Hello Tomorrow, the global organisation working to turn breakthrough technologies into real applications, today releases 80 finalists of their Global Startup Challenge, a world-renowned competition for early-stage science and deep tech entrepreneurs. With startups from all over the globe, the entrepreneurs are as diverse as the technological solutions they are developing, with projects covering 14 categories: Environment, Energy, Food & Agriculture, Drug Discovery, Digital health & Medical devices, Medical Biotech, Industrial Biotech, New Space, Aeronautics, Mobility, Smart City, Industry 4.0, Cybersecurity & Communication, Advanced Computing & AI.
New innovation becomes increasingly decentralised
Leveraging a global network of partners (top universities, research labs, accelerators and incubators etc.) Hello Tomorrow sources new startups and projects. This year the Global Challenge saw a record of 5,173 applications from 128 countries, with the highest number of applications coming from Berlin, Boston, Lausanne, London, Paris, SF/Bay Area, Singapore and Toronto.
President of Hello Tomorrow Arnaud de la Tour says:
“It’s not surprising to see that these top innovation hubs[1] rank highest in our Global Challenge applications. However, new ecosystems, up until now less well known for their role in R&D like Russia and Thailand, are also entering the race. Given the increasing quality of deep tech of applications to the Global Challenge, these hubs are making huge efforts to develop research, putting in place financing and support based on US and European models, but adapting it to their own ecosystem.
Deep technologies to answer today’s global challenges
The finalists of the 6th edition of the Global Challenge offer solutions to environmental, social and industrial challenges, based on a wide range of cutting-edge technologies. Examples of deep tech solutions selected in the finals include:
- Sustainable solutions in farming from startup Nanosur, which develops RNA-based molecules to protect crops without modifying their genome, constituting a safe alternative to chemical pesticides.
- In the area of healthcare, Swiss startup Altoida diagnoses Alzheimer disease by tracking patient movements in a series of virtual challenges, detecting the disease in a non-invasive manner up to 10 years before the onset of the first symptoms.
- In aerospace, AI Space Factory is developing a in-situ 3D printing technology that would allow man to build on the Moon and Mars.
- In mobility, Canadian startup GBatteries Energy develops a system for fast-charging off-the-shelf batteries in less than 15 minutes which will accelerate the wide-spread adoption of electric vehicles.
The full list of startup finalists is available at https://hello-tomorrow.org/startups#tracks
The Global Challenge represents a key moment at the Hello Tomorrow Global Summit
The startup winners of the Global Challenge will be named during The Hello Tomorrow Global Summit, a leading deep tech event in Europe. Each category winner will be awarded €10,000 by Hello Tomorrow partners: Safran for the Aeronautics category, DSM for the Industrial Biotech, ArianeGroup and Airbus Ventures for New Space, Leonard (VINCI Group) for Smart City and French Institute of Petroleum for Environment. The Grand Prize of €100,000 will be awarded by Worldwide Partner BNP Paribas. The Global Summit will take place on the 12-13th March 2020 at the CENTQUATRE-Paris, a space intersecting innovation and culture. The Global Summit is part of an entire week dedicated to highlighting and accelerating deep tech called Deep Tech Week, an initiative under the High Patronage of Mr Emmanuel MACRON, President of the French Republic. See the full program here.
[1] According to the World Economic Forum ranking: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/chart-of-the-day-these-are-the-world-s-most-innovative-economies/
