A new European-funded project led by the University will bring together established businesses and startups to meet today’s challenges with data.
Data Pitch will provide up to 50 European startups and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with world-class business support including: up to €100k equity free funding, expert mentoring, investment opportunities, and access to data from established businesses and the public sector.
Overall, the European Commission has committed €7.1 million into data driven innovation, and €4.8m to directly fund startups and SMEs.
The three-year project will be delivered by the University, the Open Data Institute, Portuguese innovation company Beta-i and French data marketplace platform Dawex. It is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
Elena Simperl, Professor of Computer Science and Data Pitch project Director, said:
Data Pitch will create a European ecosystem for data-driven innovation. In the digital age, every organisation, public or private, big or small, generates and owns substantial data assets. Not all them have the opportunity to use this data effectively. With Data Pitch we take an established open innovation model and apply it at European scale – we pair some of the most creative entrepreneurial minds in 28 countries and help them to solve data challenges that matter – for the economy, for the environment, for science, and for society as a whole.
Startups and SMEs will be able to apply for a place on Data Pitch from 1 July 2017. Successful startups will be selected in October and November 2017, and the first cohort will join in December 2017. Each startup will be on the programme for six months.
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