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6 Reasons to Apply for STARTUP AWARDS. You Have One Week

Even though the STARTUP AWARDS final event is in December and you think there is still a lot of time,  don’t get mistaken. There is just one week for you to write down all the necessary information about your tech project and apply for the Slovakia’s biggest startup competition.

If you are an eligible startup… Oh, you are asking who the heck is eligible? Here we go:

• early-stage technology companies,
• either based and operational in Slovakia or with at least one Slovak founder,
• with the potential to scale globally, and
• excelling in digital, scientific, design or social innovation.

For more detailed information, check out STARTUP AWARDS website.

Now, to the deadline.

If you have found out that you are eligible and would like to participate in the competition, you still have some time. Precisely, one week. October 16, 2016 is the final deadline for your project to get a chance to present in front of 1,000+ international investors, entrepreneurs and CEOs at the final pitching event and award ceremony held on December 2, 2016 at Istropolis in Bratislava.

Why to apply?

1000+ people is not enough? Well then, here are another 6 reasons why you should be interested (loosely tightly inspired by this startupawards.sk blogpost):

1. Win a prize to develop your business. 
   The overall winner goes home with prices worth over 50,000 EUR!
2. Get exclusive access to the CEE Founders Summit in Bratislava. 
   One day before the final, on December 1, all STARTUP AWARDS finalists are invited to participate at the invitation-only event for CEE’s top founders and their investors. This exclusive event for startups funded by Speedinvest, Credo Ventures, Neulogy Ventures, and others will change the trajectory of your startup even before the big final.
3. Find an investor like STARTUP AWARDS alumni who have so far raised over EUR 11M. 
   While STARTUP AWARDS do not offer a specific investor or investment size as their prize, they do see a lot of the finalists and winners get offers from investors who are present at the final. Many of the STARTUP AWARDS jury members are well-connected individuals with venture fund links abroad including Silicon Valley, London, Finland, Berlin, and more.
4. Get exposure in local and foreign media. 
   STARTUP AWARDS companies get an amazing amount of attention from the local media immediately following the final, but they have also had coverage in multiple tech media outlets across Europe. Mike Butcher, Editor-at-Large of TechCrunch, wrote about STARTUP AWARDS and the finals last year. Some of the finalists get tweeted about by Ashton Kutcher. Seriously.
5. Receive high-quality mentoring from real investors and successful entrepreneurs.
   STARTUP AWARDS pre-selection Bootcamp reserved for 20 semi-finalists is a reason to apply in and of itself. The mentors are seasoned individuals, having run (and in some cases already exited) their own companies, running corporations, having or invested their own money into technology companies over the years. You will leave the Bootcamp, held over a weekend in an undisclosed location, with fresh ideas and concrete steps on how to make your tech company succeed.
6. Meet the best and brightest from Slovakia to Silicon Valley at the final. 
   Both the semi-final selection Bootcamp and the final event are a great place to meet like-minded pioneers, inventors, investors from all over. STARTUP AWARDS after parties are known for finding people co-founders, investors, and even life partners.

By the way, did I mention that the deadline to submit applications is Sunday, October 16, 2016 at 23:59 CET.

PS: If you want to come to the event in December itself, you can buy the tickets here.

PS2: Don’t forget, 7 days!