Ten finalists for Pirate Summit 2021

Out of the Box NRW is the name of the competition, which is only taking place for the second time. The ten finalists have now been chosen and will have to prove themselves at the Pirate Summit at the end of June. Only the first three places will receive money.

Almost 50 start-ups received a nomination, now the ten finalists of Out of the Box NRW have been determined: Cargoboard, Clinomic, Enlyze, Greenbimlabs, Iconpro, Lumoview Building Analytics, Sentin, Tremaze, Trustcerts and Westphalia Datalab. They all have to present their ideas at the Pirate Summit at the end of June in Cologne's Odonien, from which a jury will then select the best. The organizers expect 300 investors, 80 speakers and guests from 500 start-ups.

Start-ups can be nominated for the competition (not by the founders or employees themselves). In addition, a jury decides who will be among the finalists. The first place is endowed with 25,000 euros, the second with 15,000 euros and the third with 10,000 euros.

Startups that participate must demonstrate a digital business model. They also had to have been founded in North Rhine-Westphalia between 2017 and 2019. The initiators want to support especially early-stage start-ups. At the Pirate Summit, the start-ups should also find investors and networks to advance their ideas.

Last year's winner was Dortmund-based start-up Motionminers, which helps companies optimize their processes. Second place went to Visensys, which operates intelligent observation of, for example, public spaces or companies. Forkon took third place. They are dedicated to digital fleet management.