Month: June 2020

Rice Straw Startup Europe Accelerathon will announce its winner on June 30

The winning team will choose a grant of up to 2 million euros to develop their project through the Life program of the European Commission.

Brussels, June 26, 2020 – Next Tuesday, June 30 at 5:00 pm, the final and virtual award ceremony of the Rice Straw Startup Europe Accelerathon will take place, organized by the Finnova Foundation and the City Council of Coria del Rio (Seville). The objective of this project is to find innovative solutions that focus the treatment of rice by-products as a resource and not as waste, thus promoting the circular economy.

Throughout these weeks, the five finalist teams have been working and training online on Life+ projects thanks to the experts from the Finnova Foundation. The most innovative ideas have been the following:

• Rice straw for sustainable construction material;
• Rice straw for electric power generation;
• Rice straw as additive for packaging and paper;
• Rice straw for gas and bioethanol production;
• Innovative uses of rice husk. 

During the awards ceremony, each team will present their project with an elevator pitch, which will be evaluated by a jury of experts (80%) and also by the public (20%). After the jury’s verdict, the winning team will obtain a European acceleration ticket awarded by Startup Europe Accelerator to present the project on July 14 to the Life program of the DG ENVIRONMENT of the European Commission. Subsequently, the winning project will participate in the Startup Europe Awards and will also be present at the Smart Agrifood Summit to be held in Malaga on September 24 and 25. The latter constitutes an industry leading event for the creation of innovative ecosystems within the European agri-food sector.

Rice Straw Startup Europe Accelerathon has been the first open innovation competition on the circular economy of rice straw. It has been promoted by the Finnova Foundation and the City of Coria del Río (Seville). This initiative is supported by Startup Europe Awards and the DG CONNECT of the European Commission, which allows the winning project to qualify for a grant of up to 2 million euros through the Life program.

Coria del Río

Coria del Río is a town located 12 km from the capital of Seville, located on the banks of the Guadalquivir. With thousands of years of history, this riverside municipality keeps under its streets the remains of important civilizations that settled there, such as the Tartessos, the Romans and the Arabs, who made Coria del Río a place to promote culture, the social development and the economy through services such as livestock, agriculture, and fishing. Over the years, the Corians developed new techniques, promoting riverside carpentry or sturgeon fishing, and it became the only place in Western Europe to have a caviar factory. It is also worth noting the close relationship that this town has with Japan since 1614, when the Keicho Embassy led by the Samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga landed here, which united both cultures and left a legacy that more than 400 years later continues in more than 700 Corians who they have inherited the surname “Japan” from this expedition. Currently, Coria del Río has more than 30,000 inhabitants and a tourist offer that makes thousands of visitors travel to the municipality every year. Tourists are attracted by its gastronomy, its rich landscapes, its history, its festivals, and its peculiar relationship with Japan.

What is the Accelerathon?

Accelerathon is an open innovation program promoted by the Finnova Foundation within the framework of the Startup Europe Awards of the European Commission that encourages public-private collaboration and the application of a multidisciplinary approach to the challenges set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. This methodology of the Finnova Foundation combines the hackathon with the principle of acceleration; It seeks to find solutions and European financing through an online system of applied open innovation that brings together different actors in the innovative ecosystem. The Accelerathon is oriented to the LIFE Program of the European Commission and supports programs that are linked to the fight against COVID-19, legionella, among other common problems.

What is Startup Europe Awards (SEUA)?

It is an initiative of the DG CONNECT of the European Commission implemented by the Finnova Foundation and supported by the European Parliament. The SEUA present a methodology for startup awards at local, regional, national and European level that encourages open innovation and collaboration between the different actors in the European ecosystem through public-private partnership to support entrepreneurs.

Finnova Foundation

Finnova is the European foundation for financing innovation. Its objectives are to promote public-private cooperation by transferring the best low-cost technology solutions available. Its objective is to tackle social challenges such as employment, entrepreneurship, the United Nations SDGs, the circular economy, the recovery of waste, sustainable tourism and the fight against climate change.

The Finnova Foundation promotes green employment, economic recovery and training and youth employment.  http://finnova.eu/

What is Startup Europe Accelerator?

It is a European accelerator specialized in supporting incubation programs for regional, national, and vertical / sector entrepreneurship so that startups have access to the resources offered by the European Union to internationalize their project. Thanks to Startup Europe Accelerator, they can access the market, internationalize, carry out European projects, have mentoring, networks, and have legal defense, legal advice and international communication..

Information of Interest:

www.accelerathon.eu

-Registration to the final web: https://bit.ly/3dBZ5zI

Brussels, 19 June 2020 | A total number of 33 speakers from Panama, Mexico, Greece, Belgium and Spain have participated in the opening session of the Accelerathon Waste-2-Energy. This informative webinar was held on Thursday, 18 June at 17:00 (CEST). It is the first digital open innovation competition on waste-to-energy celebrated in the framework of the Startup Europe.

During this first briefing, we had 44 registered participants who participated live from Spain, Colombia, Italy, Belgium and the United States. The webinar has been reproduced a total of 754 times through Facebook Live and shared 16 times through this platform. So far, it has reached more than 2,000 people.

After the opening webinar, the competition among the various multidisciplinary teams will start. They will rely on experts in LIFE from Finnova who will act as mentors and they will also have online training in LIFE projects. After the final, the selected winner will be eligible for a European acceleration ticket from the Startup Europe Accelerator that will let the team present its project to the LIFE Programme on Environment by July 14.

This is a unique opportunity to access funding of up to €2 million in order to develop a project on waste-to-energy. This programme counts with the institutional support of the European Commission’s DG CONNECT within the framework of Startup Europe and is aimed at officials and policy makers from municipalities, enterprises and public corporations, business associations, institutes of technology, universities and innovative companies with patents. The Accelerathon Waste-2-Energy seeks environmental challenges that can be addressed with the financial and technological boost of the LIFE Programme.

¿Por qué es importante el reto Waste-2-Energy?

Our society is living a transition period towards a greener, more carbon-neutral, circular economy. Although efforts have been made at a national and European level, waste generation is not decreasing. According to the New Circular Economy Action Plan of the European Union, the whole set of economic activities generates up to 2,500 million tons of waste each year.

This is the reason why the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations includes Sustainable Development Goal 7 and 11 that address the issue of waste-to-energy. These SDGs are focused on sustainable consumption and production patterns based on the transformation of non-recyclable waste into energy, such as electricity, steam or hot water, for domestic or industrial purposes.

This joint initiative of Finnova Foundation and the Municipality of Vilamarxant (Valencia) aims to find innovative solutions to transform waste into energy and find innovative solutions focused on significantly limiting the generation of waste. The final objective is to promote the principle of circular economy and to contribute to the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations.

Visit our webpage http://accelerathon.eu/waste2energy to find out more information about the Accelerathon Waste-2-Energy and to watch the opening session again. You will also find in the Accelerathon waste-2-energy webpage the registration form. It will be opened until June 23.

About

Accelerathon

The Accelerathon is an open innovation programme promoted by Finnova Foundation within the framework of the European Commission’s Startup Europe Awards that promotes public-private cooperation and the application of a multidisciplinary approach to the challenges set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This methodology from Finnova combines the concept of hackathon with the principle of acceleration. It aims to find European solutions and funding through an applied, online open innovation system that brings together the different actors of the innovative ecosystem. The Accelerathon is oriented to the European Commission’s LIFE Programme and supports programmes linked to the fight against COVID-19 and legionella, among other common problems.

What is Startup Europe Awards (SEUA)?

It is an initiative of DG CONNECT of the European Commission implemented by the Finnova Foundation and supported by the European Parliament. The SEUA presents a methodology of awards for startups at local, regional, national and European level that promotes open innovation and collaboration between the different actors of the European ecosystem through a public-private partnership to support entrepreneurs.

What is Startup Europe Accelerator?

It is a European accelerator specialised in supporting regional, national and vertical/sectorial incubation programmes, so that startups access the resources offered by the European Union to internationalise their projects. Thanks to Startup Europe Accelerator, they can access the market, go international, carry out European projects, have mentoring, do network and lobbying, receive legal advice and develop international communication.

Ajuntament de Vilamarxant

The municipality of Vilamarxant, in collaboration with the Centre d’Emprenedoria i Innovació del Túria (CEI Túria), provides users with access to services and information, like the ones related to the Accelerathon Waste-2-energy.

It has a global perspective concerning projects, institutions and different types of entities that work in the same domain all over the world.

Alongside CEI Túria, Vilamarxant’s main objectives are to support innovation, to extend new technologies to society and to become a regional and international leader in this domain.

Centre d’Emprenedoria i Innovació del Túria (CEI Túria)

The CEI Túria aims to enhance entrepreneurship and new technologies at a regional and international level. Its main objective is to materialize and experience new ways of living, working, learning and interacting through entrepreneurship and innovation.

· It promotes entrepreneurship, the creation of startups and employment generation.

· It promotes new lines of business activities connected with innovation, new technologies and emerging sectors.

· It creates a community of entrepreneurs where projects and experiences can be shared, and where synergies and alliances with other municipalities can be established for the development of collaborative projects.

· It helps organizations and projects to develop business plans and look for public, private or European funding.

· It contributes to the revitalization of the productive fabric in Vilamarxant, the region of Camp de Túria and neighbouring areas.

El CEI Túria represents an open innovation model where entrepreneurs, creators, the civil society and organizations cooperate in order to create wealth, employment and knowledge for the combat of this new ecosystem’s challenges.

Finnova Foundation

Finnova is the European foundation for innovation funding. Its main goal is to promote the cooperation between public and private sectors through the best low-cost, technological solutions, in order to address social challenges such as employment, entrepreneurship, the SDG of the United Nations, circular economy, waste recovery, sustainable tourism, and the fight against climate change.

Finnova Foundation promotes green employment, economic recovery, and training and employment for the youth. http://finnova.eu/

Contact:

– For any questions, please contact:

Juan Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation. Email: info@finnova.eu.Telephone: +32 475 97 42 77

– Press Head contact details:

Lola Bordás, Head of Communication and Marketing at Finnova Foundation. Email: cmo@finnova.eu. Telephone: +34 619 11 02 66

The programme Waste-to-energy Startup Europe Awards  will start next Thursday, 18 June at 17:00 (CEST) with an informative webinar

The winners will be eligible for a project valued in up to €2 million in the framework of the LIFE programme

Over 2,500 million tons of waste are generated each year by the whole set of economic activities

Monday, 15 June 2020 – The municipality of Vilamarxant (Valence, Spain) launches the Accelerathon Waste-to-energy (WASTE2ENERGY) alongside the Centre d’Emprenedoria i Innovació del Túria (CEI Túria). It is an open innovation programme enshrined in the framework of the CIRCULAR ECONOMY STARTUP EUROPE AWARDS that counts with the support of the DG CONNECT at the European Commission and the Startup Europe Accelerator of Finnova Foundation.

This programme will start next Thursday, June 18 at 17:00 (CEST) with an informative webinar in which the funding possibilities for innovative projects or ideas regarding waste-to-energy will be introduced. The winners of the Accelerathon Waste-to-energy Startup Europe Awards will be eligible for funding from the LIFE programme 2020: up to €2 million will be allocated per project. In addition, this programme will grant a European acceleration ticket and will give candidates the possibility to participate in the Startup Europe Awards.

The competition will start after the launching webinar. The different multidisciplinary teams will be mentored by experts and will receive online training on Life+ projects in order for them to get to the final round. The winning project will be presented after registration to the Life programme – Environment on July 14.

In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, the aim of the Accelerathon Waste-to-energy is to find innovative solutions focused on limiting significantly waste generation and promoting the principle of circular economy.

Our society is living a transition period towards a greener, more carbon-neutral, circular economy. Although efforts have been made at a national and European level, waste generation is not decreasing. According to the New Circular Economy Action Plan of the European Union, the whole set of economic activities generates up to 2,500 million tons of waste each year.

This is the reason why the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations includes Sustainable Development Goal 7 and 11 that address the issue of waste-to-energy. These SDGs are focused on sustainable consumption and production patterns based on the transformation of non-recyclable waste into energy, such as electricity, steam or hot water, for domestic or industrial purposes.

The Accelerathon is a programme addressed to civil servants and policymakers at municipalities, organizations and government agencies, trade unions, institutes of technology, universities, innovative companies with patents and corporations with environmental challenges that could be faced through LIFE Programme funding and a technological push.

You can now register to the informative webinar held next Thursday, June 18 at 17:00 by filling the following form:

Please register here if you want to participate in the Accelerathon: https://form.jotform.com/201621756281351

About

Accelerathon

Accelerathon is an acceleration programme for innovative projects fostered by Finnova Foundation. It is also a methodology designed by Finnova that consists of looking for solutions and funding through an applied, online open innovation system that binds together all the actors from the innovative ecosystem.

The Accelerathon also works under the methodology of the LIFE Programme of the European Commission. The challenge follows the SDG of the United Nations and brings support to other programmes related to the fight against COVID-19 and legionella, among others.

What is Startup Europe Awards?

It is an initiative of the DG CONNECT at the European Commission implemented by Finnova Foundation. It counts with the support of the European Parliament, some members of the European Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee.

What is Startup Europe Accelerator?

It consists of a European, second-level acceleration programme specialized in the support of incubation programmes linked to regional and national entrepreneurship. The aim is to help startups access EU resources in order to internationalise their project, and break into the market through European projects, mentoring, networking, lobbies, legal advice and international communication.

Ajuntament de Vilamarxant

The municipality of Vilamarxant in collaboration with the Centre d’Emprenedoria i Innovació del Túria (CEI Túria) provides users with access to services and information, like the ones related to the Accelerathon Waste-to-energy.

It has a global perspective concerning projects, institutions and different types of entities that work in the same domain all over the world.

Alongside CEI Túria, Vilamarxant’s main objectives are to support innovation, to extend new technologies to society and to become a regional and international leader in this domain.

Centre d’Emprenedoria i Innovació del Túria (CEI Túria)

The CEI Túria aims to enhance entrepreneurship and new technologies at a regional and international level. Its main objective is to materialize and experience new ways of living, working, learning and interacting through entrepreneurship and innovation.

· It promotes entrepreneurship, the creation of startups and employment generation.

· It promotes new lines of business activities connected with innovation, new technologies and emerging sectors.

· It creates a community of entrepreneurs where projects and experiences can be shared, and where synergies and alliances with other municipalities can be established for the development of collaborative projects.

· It helps organizations and projects to develop business plans and look for public, private or European funding.

· It contributes to the revitalization of the productive fabric in Vilamarxant, the region of Camp de Túria and neighbouring areas.

El CEI Túria represents an open innovation model where entrepreneurs, creators, the civil society and organizations cooperate in order to create wealth, employment and knowledge for the combat of this new ecosystem’s challenges.

Finnova Foundation

Finnova is the European foundation for innovation funding. Its main goal is to promote the cooperation between public and private sectors through the best low-cost, technological solutions, in order to address social challenges such as employment, entrepreneurship, the SDG of the United Nations, circular economy, waste recovery, sustainable tourism, and the fight against climate change.

Contact:

• For any question, please contact:

Juan Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation.

Email: info@finnova.eu.Telephone: +32 475 97 42 77

• Press Head contact details:

Lola Bordás, Head of Communication and Marketing at Finnova Foundation. Email: cmo@finnova.eu. Telephone: +34 619 11 02 66

Brussels, 9 June 2020 – The municipality of Coria del Río (Seville, Spain) launches the Accelerathon Coria del Río with the challenge of Circular economy and rice straw. It is an open innovation programme organized by the Startup Europe Accelerator of Finnova Foundation. It will start next Tuesday, 16 June at 17:00 (CEST) with an informative webinar about the different possibilities of funding for innovative project and ideas related to rice straw, and the competition rules for participation. The winners of the Accelerathon Coria del Río will receive a European acceleration ticket in order to access funding from the LIFE Programme of the European Commission. Around €2 million could be granted for each project.

The Accelerathon Coria del Río is enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. It is focused on finding innovative solutions for the treatment of subproducts containing rice straw used as a resource and not labelled as waste. This way circular economy is fostered.

As an example, in 2019 more than 788,000 tons of rice, as well as rice straw and rice husk, were produced in Spain. When in contact with water, rice straw provokes a decrease of oxygen, rot and it can cause the death of birds and fishes. This is the reason why farmers burn rice straw, releasing greenhouse gas emissions. Rice husk is also considered as waste that should be eliminated because if not, it tends to accumulate due to its low level of degradability. As a general rule, producers get rid of it thanks to a controlled combustion process that generates as a subproduct rice husk ash. These ashes represent a high percentage of silica that makes it apt for its use in sectors such as the cement industry.

This programme counts with the institutional support of the DG CONNECT of the European Commission. It is addressed to civil servants and policymakers at municipalities, organizations and government agencies, trade unions, institutes of technology, universities, innovative companies with patents and corporations with environmental challenges that could be faced through LIFE Programme funding and a technological push.

You can register at the informative webinar by filling the following form:

About:

Accelerathon

Accelerathon is an acceleration programme for innovative projects fostered by Finnova Foundation. It is also a methodology designed by Finnova that consists of looking for solutions and funding through an applied, online open innovation system that binds together all the actors from the innovative ecosystem.

The Accelerathon also works under the methodology of the LIFE Programme of the European Commission. The challenge follows the SDG of the United Nations and brings support to other programmes related to the fight against COVID-19 and legionella, among others.

What is Startup Europe Awards?

It is an initiative of the DG CONNECT at the European Commission implemented by Finnova Foundation. It counts with the support of the European Parliament, some members of the European Committee of the Regions, and the European Economic and Social Committee.

What is Startup Europe Accelerator?

It consists of a European, second-level acceleration programme specialized in the support of incubation programmes linked to regional and national entrepreneurship. The aim is to help startups access EU resources in order to internationalise their project, and break into the market through European projects, mentoring, networking, lobbying, legal advice and international communication.

Coria del Río

Coria del Río is a city 12 km away from Seville and strategically located besides the Guadalquivir river. This riverside town with thousands of years of history keeps under its streets the remains of important civilizations that settled here, such as Tartessos, Romans and Arabs, who turned Coria del Río into an ideal place for the promotion of culture, social development and economy through services such as livestock farming, agriculture and fishing. Over the years, the Corians had developed new techniques, and boosted riverside carpentry and sturgeon fishery, some things that made it the only place in Western Europe to have a caviar factory. It is also worth noting the close relationship that this town has had with Japan since 1614, when the Keicho Embassy led by the Samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga landed here and united both cultures. He left a legacy that more than 400 years later is still alive in more than 700 Corians who have inherited the surname “Japan” from that expedition. Nowadays, Coria del Río has more than 30,000 inhabitants and a tourist offer that makes thousands of visitors come to the town every year, attracted by its gastronomy, its rich landscape, its history, its festivities or its peculiar relationship with Japan.

Finnova Foundation

Finnova is the European foundation for innovation funding. Its main goal is to promote the cooperation between public and private sectors through the best low-cost, technological solutions, in order to address social challenges such as employment, entrepreneurship, the SDG of the United Nations, circular economy, waste recovery, sustainable tourism, and the fight against climate change.

Contact:

• For any question, please contact:

Juan Manuel Revuelta, CEO of Finnova Foundation.

Email: info@finnova.eu. Telephone: +32 475 97 42 77

• Press Head contact details:

Lola Bordás, Head of Communication and Marketing at Finnova Foundation. Email: cmo@finnova.eu. Telephone: +34 619 11 02 66.

Francisco Javier Sosa, Communication Manager at Coria del Río E-mail: comunicacion@coriadelrio.es. Telephone : +34 682 07 27 87.

The Water Accelerathon has already kicked off! The presentation of the programme was held during a webinar on 28th May with 24 speakers and over 500 participants from 15 different countries.

The Accelerathon is an open innovation programme organised by the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE)and implemented by Finnova in collaboration with SEIMED, Aidimme and Redit. It counts with the institutional support of the DG CONNECT at the European Commission in the framework of the WATER STARTUP EUROPE AWARDS. 

This is a virtual competition for entrepreneurs, universities, public and private consortia, SMEs, institutes of technology and plenty more. If you think you can launch a challenge in the field of wastewater as a resource, sign up for the #Accelerathon. 

What is the Accelerathon?
Accelerathon is a programme for the acceleration of innovative projects promoted by Finnova Foundation and organised by the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE). Finnova’s methodology aims to find solutions and funding through an applied, online open innovation system that brings together the most innovative actors of the environmental sector, in which the European Commission works in the framework of the LIFE programme.

OBJETIVE AND CHALLENGE
The objective is to address the SDG 6 of the United Nations through innovation in the treatment of wastewater from industrial processes in order to recover raw materials, reuse water and minimise environmental impact.

This challenge aims to identify innovative solutions on the one hand, and on the other, companies, municipalities or entities that define their environmental challenges on water. The objective is to create different multidisciplinary teams on wastewater that propose solutions to the water Accelerathon challenge in order to design realistic projects on advanced treatments, and water, energy and raw materials recovery.

WHY SHOULD YOU  PARTICIPATE?
The Accelerathon IVACE Water Challenges Programme will last two months and as reward you will be eligible for an European acceleration ticket that will grant you access to EU funds, go international or receive funds of up to €2 million from the EU LIFE sub-programme on Environment, concretely the subproject on Environment and Resource Efficiency. You can present your project to the call that will be opened until 14th July!

During the competition, the different teams will be able to make use of e-learning tools and apply the LIFE methodology. A joint work will be developed in order to achieve optimal and feasible solutions on innovation in the  Community of Valencia.

Registration is now opened. You can take part in this competition as:

–MENTOR TEAM

–MEMBER CREATOR OF YOUR OWN CHALLENGE 

-MEMBER OF THE JURY

–SPONSOR OF THE EVENT,CHOOSING THE THE LEVEL OF COLLABORATION YOU CONSIDER THE MOST APPROPRIATE

In order to register, please complete the following application form:

We are waiting for you! #WaterAccelerathon