An initiative by NRI Startup India, EDGE 196 is a platform for startups around the globe to participate in a Global Startup Challenge. An annual event, this year too, EDGE 196 has initiated a challenge empowering fintech startups to come forward and showcase their startups and innovations. This will be an arena for the startups to come up and become the next unicorn in the industry.
The challenge is divided into 26 clusters which include 196 countries. The aim of this challenge is to identify startups that has the potential to become the next big player in the market. The startups from each of these clusters will compete against the others in their respective clusters. From each cluster, three startups will be shortlisted and will be then invited for an online pitch via video conference followed by a Q/A session. Following this, one successful startup will be selected from each cluster and will be offered a term sheet that they will be complying with. They will also be offered an acceleration program that will be run by one of EDGE 196’s global partners.The winner of each cluster will be awarded $50,000 as investment and the final winner will get $1 Million as Investment.
To apply, the startups would have to answer a few questions which involve information about the date of incorporation, brief description, stage, team size, annual revenue, the amount of revenue the startups are looking for from investors and upload the pitch deck along with a video. Once shortlisted, the startup will be contacted by a team of analysts. Startups can apply online till 14th November 2017, evaluation of the Start-ups will be between 1st to 15th November 2017 (shortlisting), online pitch session will be between 24th November 2017 (video conference) and the Grand Finale will be on December 2017.
Eligibility Criteria
A start-up must fulfil the following requirements to qualify for the Start-up Challenge:
Startup must be in Fintech Domain
Must be at a MVP stage or later
Preferably with influence in terms of clients/revenue.
No more than 3 years in development.
With a significant Target Audience and intending to go global.
At least 2 people working on it.
Selection Criteria
The jury will select the startups on below parameters:
Problem Solving: Startups with a simple solution and a powerful impact.
Team: Passionate founders and a team that believes in their vision.
Innovation: The technology behind the original solution and future scope.
Global Scalability: Sustainable startups that have scalable models.
Benefits
Global Market Access: The start-ups with potential are facilitated and presented into the global market for broader audience.
Investment: The winning start-up from each cluster gets investment of 50,000 USD to finance their project. One potential start-up across the globe gets the investment of whopping 1 Million USD.
Acceleration: The winning start-ups from each cluster get the chance to enter into acceleration program that is run by one of Edge 196’s global partners.
Startup Summit: The final 26 successful start-ups are then invited to the Grand Finale to pitch.
Continuity Investment: The selected start-up has the chance to raise its continuity investment through Global Investment Partners. (Investment is equity based).
Application Link
To know more details about the clusters, where to apply and how, go through the following link: http://www.edge196.com/all-challenges
