Thinking Tomorrow

Now is the time for BIG IDEAS.
 
You've heard it countless times by now. "Unprecedented crisis". "Uncertain times". "Challenging Situation". But what about actually making a difference?

Once the dust of the Corona crisis settles, societies will face new and long-term challenges. Times like this call for the very best from the innovation community and we believe that startups have a huge role to play in the response - in fact that's why you're here. Whether you're a team that just had a bright idea triggered by the crisis, or you're already a young startup, the Thinking Tomorrow award is designed to support your innovation and help you make a bigger impact - even while restriction on our old way of life continue.

The pandemic not only had a dramatic short-term impact but it also threatens to alter our way of life for the foreseeable future. At the same time, it's caused huge disruption to the traditional channels by which startups are formed, build networks and grow as companies to address these same problems.

Thinking Tomorrow is an award for early innovators in the areas of Healthcare, Education and the Environment. Take a few minutes out of your day to apply and you could end up being named as one of our three award winners. That's not all - thanks to our amazing campaign partners, both the winners and a further set of nominated teams will earn rewards including startup funding, startup workshops and more. Read on to find out more...

Award Initiators:

Octorank: is a startup developing startup scouting and startup campaign software. As joint initiators, Octorank can directly leverage both their software and expert knowledge to fuel the fightback against the pandemic.
Capacura: is an impact investor focusing on early-stage-startups. Capacura are initiating Thinking Tomorrow to help more innovators realise their potential and to become an early backer of impactful startups. In their day-to-day business, Capacura support their portfolio startups with up to €500k of equity investment.

About the Award

Thinking Tomorrow is a fully-online startup award to celebrate and support innovators during the fightback against corona. The award is launching to help address clear issues raised by the pandemic: 1. traditional face-to-face channels to build a startup by leveraging networks have been disrupted. 2. The fallout from the crisis is leaving a marked impact on society for the foreseeable future - resulting in challenges but equally fresh opportunities for startups.

Thinking Tomorrow has been developed with a unique combination of a diverse support network and the flexibility of online keeping it accessible for a far greater number of innovators across Europe.

Successful teams will benefit from the support of a diverse network in the startup ecosystem. In addition our partners will be awarding them with an impressive range of benefits ranging from funding to strategy workshops and more.

About the Application

Thinking Tomorrow is seeking solutions to problems in 3 broad areas: education, healthcare and environment. Whether coronavirus has given you an idea, magnified the need for your existing innovation or disrupted the plans you had for building your startup: we want to hear from you. If you meet the team requirements then just submit your details using our 10-minute application form. We want to hear about your team, your idea and your potential to grow.

Every application is carefully evaluated by our team of startup and industry experts. The teams that have the best fit to our evaluation criteria will be recognised and benefit from the brilliant partners and innovation support they're offering.

Thinking Tomorrow Evaluation Criteria:

Every entry from a team that meets the team requirements will be evaluated by our experts according to the following criteria:

1. Problem Relevance: How relevant is the problem to the long-term issues caused by Coronavirus and how much room is there to make an impact.
2. Problem-Solution Fit: How well does the described solution address the relevant problem.
3. Revenue Model: How will you make money, such that this idea can become a business.
4. Timing: How quickly can the solution be developed to meet current needs and trends. 
5. Originality: How original, interesting, exciting  etc. is your innovation
6. Focus Area Fit: How well do the solutions fit to the topics of Healthcare, Education & the Environment.


Award Problem Areas:

We invite participants to address problems in three broad areas. Healthcare, Education & Environment

Healthcare: The pandemic has shone a light on the condition of essential health service, where they are strong and where they have weaknesses. Now is time for a new generation of innovators to develop the future of healthcare.
Education: One of the most significant side effects of the pandemic has been the closure of schools and universities across Europe. Many schoolchildren won't be able to make up for lost time in a traditional schooling system - therefore, how can technology close the gap for the learning that may have been lost.
Environment: Climate change and environmental issues are another great challenge for society which is connected to the corona crisis through e.g. changes in consumer behaviour. How can tech preempt such moves?

Award Partners:

mm1: The consultants for connected business are brining their expertise to offer in-depth startup workshops to successful participants.
Humboldt Innovation: The knowledge and technology transfer centre of Humboldt Universität Berlin
Founder's Institute: The world's premier idea-stage accelerator joins the award with an offer of a startup fellowship for one successful team.*
ambivation: The matchmaker for startup collaborations. Ambivation are bringing their expertise to offer personalised startup mentoring to one successful team.
startupdetector: The company that discovers every new startup in Germany. They are offering matchmaking with their Angel network.
WestTech Ventures: The Berlin-based VC with a focus on seed & pre-seed funding for B2B SaaS companies.
Markburg: The Berlin branding and design agency have offered pro-bono services to create the Thinking Tomorrow brand.
Startupnight: One of the largest innovation events in Europe, they bring a prestigious network and will offer opportunities to be involved in future SUN events.
media:net berlinbrandenburg: The regional home for tech and the games, digital & media economies are our media partner and help us spread word about the award. 

* eligibility for Founder's Institute Fellowship requires teams to pass a psychometric test. Graduation of the FI includes a 4% equity commitment.