UNLEASH Startup Competition 2018

The epicenter of the work revolution, UNLEASH Startup Ecosystem is the fastest growing startup community in the world! An ambitious community of visionaries, investors, entrepreneurs and doers from +100 countries provide inspiration and innovation for tomorrow’s challenges, today.

The UNLEASH Startup team will help you successfully grow and scale your business by providing you with what you need: access to industry leaders, investors, product buyers, partners, and a high energy environment to showcase your dream.

The most exciting way to reap these benefits are by applying to the UNLEASH Startup competition. The competition will be bigger than ever this year. Fourteen semifinalists will take part in three “battlefields” on Day 1 across our Startup and iRecruit stages, culminating in a grand finale competition opening the Main Stage on Day 2!

Our finale – the UNLEASH Startup Award – will be populated by the victors of our Day 1 competitions plus our Wildcard candidate, chosen in a blind vote by our expert jury before the event.

Battlefields:

Innovation Battlefield – top 4 applicants with the highest combined maturity & creative edge/”innovation” scores

Sandbox Battlefield – top 6 applicants with the highest creative edge/“innovation” scores (maturity scores nonwithstanding)

Talent Acquisition Battlefield – top 4 applicants with the highest combined maturity & creative edge/”innovation” scores in the Talent Acquisition space

There are two participation options:

- Every Startup Zone exhibitor at UNLEASH can apply for the competition; 14 of them will qualify as semi-finalists for our Day 1 Battlefields.

- Non-exhibitors may also apply; only the single highest-ranked among them will get to pitch onstage, in the finale competition on Day 2.

We will utilize every option to bring our semi-finalists as much attention as possible, as well as to provide them with both high exposure and live feedback from industry leaders and potential buyers onsite. All exhibiting startups who have not competed in the finale before are invited to apply for the competition.

The prize is a gold-level sponsorship package, redeemable at any of our upcoming shows, alongside media coverage and introductions to experts.