PowerUp! Grand Final & Finalist Start-ups
EIT InnoEnergy, the engine behind Europe’s sustainable energy transformation, will go ahead with its selection program for acceleration and business development called PowerUp! Challenge to find and fund the most promising startups, scale-ups, and SMEs in Central & Eastern Europe.
For the changed global situation caused by the Coronavirus, EIT InnoEnergy moved the PowerUp! Country Finals and Grand Final to online platforms. Partnering up with the world’s leading companies such as Amazon Web Services, key industry player DTEK, and numerous public administration and innovation agencies, the finals were made possible.
With a new online platform, EIT InnoEnergy lifted all barriers and would like to invite you all to participate in the PowerUp! Grand Final event! You can register here.
Besides, turning an event 100% digital is an opportunity. In this way Country Finals of PowerUp! reached more people than ever. Also, with the new platform, the audiences have the right to vote for their favorite start-up and help it to reach some special prizes.
At the PowerUp! Grand Final, you can vote for your favorite start-up! Even, you can send her/him your good wishes with an audience video which will be published before their pitches! Reach us for more details about video sending: sucool@sabanciuniv.edu
Who are we?
We are Sabancı University Inovent, Turkey’s first technology commercialization/accelerator, seed fund company, and EIT InnoEnergy’s only official partner in Turkey since 2017. On behalf of EIT InnoEnergy, we managed the PowerUp! activities in Turkey.
What is PowerUp! Challenge?
The PowerUp! Challenge is one of the biggest energy-focused startup competitions in Europe organized by EIT InnoEnergy in Central & Eastern Europe. It is organized simultaneously in 14 CEE countries. The thematic areas are energy, mobility, cleantech, and smart cities.
This year, from 24 Central-Eastern European countries, a record number of 360 eligible startups have registered to the PowerUp! Challenge in the hope of winning financial prizes amounting to €65.000 and other valuable offerings from key partners such as Amazon Web Services, Revolut, or SpeedUp Group.
What happened at the Country Finals?
From April until the end of May, Hubs of EIT InnoEnergy Central & Eastern Europe held the Virtual PowerUp! Country Finals with the help of our beloved PROIDEA (https://proidea.pl/).
You can learn more about how we turned our physical events 100% online in a short amount of time in our blog post here:
Let’s meet the start-ups of the PowerUp! Grand Final!
*The ordering of the start-ups was made according to the PowerUp! Country Final dates.
1) The Turkish Winner
Blink Energy aims to solve the ice load problem that occurs on energy distribution lines during winter months. They designed Plectron, a product that offers a solution to this problem. The machine has humidity and temperature sensors. When the sensors detect that due to certain weather conditions ice is beginning to form, Plectron vibrates and shakes off the “wet snow” from the lines before it can turn to solid ice. Thus, it provides preventive maintenance for electricity providers.
2) The Lithuanian Winner
Viezo is vibration energy harvesting solution, capable of generating electricity from vibrations, meant to power the wireless IoT sensors, therefore, prolonging their lifetime significantly whilst minimizing the costs. Its work includes developing new types of material that can produce energy from vibrations and use this instead of batteries.
3) The Greek Winner
As a hybrid AgTech company, Solmeyea tackles the land scarcity through algae farming while subsequently reducing the Carbon footprint. Solmeyea offers Feed Supplements helping Humanity solve the upcoming shortage of healthy and non-GMO Feed, ensuring Animals’ & Humans’ longevity. Its mission is to ensure the rapidly growing population will meet its protein needs and be healthy without further damaging the environment.
4) The Serbian Winner
Typhoon Hil has a universal UEGOS operational system that enables control of all distributed energy resources and smart devices, increasing their efficiency and decreasing expenses. UEGOS is created based on Python and Linux and is installed easily by USB or Cloud on existing or new infrastructure. The technology behind UEGOS has already been tested, implemented, and is ready for use.
5) The Bulgarian Winner
AirLief fights air pollution with innovative protection masks and a mobile app. The mask’s interchangeable filters were created to safeguard not only against fine particles but also pollen, bacteria, and larger particles of dust. Recycled cotton is used for the development of a special 3D structure that ensures a larger filtering area while making it easy for the user to breathe. Unlike most masks on the market, AirLief’s protective gear has been built to last for a long time and is easily washable.
6) The Hungarian Winner
Poliloop is intended to solve the plastic waste problem in the world. Their mission is to provide an eco-friendly and scalable answer to the crisis so that plastic will no longer be a threat to the inhabitants of the earth. They created a cocktail of four bacteria that together consume plastic. Two of these have never before been described and two have never been used for this purpose.
7) The Latvian Winner
PolyLabs’ main field of activity is the production of chemical products and, in particular, the production of polyols, which is one of the main raw materials in the polyurethane industry. The company’s story began with bio polyols made from rapeseed and tall oil. However, this has not stopped innovation. PolyLabs has developed a new solution for recycling previously unprocessed PET plastic waste into an excellent chemical product — an energy-saving material — polyurethane, thus removing raw materials from pollution and placing them in an extended life cycle product.
8) The Estonian Winner
Woola creates eco-friendly packaging made out of sheep’s wool as an answer to plastic waste generated by e-commerce packaging. The product protects the parcel during transportation and is resistant to temperature and humidity. It’s compostable within six months and is 40% cheaper than plant-based package fillers.
9) The Polish Winner
Greenbin.app is an application that facilitates the collection of used packaging. The packaging of the goods is marked with special QR codes, and after they are being scanned by the consumer, travel to collection points and the system tracks their further fate. Producers of goods receive the option of monitoring the used packaging, and consumers can receive special discounts.
10) The Slovenian Winner
TROIA AR is an asset management tool platform. With the help of AR glasses, tablets, or phones, displays computer-generated key data in real-time, thus enabling exceptional improvements in terms of operational excellence and quality at work. It offers endless possibilities and business opportunities for all industries and the TROIA team can customize it for different applications, for different organizations.
11) The Slovakian Winner
Biotron Labs develops its Mobilyze platform, which helps clients make better decisions about improving mobility. Therefore, it helps electric car charger networks to place them based on real and expected demand.
12) The Czech Winner
Pocket Virtuality develops augmented and virtual reality technology that specializes in real-time remote communication. The solution may be used in the fields of engineering, medicine, and smart cities. Thanks to this technology, the on-site worker can connect with an external expert who sees a virtual representation of the environment and can fully assist from a distance.
13) The Croatian Winner
EazyOil is a system of automatic payment at gas stations by recognizing license plates. Once the car approaches the unit at the gas station, the camera records the registration number and connects it to the user in the base. The user receives a ‘push’ notification asking if they want to use automatic billing; the user clicks YES, and the refueling can begin. The payment is made automatically, eliminating the time-consuming waiting in the line at the station.
14) The Romanian Winner
WATTO aims to create a network of ultra-fast power stations, specially designed for personal electric cars, but also for commercial vehicles. The solution guarantees a charging level of 80% in less than 10 minutes.
These 14 start-ups will compete for financial prizes amounting to €65.000 and other valuable offerings from key partners such as Amazon Web Services, Revolut, or SpeedUp Group and to become the Start-up of the Year of CEE on June 25!
