While there are lots of advantages to exploring unchartered territories, it is also important for founders to set the right course.
What is a Pitch Competition?
A pitch competition is a startup contest, where early stage entrepreneurs present their business concept to a panel of judges with hope of winning a prize, award or investment capital.
The interaction with the evaluation committee – usually composed by experienced investors and industry experts – provides priceless feedback and validation, constituting a showcase for potential investors.
To help you with this challenge, we are hereby highlighting those pitch competitions that are currently (or soon to be) open for startups’ applications, available for startups from Europe, in person or on-line, and which are either entirely impact, sustainability and climate oriented or where these are key ingredients of the program.
Pitch Competitions and Contests for Impact Startups in Europe in 2024-2025
Overview
Wolves Summit 2024
Who? Early stage startups Location: October 2024 - Bucharest; November 2024 - Vienna; November 2024 - Tallinn; March 2025 - Berlin Deadline: check each of the event pages | Apply: here
Wolves Summit is arguably the largest, most active tech & innovation conference in CEE, bringing together the best creative and tech minds in the heart of Central Eastern Europe to network and make connections that matter. This year they are spreading further their influence beyond the CEE borders, holding numerous events in Europe. The currently programmed events will take place in October 2024 – Bucharest; November 2024 – Vienna; November 2024 – Tallinn; March 2025 – Berlin.
In each edition, Wolves Summit are looking for bold and ambitious startups to pitch in front of our audience and present their ideas. The Great Pitch Contest is a challenge for Startups participating in Wolves Summit. They select the top 100+ tech game-changers to present their ideas, solutions and businesses in front of investors, corporations and an international virtual and on-site audience.
Deep Tech CEE Challenge 2024
Who? deep tech startups
Location: Warsaw (Poland)
Deadline: September 18th, 2024 | Apply: here
The Deep Tech CEE Challenge 2024, part of the Deep Tech CEE Summit, organized by the Poland Innovative Foundation, is a prestigious competition designed to spotlight and support cutting-edge startups across a wide range of deep tech industries. This event offers an unparalleled opportunity for innovators to connect with top investors, industry leaders, and potential partners.
The competition features categories including Electronics & Advanced Computing, Sustainable Construction, Cleantech, and Medical Biotech, among others. Participants will have access to equity funding, one-on-one meetings with venture capitalists, and acceleration programs. Additionally, winners will receive tickets, accommodation, and flights to major European tech events such as the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2025 in Paris and the European Innovation Council Summit 2025 in Brussels. The finals will be held in Warsaw from October 28-30, 2024, with a total prize pool of up to €1,000,000.
CEE Startup Voucher 2024
Who? CEE startups at the earliest stages from all verticals
Location: Wroclaw (Poland)
Deadline: September 15th, 2024 | Apply: here
The CEE Startup Voucher was established in 2021 with the mission of strengthening the position of Central and Eastern European (CEE) startups on the European tech scene. This competition aims to draw international attention to the vibrant startup ecosystems in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia, proving that groundbreaking innovations can emerge from this region.
In the 2024 edition, 20 selected startups will have the chance to showcase their ideas and connect with hundreds of venture capitalists and business angels. The competition offers cash prizes of up to EUR 25K and tailored services to help scale their businesses. Out of the 20 semi-finalists, 8 finalists will compete in the finals on October 24th in Wroclaw, with the top 3 contestants receiving cash prizes and the winner walking away with EUR 25K.
Startup Fair Pitch Battle
Who? Early-stage global startups
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
Deadline: September 9th | Apply: here
Startup Fair is an annual and the main international startup ecosystem event in Lithuania organized by Startup Lithuania. Every year they invite the innovators from around the globe to apply for the chance to pitch on the Startup Fair’s stage in front of the investor jury and international audience.
The top 1-3 startups will get the chance to raise funds from Lithuanian Business Angels Network (LitBAN), Coinvest Capital, and Baltic Sandbox Ventures, which invests in early-stage deep tech, dual-use technologies, and life sciences solutions. Selected finalists will be invited to participate in the Startup Lithuania Accelerator powered by Plug and Play. This accelerator provides the opportunity to receive funding of up to €150,000 and further accelerate through the “GOAL” program in Silicon Valley.
Pitch Battle and Awards Ceremony will take place on October 3rd in Vilnius, Lithuania.
sTARTUp Day
Who? Global early-stage to scale-up startups who are looking to raise funds
Location: Tartu (Estonia)
Deadline: not specified | Apply: pending announcement in October
sTARTUp Day is the most startup-minded business festival, bringing together startups, traditional entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and students. The aim of the event is to connect like-minded people and celebrate entrepreneurship in the smart city of Tartu. In 2023, sTARTUp Day took place for the seventh time, bringing together 3500+ startup-minded people from all over the world. The next edition will take place from 29 to 31 of January 2025.
One of the key ingredients of the sTARTUp day is its pitch competition. The competition is open to startups globally. They are looking for early-stage to scale-up startups who are looking to raise funds. Preferred applicants have a strong mission and a scalable business model. Your startup should have a functioning product with some traction, a strong team, and be ready for an investment. The TOP 40 teams pitching on stage will receive one free Startup ticket per team. Among the sTARTUp Pitching Prizes are up to €200,000 EstBAN-led syndicate investment, up to €125,000 deep tech investment from Baltic Sandbox Ventures, up to €100,000 investment from .Contriber Ventures and many others.
Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge
Who? Startup Teams of 2+ people addressing an industrial, societal or environmental unmet need or creating a new market
Location: Paris (France)
Deadline: 22 September 2024 | Apply: here
This (2024-2025) is the 10th edition of this global challenge – an early-stage, deep-tech startup competition – in search for disruptive solutions across all industries. Even though it is open to startups from wide range of spheres, Impact plays a big role in this contest, identifying – among others – Sustainable Construction, Energy, Environment and Biodiversity, Food & Agriculture – as key sectors for innovation.
Selected startups gain Visibility, Connections and Funding opportunities. The Challenge concludes with the Grand Finals, which takes place during the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit in Paris on 13-14 March 2025. The Grand Prize for the Winner is €100K. Next challenge will be announced afterwards.
Tech Tour Sustainability Events
Who? early-stage startups from different sustainability related industries
Location: Multiple locations + Online
Deadline: check for each program | Apply: check their web
Tech Tour is the largest tech entrepreneurship and investment community in Europe. The Organization runs regular events that provide a platform for interactions between leading entrepreneurs, investors and industry players.
Among the upcoming pitching events in 2024, relevant to the impact and climate-tech entrepreneurs are the Nordic Innovation Fair (23-24 September, Copenhagen, Denmark), Tech Tour Sustainable Construction 2024 (16 – 17 October 2024 Lausanne, Switzerland), Tech Tour Bio-based Industries 2024 (14 – 15 November 2024 Germany), Tech Tour Energy & Decarbonisation 2024 (26 – 27 November 2024 Essen, Germany), European Hydrogen Transport Dialogue 2024 (04 – 05 December 2024 Nuremberg, Germany). Check out the events and register interest, as well as stay tuned for more events and competitions as they get announced.
Tech Chill Fifty Founders Battle
Who? sector agnostic (from marketplaces to deep tech)
Location: Riga (Latvia)
Deadline: TBA | Apply: here
Tech Chill is one of the largest Baltic Tech events with +2300 attendees, bridging the gaps in knowledge, skills, and network. It is taking place in February 2025 (5th-7th) bringing international, local investors, founders and ecosystem players for 3 days in Riga.
Fifty Founders Battle is TechChill’s annual pitch competition for early-stage startups. Fifty of the most promising startups from across the Baltics, Nordics, Central and Western European regions as well as the rest of the world will be selected among all participants. Each semi-finalist will then have the opportunity to present their business idea on TechChill’s stage in front of over 200 investors and other attendees. Among the prizes, there is a 350k Eur syndicate investment by BADideas.fund and DEPO Ventures.
Impact Festival 2024
Who? European Greentech Startups with scale-up potential Location: Frankfurt (Germany) Deadline: 15 September 2024 | Apply: here
Impact Festival is Europe’s largest B2B event and platform for sustainable innovation, bringing together European GreenTech start-ups & SMEs, corporate sustainability managers, and investors to accelerate sustainable transformation. Founded in 2021, this year’s will be the fourth edition and will take place on 30-31 October 2024 in Frankfurt.
During the celebration of the festival, startups will have the opportunity to pitch in front of investors and receive awards. The thematic focus will be on the following six innovation areas: Mobility, Cities & Logistics / Energy, Pollution & Water / Circular Economy & Resources / Agriculture, Biodiversity & Food / Finance, Risk and Regulation / Services, People & Organization.
Slush 100
Who? Startups from Europe and North America, founded in 2021 or later and with less than €2M in equity funding Location: Helsinki (Finland) Deadline: 06 September 2024 | Apply: here
Slush, one of the leading European Startup events, brings the global startup ecosystem under one roof. In cold, dark November, a curated group of speakers from across the globe, showcases, and unique networking opportunities are all in Helsinki. Slush 2023 brought together 5,000 startup founders and operators, 3,000 investors representing +$1 trillion of AUM, a total of 13,000 participants. Beyond the main event taking place at Helsinki Expo and Convention Center, some of the main highlights happen during the hundreds of Side Events taking place across the city throughout the Slush Week. Slush 2024 will take place on November 20-21, 2024. The event is carbon-negative, a proof of its focus on sustainability and positive impact.
Slush 100, its flagship Pitching Competition takes place at the end of Day 2 with three finalists stepping on the Slush main stage in front of thousands of people. The Top 100 companies compete to get there, carefully selected out of 1000+ applicants. 2023’s winner collected a 1,000,000 Eur funding prize from five of the very best early-stage funds active in Europe: Accel, General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NEA, and Northzone.
Web Summit 2024
Who? Fast growing tech startups having received less than €5 million in funding to date (sustainability & impact themes are highly regarded) Location: Lisbon (Portugal) Deadline: not specified | Apply: here
Often referred to as “the best technology conference on the planet”, Web Summit 2023 brought together 70,000+ people and the companies redefining the tech industry. Even though it is not impact specific, sustainability is a key driver of the conference and climate-friendly companies, working on the Net Zero challenge are highly regarded.
Web Summit’s startup programme – ALPHA – offers the chance to join a global community of startups, participate in Web Summit, access to Investor to Startup meetings, and be eligible to apply for pitch, Startup masterclasses, Mentor Hours and more. The 2024 event will be held in Lisbon, from the 11th to the 14th of November.
EU-Startups Summit 2025
Who? Early stage EU startups Location: Malta Deadline: Applications open on October 2024 | Apply: here
The EU-Startups Summit is an exclusive annual in-person event showcasing many of Europe’s hottest startups. It gathers over 2,500 founders, startup enthusiasts, corporates, angel investors, VCs, and media from across Europe. The event is a great opportunity for networking, with a dedicated networking app, and a meeting point for aspiring entrepreneurs and investors who are aiming to build international tech companies. Next edition will take place in Malta on 24-25 April 2025.
During the EU-Startups Summit, there will also be a big pitch competition with 15 of Europe’s most exciting early-stage startups, selected from about 1,500 applicants. The pre-selected startups are going to pitch their business idea with a 3-minute-presentation in front of the attendees and an expert jury of well-known investors. The winning startup team will receive a lot of international visibility, many new investor connections and an awesome prize package worth €390k.
Energy Tech Challengers
Who? From Seed to Series B tech company challenging the status quo in climate tech Location: Bilbao, Spain Deadline: 23 January, 2025 | Apply: Applications opening soon here
Energy Tech Challengers is an annual event part of the Energy Tech Summit that brings together innovative companies working on solutions to decarbonize the planet and connects them with leading venture capitalists, corporations, and media voices. It has been launched by Contrarian Ventures.
In 2025, the Summit returns to Bilbao, Spain. The focus again will be on the most pressing net zero challenges and recognizing innovators with scalable and equitable solutions that have the potential to reach gigaton impact. Top 50 startups will be selected to participate and invited to pitch live at Energy Tech Summit (April 9-10, 2025). One single company will be announced as the ultimate winner of Energy Tech Challengers 2025 award.
Latitude 59
Who? Bold impactful startups with proven traction and looking for funding Location: Tallinn (Estonia) Deadline: TBA in January 2025 | Apply: here
Start Summit 2025
Who? early-stage startups from 2021 or later and that have raised less than 500k CHF Location: St. Gallen (Switzerland) Deadline: pending (TBA) | Apply: here
We Make Future (WMF) – Startup Competition 2025
Who? Innovative entrepreneurial projects with positive influence on the environment and society Location: Bologna (Italy) Deadline: pending (TBA) | Apply: here
We Make Future (WMF) – previously known as Web Marketing Festival – is the biggest international Startup Competition in Italy. Held for +10 years already, it aims to support initiatives working on the development of a sustainable and inclusive future. The WMF, an International Certified Fair, has been promoting entrepreneurial culture and creating development opportunities for the Italian and international innovation ecosystem for over 10 years, aiming to generate a flow of opportunities between Italy and abroad.
Among its many initiatives, the WMF is also organizing the largest International Startup Competition – now in its 13th edition – involving the main international players in the world of innovation and entrepreneurship. 120 candidates will be pre-selected and have the opportunity to increase the visibility of their project, present their idea to the public, as well as to major incubators and accelerators. 6 of them will join the final in Bologna – the new conference location on June 4-5-6, 2025 and present their projects in front of 70,000+ attendees.
South Summit Madrid 2025
Who? Startups from all industries are welcome
Location: Madrid (Spain)
Deadline: TBA | Apply: here
Initiated in Madrid, in 2012 with the intention to connect the main players in the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem, South Summit is celebrated today in several other locations in Spain, as well as in Latin America and South Korea.
The 2024 edition attracted +2000 investors, +6500 entrepreneurs and +700 speakers. The 2025 Madrid edition will take place between 4th and 6th of June in La Nave, a unique place that brings key players together to spark progress & business growth.
European Supply Chain Start-up & Scale-up Contest
Who? Supply Chain startups and scaleups
Location: Netherlands
Deadline: pending (TBA) | Apply: TBA
European Supply Chain Start-up & Scale-up Contest takes place during the inNOWvate Supply Chain Event, a cutting-edge innovation event in supply chain. The seventh edition of inNOWvate Supply Chain Event, takes place on May 14, 2025 at Movie Theatre Pathé, Amsterdam (The Netherlands). The theme of this innovation event is ‘Which mountain to climb?’. Innovative software vendors had the opportunity between the keynote presentations to present their solutions for supply chain planning, sustainability and visibility.
The aim of the contest is to promote and develop the entrepreneurial creativity and innovation of start-ups and university spin-offs for companies in the supply chain. Stay tuned for more information on this year’s pitch contest.
VivaTech Startup Challenges and Awards
Who? Startups from a variety of fields, including Energy & Climate-Tech
Location: Paris (France)
Deadline: not specified | Apply: TBA
VivaTech is one of Europe’s premier tech gatherings in Paris. Over the course of four days, it facilitates the establishment of connections among cutting-edge technologies, ambitious entrepreneurs and significant advancements, creating a hub where business and innovation converge. VivaTech 2024 saw over 165,000 visitors, including 13,500 startups, 2,000 investors and 400+ distinguished speakers, including Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO, Elon Musk. The upcoming ninth edition is scheduled for June 11-14, 2025, at Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris.
During the celebration of the event, the organization is running several thematic challenges among wide range of topics, such as Smart Cities & Mobility, Energy & Climate Techamong many others. In 2023, 49 Startup Challenges & VivaTech Awards took place, with +5000 startup applications.
There are multiple pitch competitions and startup contests being launched throughout the entire year. We will be updating this page on a regular basis.
To stay up to date, follow our LinkedIn page, where we publish reminders about deadlines of on-going programs and competitions.
Finally, make sure to explore our Investor Readiness Guide for valuable tips on enhancing your pitch and maximizing performance on the pitch day.
