyya Entrepreneurs and Investors! Meet a new network of local entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to share tips and problem solving techniques, get advice on profitability and career and discuss mentoring and business models. Swap business cards and watch your personal business directory grow! Join the meetup group to receive a location.
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November 3, 2008. Tel Aviv, Israel. Beta Goes Public @ The Barbie. Beta, Israel’s hi-tech rock band, launches its Public Beta tour with a performance at the Barbie club. The performance includes original songs, “upgraded” cover versions of rock hits from the 70s and 80s, and some comedy sketches all based on the Israeli hi-tech culture. More details
November 4, 2008. Netanya, Israel. The Entrepreneurs club is hosting Asaf Peled, Benny Shneider, and Yoram Shamir at Cisco HQ. More details
November 4, 2008. Tel Aviv, Israel. Building a Social Network of Enviornmental Activists in Israel hosted by Jeff Pulver and Eilon Schwartz. More details.
November 5, 2008. Tel Aviv, Israel. Breakfast with Jeff Pulver and friends. If you’ve never been to one of Jeff’s breakfasts, watch this video: Introducing the Personal Social Networking Toolkit More details.
November 5, 2008. Holon, Israel. GarageGeeks are hosting Yahoo! BOSS(Build your Own Search Service) with Yossi Vardi. They’ll be discussing BOSS technology, with Q&A for Yahoo’s leading product folks headed by Bill Michels, GM of Yahoo! Search BOSS; Eran Palmon, Head of BOSS Egnineering; Ronny Lempel, Head of the Yahoo! Haifa Research Lab.More details.
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