On Monday, November 28, 2016, IBM hosted the 2016 edition of SmartCamp at the Watson IoT Center in Munich. Five IoT startups from across Germany competed against each other in a pitch after a day of mentoring sessions. Munich-based companies Toposens and evalu triumphed.
In addition to the startups with the "home advantage," beberry from Wiesbaden, BlackOut Technologies from Bremen, and gear ID from Hamburg also participated. All teams were trained in various areas throughout the day in 30-minute mentoring sessions: Business Development, Sales, Marketing & Communications, Funding, and Technology were the topics in which some of them were able to learn something new.
Last round of mentoring is on #IBM #smartcamp #Munich #WatsonIoT pic.twitter.com/4mSEWvMTW8
— Steffi Molzberger (@Molzberger) November 28, 2016
From mentoring directly to the pitch
After a presentation by Niklaus Waser, Head of the Watson IoT Center, the event got down to business. It was announced beforehand that this evening would not have just one winner, but two lucky winners. First place was awarded by the jury, and second place was determined by a loud yet close audience vote. It should be noted that the audience vote initially fell on the same winner as the judges: Barbara von Toposens was able to clearly convince with her presentation and was delighted to advance to the next round, followed by evaluate, which officially launched its intelligent shoe sole at the CES in January in Las Vegas will celebrate.
Last, but not least, Barbara from @Toposens #IBMSmartcamp #Munich #WatsonIoT pic.twitter.com/vV8WMOPA0Q
— Steffi Molzberger (@Molzberger) November 28, 2016
Who will prevail internationally?
In March 2017, Smartcamp winners from around the world will meet at the LAUNCH Festival, where they will have the opportunity to learn, network, and, of course, pitch. Those who win and become IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 will receive a place in the three-month LAUNCH Incubator Program from angel investor and serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis and an investment of $25,000.
