Europe’s biggest energy start-up competition for funding and growth open for Maltese companies

● Seed investment can reach €150,000 for each selected project

The reduction of heating costs using solar energy, heat pumps and a patented heat exchanger, or a project reducing the consumption of energy by cooling devices sounds innovative. But these are only a few winning projects of last year’s edition of PowerUp! by InnoEnergy. The call for proposals starting now is the third edition of the largest competition designed for start-ups operating in the sector of sustainable energy in 23 countries in Cen- tral and Eastern Europe, in the Baltics and parts of the Mediterranean. People interested in taking part can submit their ideas at www. powerup.innoenergy.com.

The competition has created a huge opportunity for Maltese innovators keen to execute and develop their projects, as well as those that want to become present in the global market.

“The PowerUp! Competition is a platform for highlighting ideas that may otherwise go unnoticed. It is a big contribution in developing innovation in the sector of sustainable energy in Central and Eastern Europe. Winning technologies and other ideas that will be possible to be implemented will help Europe in protecting the environment and also, after commercialisation, could have a global impact with the help of InnoEnergy,” said Jakub Miler, CEO InnoEnergy Poland Plus, or- ganiser of the competition.

PowerUp! creates multiple opportunities and opens many doors. This fact can be confirmed by last year’s winners: PolarSol from Estonia, PleioneEnergy from Greece, GreenerGizer from Hungary, as well as Bin-E from Poland.

Winners will receive financial prizes as well access to a prestigious accelerator called Highway® by InnoEnergy, which transforms ideas and projects into market reality. It offers young entrepreneurs access to knowledge and major support in the area of developing and protecting a product, entry into the market, team building or access to seed funding. It also enables permanent access to the 150 biggest partners operating in the power industry, simplifying fast entry into the global market.

The Grand Finale in Budapest and 15 regional finales will be pre- ceded by intense workshops. The teams will have an opportunity to work on the details of their projects and present them to experts and investors. These meetings are a one-of-a-kind chance for startups to establish business contacts, attract the attention of the media and contribute to building their strong position in the market of sustainable energy in Europe.

“Our primary aim is to support innovation in the energy sector. We provide support at each level of development – starting with the idea, and progressing to the delivery of the final product to the recipients. Thanks to our partnership network, we build connections across Europe, uniting graduates with employers, inventors with the industry and researchers with companies,” Mr Miler explained.

The number of participants en- tering this competition has been growing steadily and new countries join every year. InnoEnergy invites start-ups and entrepreneurs from 23 countries in Central and Eastern Europe to take part in the third edition of PowerUp! 2017 (Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Estonia, Macedonia, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Latvia, Serbia, Lithuania, Turkey, Ukraine, Poland, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania).

To take part in the competition, submit a project that involves sustainable energy, create a team, have the prototype and fill out the form on the competition site. You can submit your ideas by 11 September. To participate in the competition, please fill out the form at www.powerup.innoenergy.com