The TechXtile Start-Up Challenge program, the fourth of which started this year, aims to bring technologies that can be applied to textiles to the industry, ensure commercialization, and bring a techno-entrepreneur that will add more value to the Turkish economy.
The program, which has been carried out as the R&D Project market since 2008 under the direction of Uludağ Textile Exporters Association (UTİB) has been transformed into the TechXtile Start-Up Challenge program as of 2019. With this transformation, the textile sector, which has become multidisciplinary, has the potential to catch up with the rapidly changing technology in the world, mature and grow the ideas of qualified techno-entrepreneurs; It is aimed to provide the necessary support for it to become a viable, scalable and sellable enterprise.
Following the closing of the applications, the participants who receive entrepreneurship training pass the pre-assessment. The process continues with pitching training for the semi-final preparations after the pre-qualification. After the semi-finals, the initiatives that make it to the final are determined and one-on-one mentoring meetings begin. Advanced pitching training is given for startups that will make a presentation before the award ceremony.
Entrepreneurs have the opportunity to present their projects and network in the program, in which prominent figures from Turkey’s various sectors in the field of entrepreneurship, industrialists, business people, investors, and professional managers take part as a jury.
Contest applications are made in one of two categories:
Level-Up | Idea Stage Entrepreneur Category (Individual or Team Entrepreneurs, Academics, Entrepreneur Candidates)
It is aimed at entrepreneurs who are developing a product or service that will meet the expectations of their customers at a basic level, yet idea stage. This category aims to support the transformation process of innovation and commercialization of potential business ideas into products.
Scale-Up | Product & Service Developed Entrepreneur Category (Individual or Team Entrepreneurs, Start-Up Companies, Academics)
Entrepreneurs who have passed the idea stage and have developed a product or service with the potential for commercialization and scaling compete. The most important requirement is that entrepreneurs have already established their ventures before applying for the program. This category aims to enable early-stage startups with the potential to be successful in the market by supporting their Product/Market compatibility discovery processes and networking.
Evaluation principles, the details of which are included in the competition specifications; feasibility, sellability, scalability, technology and innovation dimension of the business idea, and the capacity of the team; It consists of competency and experience criteria.
Although the valuable awards given to the finalists in both categories are detailed in the competition specifications, among the women entrepreneurs who applied for Techxtile to encourage women entrepreneurship and to bring more female business people into the economy, if they have an existing company or a new company will be established; The Women Entrepreneur Special Award is also given to enterprises with 50% or more shareholding.
TechXtile Start-Up Challenge Program, which offers networking opportunities and valuable awards in a giant competition atmosphere, invites entrepreneurs to gain support from the business world and experience TechXtile.
