The biggest competition of energy startups in CEE, Powerup! by Innoenergy, announced its Slovak winner on October 11.
During the regional final, the jury has selected the best Slovak startup working on energy-related innovations: Nice Visions, an innovation studio designing solar tiles with beautiful custom designs. The second place was awarded to Bavenir, while Personal Energy Storage took third place.
Nearly 160 startups from 23 countries of Central Europe participated in the third edition of the Competition. The regional final held in Bratislava was preceded by intense bootcamps: the business workshops in Slovakia were hosted by Ákos Dervalics, an experiences trainer and coach. The participants had an opportunity of verifying business models and improving their presentation skills.
The final event was hosted by Peter Kolesár, CEO of Neulogy, a Slovak venture capital company. The keynote speaker of the event was Igor Kočiš, the founder and CEO GA Drilling, a Slovak hi-tech company developing plasma drilling technologies for the oil and geothermal industries.
It was an evening of seven startups, selected as the best of the best out of all the applications from within Slovak borders. As important as the finalists was the jury comprised of Jaroslav Lupták (Neulogy Ventures), Andrej Juris (ZSE), Michal Kraszewski, Christo Balinow (both InnoEnergy) and Heliodor Macko (SEAK Energetics).
Each team had 4 minutes to pitch their idea followed by a 3-minute Q&A session. Based on the presentation and answers, the jury made the final decision about who will pack their bags for the finals in Budapest. Surrounded by well-deserved applause, the winner of the PowerUp! Slovak regional competition for 2017 is NiceVisions, a Slovak founded startup combining architecture and science.
“We are pleased to attract the attention of jury on our solution that allows solar panels’ seamless deployment on places never thought of before. With Tiles, any homeowner can produce clean energy while enhancing the look of their homes instead of destroying it with conventional panels,” said Matej Michlík, co-founder of Nice Visions.
InnoEnergy is an innovative platform for sustainable energy and this commitment embodies the meaning behind the contest. The PowerUp! competition is organized within 24 European countries.
“Bratislava is a place that energy investors should put on their map, the technologies we saw today show great promise for market potential. I am especially happy with the winning team Nice Visions, who has the chance to change customer’s perception on solar panels,” adds Christo Balinow, Business Development Manager for North America, CEE and Middle East KIC InnoEnergy and a member of the jury.
The grand finale will take place this November in Budapest, where all regional winners will battle for three cash prizes of up to EUR 20K and the opportunity to join InnoEnergy’s exclusive Highway program worth of up to EUR 150K. The competition is dedicated to supporting emerging companies that showcase original solutions to the issues of saving energy, money, and our planet.
