Entrepreneurial business idea-creation opportunity
Get together with other enthusiastics from across Europe with passion for space and innovation to develop new business ideas at the Copernicus Hackathon in Leiden, the Netherlands 29-30 September. The theme is Earth, Water and Air.
You will get access to Copernicus data, support from mentors and the option to follow several business and technical workshops.
The winning team will get a seat in the Copernicus Accellerator and the Venture Academy from Plnt!, €500 cash prize and six months start-up tax management (valued at €600) by Zuits.
“Our Hackathon participants are generally enthusiastic, well-educated, tech savvy students and young professionals with a passion for space and innovation,” says Martijn Leinweber from Space Business Innovation Centre Noordwijk running ESA Business Incubation Centre Noordwijk (ESA BIC Noordwijk).
Open to participants from EU, Norway and Iceland
“And you don’t have to be a computer programmer or a rocket scientist to enjoy the adventure.
“In our experience, the teams that consist of participants with the most diverse backgrounds usually create the best solutions.
“In fact, designers and artists are often the most sought-after people in the team-building phase.”
Everyone above 18 and resident of one the EU Member States countries or Norway and Iceland can participate. You can join alone or sign up as a team.
The hackathons are the perfect way to meet inspiring people, get brilliant ideas and learn useful skills. Additionally, hackathons usually lead to the creation of at least one serious business idea that gets developed into an actual start-up.
Turn hackathon into a real business with ESA BICs
”If some of our participants want to take their idea to the next level and turn it into a company, the ESA Business Incubation Centres are ready to help,” says Martijn, the Community Manager at ESA BIC Noordwijk.
”Actually, several of our successful start-ups come from hackathon events. It is a great opportunity to try out working with a new idea and evaluate how it could be turned into a business solution.”
ESA BIC Noordwijk is part of the successful ESA space solutions network with 20 ESA Business Incubation Centres – ESA BICs – providing support to start-ups at over 60 cities in 17 European countries. It is the world’s largest ecosystem for space related entrepreneurship and supports 150 start-up companies per year. More than 650 new start-ups have so far been fostered through the network, developing innovative solutions, systems and services based on space technology and satellite services.
Copernicus Hackathon 29-30 September 2018 - theme: Earth, Water and Air
The Copernicus Hackathon Programme is part of the European Union Copernicus Start-up Programme, originated to stimulate the generation of new business ideas based on Copernicus data and services.
The Copernicus Hackathon Programme is implemented by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen on behalf of the European Commission.
The Copernicus Hackathon in the Netherlands is organised by Space Business Innovation Centre and Plnt!.
The theme of this Copernicus Hackathon is Earth, Water and Air and the participation is free of charge.
Discover the potential of Earth Observation data and challenge your entrepreneurial self!
More information here.
You want to join? Register here.
More on the programme here.
And if you want to know more about the extensive support provided to entrepreneurs and start-ups at ESA Business Incubation Centres you can visit our ESA BIC page and our ESA space solution page.
