A competition by Washington, D.C.-based incubator 1776 in a global search for the finest startup has set down the groundwork for its annual Challenge Cup in search of technology and healthcare startups. It is working with incubators in 16 cities around the world to identify early-stage companies across education, energy health and environment in a new twist to the competition called ChallengeX.
It begins in Washington, D.C. on October 21 and in Chicago on October 28, according to a company statement. In addition to those cities, it is working with incubators in Sydney, New York City, Tel Aviv, Amman, Santiago, Nairobi, Mumbai, Austin, Toronto, Boston, Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco and China. Each city will have four winners in each of the categories and advance to a week long festival in May when entrepreneurs for these companies have a chance to pitch investors, receive mentoring and meet policymakers. The intention of the Challenge Cup is to search for meaningful technology that’s also scalable.
1776 co-founder Evan Burfield said the new feeder competition ChallengeX would give it the ability to cast a wider net and will mean more startups will get the chance to pitch their companies in front of mentors, judges and investors.
Last year, it received 5,000 applications and from that, 480 startups competed in 16 cities in nine countries worldwide.
Among the partnerships 1776 has cultivated are New Enterprise Associates, Revolution, the Case Foundation, and incubators Capital Factory, Rocketspace, Oasis 500, NDRC, 1871, and iHub and many more to be announced in the coming weeks.
Donna Harris spoke with MedCity News earlier this year. She said by collaborating with a global network of incubators they can help each other. “We don’t need to compete, we can be cooperative,” Harris said. “Funding doesn’t lead companies, it follows them.”
