Startup Competition

Win 250.000 DKK to make your idea happen

SIGN UP FOR THE VENTURE CUP STARTUP COMPETITION FINAL 2013 HERE!

Startup Competition participants can win 50.000 DKK in each of five categories with an additional 200.000 DKK for the overall most promising startup. This competition focuses primarily on innovation, strength of business case, team diversity, startup potential and implementation strategy, including growth opportunities.

Participation gives access to advisors, workshops and an extensive network of investors, industry experts and serial entrepreneurs; all participants receive feedback from qualified jury members.

To enter the Venture Cup Startup Competition, submit a business plan of up to 15 pages before the deadline in the spring.

What’s In It For Me?

For the past 10 years, we have worked to help and inspire young entrepreneurs. With more than 1900 teams, 1130 new jobs, and 4 international offices under our belt, Venture Cup is one of Europe’s largest and most trusted non-profits to help make startups happen. Supported by the Danish universities and some of Denmark’s most innovative companies, we provide support and the right mindset to help you succeed.

Some of the key challenges we can help you with:

  • Cash Prizes – 50.000 DKK to the best idea in each category and an additional prize of 200.000 DKK to the overall winner, no strings attached.
  • Network – Meet serial entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, industry experts, and our alumni club.
  • Venture Cup Booster Pack – A package including all the help you need as a startup, awarded to each of the 25 most promising high growth potential teams. Each package has a product value, 400.000 DKK
  • Feedback – Get early and vital feedback from our jury or apply for an advisor.
  • Training – Learn to pitch, prototype, network, and write a business plan.
  • Experts – We facilitate contact to advisors and mentors to help you reach the next level.

1. Can I Apply?

1. For Students, Staff and Graduates. All teams must have at least one person who is a student, faculty member, or recent graduate (within the last calendar year) from one of the Danish universities (AAU, AU, CBS, DTU, KU, RUC, SDU) at the time of submission. Note that this does not include HHX, HTX and Gymnasium-level students; please refer to our sister organisation, Young Enterprise. Full-time foreign students and diploma students are also welcome to apply, as long as they otherwise comply with the rules. For a full overview, please see the rules.

2. Business Plan

Whatever stage you are at you need explain your idea and the potential business. The judges will typically be looking for: a) the innovation of your idea; b) the problem it solves; c) the team to solve it; d) the business case; and e) how you will make it happen.

The business plan must not exceed 15 standard written A4 pages. Need inspiration on how to write a business plan? Check out our optional guide at our Resources page or download the Startup Competition inspirational guide/template here (PDF)

Once you have written the business plan, please save it as a PDF file of max 10 MB and name it the same as your team/company (e.g. “rubycup.pdf” or “blacksiliconsolar.pdf”)

Note: All members of the jury, advisors, and Venture Cup staff have all signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) as well as a set of ethical rules. For more information about the subject read our Resources page or our FAQ page.

3. Choose Category

Once you have written your business plan you should have a clear idea of what category your plan belongs in. Industry experts will read, rate, and provide vital feedback based on their category insight, so choosing the right category is important for both jury and participants.

We will screen all business plans to make sure you are entered in the category that best fits your idea, and you can apply with as many ideas as you want in any number of categories. You cannot however submit the same idea in more than one category.

The 5 categories are:

  • Cleantech & Environment: energy efficiency, waste management, pollution reduction etc.
  • Life Science & MedTech: biotech, pharma, medical devices, healthcare, biomaterials etc.
  • Mobile & Web: apps, web services, search engines, augmented reality, Near Field Communication etc.
  • People & Society: education, consultancy, marketing, services, tourism, social entrepreneurship etc.
  • Product & Technology: industrial design, devices, robotics, hardware, nanotech etc.

4. Checklist

  • You and your business plan comply with the rules.
  • Your business plan is ready and contains the relevant areas of interest explained here.
  • All contact info on all team members should be clearly stated in the business idea and in our online competition management tool (the site where you upload your business plan).
  • Make sure your business plan is saved as a PDF of max 10MB and named after your business plan.
  • Be prepared to answer these mandatory questions when submitting your business plan.

5. Apply

All applications are handled securely by our online competition management system. Once you click “Upload” below, a new window will open for your application. Fill out all the required info, upload the PDF to our online competition management system, then you will receive a confirmation email for a successful upload. Note: The upload may take a few minutes, so please be patient and only click the Submit button once.

I Have Applied, Now What?

Congrats! You have now taken the first step to make your idea happen, and are now officially a member of the Venture Cup Alumni Club. Once the jury have rated and provided feedback to all participating teams, we will release the feedback and make the finalists public via email and the website. This process usually takes 6 weeks.

Thanks for participating and good luck!