Programme aims to accelerate IoT innovation

9th March 2015

Cisco

Barney Scott

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At Mobile World Congress 2015, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom and Intel announced Challenge Up!, a joint IoT accelerator for startups from the EMEA region. The programme aims at helping IoT startups market faster through joint projects, mentoring, high-value networking and corporate assets. Selected companies may also receive strategic investment and support in commercialising their product or service.

The programme unites resources and experience from the startup initiatives of the individual companies, including Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence (Cisco EIR), Intel Business Challenge Europe and hub:raum powered by Deutsche Telekom. Interested startups can apply at by clicking here. The application period ends on 25^th May 2015.

Challenge Up! is designed for early-stage startups creating solutions for the IoT and related areas, including connected and smart solutions (smart home, smart city, smart energy, connected cars, wearables, Industry 4.0), information security, Big Data, analytics, connectivity and cloud computing.

Key elements of the programme are Acceleration Week (to be held 22^nd to 26^th June 2015), which will be sponsored by Cisco EIR, Intel Business Challenge Europe and hub:raum, and a tailor-made, 4-month incubation programme (July to October) taking place in Krakow, Berlin and Vienna supported by Cisco, Deutsche Telekom and Intel. Startups selected for the programme participate for free with no equity required and keep their own intellectual property.

“With Challenge Up! we are giving a great signal to the startup world, bringing together the resources and know-how of three corporations. We will use our combined experience for the benefit of the Challenge Up! programme and the support of the startup community,” said Elias Drakopoulos, Senior Vice President, responsible for Europe B2B, Deutsche Telekom.

“We are looking forward to the creative ideas for products and services from across the region to improve how we live and work together. By giving startups access to the complimentary resources of our three global companies we can help them accelerate their ideas into commercial success,” said Christian Morales, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, EMEA, Intel.

“With an expected 50Bn things connected to the Internet by 2020, the IoT opens up great opportunities. To help better address these opportunities, Challenge Up! brings together the best of the technology world in an ecosystem of open innovation,” added Mike Flannagan, Vice President of Data & Analytics, Cisco.