The events high season has come to an end and we could not have been prouder of BlockStart’s participation, promoting our Open Call #3 and the incredible journey of our alumni startups
Since the launch of our Open Call #3 back in March, the BlockStart team and alumni startups have been tireless, almost ubiquitous, participating in plenty of high-level EU events to further promote this last opportunity for blockchain startups to apply and participate in our Acceleration Programme. But that was not all, as our alumni startups were also granted privileged access not only to share their amazing journey in BlockStart and beyond, but also to network with other members of the blockchain community, including other startups, large corporates, investors and policymakers.
Let us recap BlockStart’s participation in those events.
We kicked-off our dissemination efforts with the START Summit, held between 22 and 27 March, online. Mainly focused on tech startups and with a growing audience of blockchain startups, we had the chance to create our own virtual booth and present our Open Call #3 to any interested startup. Our BlockStart community also had the chance to participate, with a special discount rate on ticket prices, and 10 of our alumni startups receiving free tickets to participate.
Then, between 12 and 16 April, BlockStart was present at the European Blockchain Convention, a European flagship event on blockchain-related topics (also held online, this year), featuring speakers from entities as reputable as Vodafone, Bosch, Carrefour, Shell, Novartis, IKEA, Nestlé, Renault, Maersk, World Economic Forum, European Commission, among many others! Every year they invite inspiring keynotes and deliver high-level quality blockchain content through panel discussions and workshops, and this year was no exception. Relevant themes like regulation and future challenges, to new blockchain trends and technologies, were addressed in the inspiring keynotes, panel discussions and workshops delivered throughout this event, where one-to-one meetings and networking opportunities brought immense value to 15 of our alumni startups, invited to participate at the event.
As a sponsor and partner, BlockStart had a live session on 15 April, dedicated to the presentation of our Acceleration Programme, our Open Call #3, and 4 of our startups finalists – Datarella, Infidia, Kedeon and REXS.IO – were chosen to present their journey and provide a testimonial about the participation in our 1st Acceleration Programme. And what an amazing experience this was: not only we received lots of questions and great interest in our Open Call, but we also get the chance to provide an overview about BlockStart to a live audience of +2000 participants. Additionally (and even more importantly), our startups had their moment to shine and present their solutions, together with the matchmaking possibilities this event provided them, which we hope could enable fruitful collaborations in the future.
Curious about our panel discussion at the European Blockchain Convention? Watch the video recordings of our sessions “BlockStart: How an EU-funded Accelerator is Boosting Blockchain adoption in SMEs” and “BlockStart: Startup Pitches” here.
Though this has been an awesome event, which provided great value to BlockStart and our most promising startups, the synergies with European Blockchain Convention community won’t end in April this year. In fact, leveraging on their top-notch worldwide network, we’ve just agreed on a partnership that will endure until the end of our programme, on February 2022.
Where is Wally? Can you find our Project Coordinator and our 4 representatives from Datarella, Infidia, Kedeon and REXS.IO?
But the dissemination and networking opportunities haven’t stopped there! 2 of our alumni startups were also granted free tickets to the Collision Conference, also held online this year, between 20 and 22 April. Collision is North America’s fastest-growing tech conference, an initiative from Web Summit group wich brings together Fortune 500 companies, ground-breaking startups and world-class speakers. We definitely hope that the networking opportunities this conference provided might help our 2 startup alumni to achieve new target markets in the future, outside Europe.
Then we took another turn to, once again, focusing on our blockchain audience, by partnering with R3 Venture Development Programme to deliver a session in the scope of their Startup Series Webinars. R3 is an enterprise software firm that is pioneering digital industry transformation. With its foundation in enterprise blockchain technology, they power solutions that deliver trust across the financial services industry and beyond and today are more than just a company: they are a global network of blockchain startups, corporates and ecosystem builders that bring together their best practice and expertise to leverage, scale, and support the next generation of blockchain solutions.
BlockStart’s Project Coordinator, João Fernandes, took the lead and provided a very interesting workshop on how blockchain startups can secure Government-backed funding, presenting BlockStart, our last Open Call and providing insightful tips for startups aiming to apply to public funding, such as the opportunity provided by our Programme. The Webinar was held on 20 April and you can find the video recording here and also read our latest blogpost on our collaboration with R3.
Finally, to end the events high season with a bang, BlockStart participated at EU Startups Summit, a flagship event for tech startups across Europe, between 28 and 30 April, which has registered a significant increase in the number of blockchain startups among their participants in the past years. Together with our alumni startups Infidia and REXS.IO from BlockStart’s 1st Acceleration Programme, our Project Coordinator presented a workshop on 30 April, explaining the perks of participating in our final Acceleration Programme, together with the timings for applying to the current Open Call, for all interested startups in the audience.
BlockStart was also present with an online booth throughout the event, to further disseminate Open Call #3 and network with blockchain startups interested in our accelerator. Our 2 alumni startups were also granted free tickets, to be able to do their own networking and reach out to the EU entrepreneurial community of investors, corporates and fellow startups.
After 2 intense months, we could not be happier! It was an exhausting process, but we at BlockStart believe that by participating in all these initiatives, we should be able to motivate some of the most amazing blockchain startups in Europe to take part in our final Acceleration Programme! Looking ahead, we will continue to look out for relevant opportunities to not only share BlockStart’s results and lessons learned but, specially, to showcase the journeys, solutions and pilot implementations of our supported startups, enabling them to keep benefiting from exposure and networking opportunities.
Apply to our Open Call #3. 1 month left!
In our 3rd and final Open Call, we are looking for early and growth-stage blockchain/DLT startups from all over the EU and H2020 Associated Countries in the fields of fintech, ICT and retail and will provide startups with access to a variety of perks, including equity free funding of up to €20.000, access to piloting opportunities, mentorship, and exposure to investors and advisors.
Interested startups should fill in an online application form at F6S platform. Deadline for applications is 26 May at 5pm CET (Brussels Time).
For more information on application criteria and how to apply, interested applicants can go to blockstart.eu and consult the FAQ section. BlockStart will also organize a Q&A webinars for future applicant on 12 May 2021 at 11am CET (Brussels Time), and you can save your seat here (takeaways of the previous Q&A webinar available here).
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