Here you can find answers to the most common questions regarding Excitera Innovation Challenge. You can also ask your questions directly to the project group or the researchers. We will try our best to answer as quickly as possible.
About Excitera Innovation Challenge
What is the history of Excitera Innovation Challenge?
Excitera Innovation Challenge was founded in Stockholm in 2002 by Excitera together with KTH Innovation. There was a need to commercialize research results and bridge the gap between students and researchers.
What are the goals of Excitera Innovation Challenge?
Excitera Innovation Challenge has two main goals:
1) To bring students, researchers and industry together concerning commercialization of research results.
2) To inspire entrepreneurship and encourage more people to identify and develop business ideas.
Participation
Can I participate by myself without a team?
You don’t have to be a part of a team, but we recommend it. You can participate by yourself or as a part of a team consisting of no more than five people.
If I can not find anyone to form a team with?
Let us know and we will try to find a partner for you.
I have participated in Excitera Innovation Challenge previously, can I participate again?
Yes, you can participate year after year!
Who can participate in Excitera Innovation Challenge?
It requires that at least one team member is studying at one of Sweden’s colleges or universities to participate in Excitera Innovation Challenge.
Can I participate even though I could not come to the events?
Yes, you can enter the competition if you and your team register here at the homepage!
Can I submit as many innovation plans as I want?
You can submit one innovation plan per case, that is you can participate with 4 innovation plans this year.
Can I be a part of several teams?
Yes, it’s allowed to be in several teams, just not for the same case.
The innovation plan
What is an innovation plan?
It is our own term for a brief idea description / business plan that only describes the idea, the need, the prospective customer, the market and the potential competitors in the market.
Who owns the rights for the innovation plan?
The researcher or company that presents a case owns the rights to the innovation plans that the participants submit to their case, while the participants have a chance to win money. If a team wants to continue working with the idea they have submitted, they must agree with the researcher/company on how to pursue the project further. This is something that we encourage.
The competition
What criteria is the jury is looking at when judging the innovation plans?
The jury judges how well you’ve transferred a promising technique to a profitable product. To accommodate a fair competition, the judgment is not based on how promising the researcher’s work is. The jury’s decisions can not be appealed. The following criteria is looked upon by the jury:
- How innovatively the technique is applied.
- How well the business concept fits with a customer benefit.
- How big the commercial potential is for the product.
- How well the customer demographic is defined.
- How well statements on customer benefit, market and competition are motivated.
How is the jury evaluation conducted?
First, all the innovation plans are screened so that they fulfill the requirements set up by Excitera Innovation Challenge. After that all plans are submitted to the jury for evaluation and grading. The five plans with the highest grades move on the final. Among theses five, three plans will be awarded with prizes at the pitchingevent in the final!
What are the steps in Excitera Innovation Challenge?
- Kick-off – 20 February.
- Case presentations – 21 February.
- Lunch Seminar 1 - 24 February.
- Deadline for registration – 26 February.
- Lunch Seminar 2 - 28 February.
- Deadline Innovation plan - 22 March.
- Deadline selection of finalists – 26 March
- Pitch exercise for finalists – 27 March.
- Finale - 30 March.
Vilka ingår i juryn?
Who are in the jury?
The jury consists of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, industry experts etc. The jury has a lot of experience and a valuable network.
When can I participate in the competition?
The contest is open until the submission of the innovation plan.
In what language should the innovation plan be?
Swedish or English.
How can I stay up to date during the competition?
If you’re participating in the competition you’ll get a newsletter with recent happenings. Excitera Innovation Challenge also informs on the website.
Confidentiality
How does Excitera Innovation Challenge work with confidentiality questions in regard to the competition?
That all participating innovation plans are kept confidential is one of the requirements for the competition. If the participants wants more information from the researches, a confidentiality contract has to be signed. The competition is closed and the business idea can be protected even if it has been judged by the jury. Participating teams can decide themselves what can be publicized during the prize ceremony.
And after the competition?
When the contest is over it is entirely possible, and it is something we strongly encourage, that the candidate and researcher / firm will agree on a way to push the project forward. The purpose of the EIC is to encourage cooperation. Such an arrangement can be designed in many ways, it can for example be a joint project where both sides are actively involved, it may be that the contestants mainly runs the project forward with only some involvement from the researcher / company, or in some cases the researcher / company has no interested to be involved but gives back the rights of the innovation plan to the contestants so that they can push the project forward on their own. In some cases, the technologies are patented or protected by other means, and in these cases it must of course be agreed on how to use the protected technology. This is part of the agreement that the contestants and the researcher / company do if you want to pursue the project further after the final. KTH Innovation helps with this as part of the follow-up after the competition and is actively working for participants who wish to be able to push forward their projects in an appropriate form.
