Details
The Hardware Cup tours seven U.S. regions with events in: Pittsburgh, San Jose, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Boulder and Atlanta. Other countries around the globe also participate, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and others to be announced.
To be eligible, you must be an early-stage hardware startup with at least one physical product component.
Don’t let the term hardware scare you off! Physical products include but are not limited to: manufactured products, IoT/connected devices, health/medical, consumer products, consumer electronics, food, fashion, robotics, etc.
Format
- You can only apply to one region; multiple applications are not permitted
- 6 teams will be selected in each US region to give a 3 or 4-minute pitch followed by about 4 minutes of Q&A with the panel of judges made up of local VCs and investors
- At the same time, several other countries will hold their own Hardware Cup competition with a similar format
- Each US regional competition and international competition will send finalist companies to attend the Hardware Cup Finals events in Pittsburgh in May 2019
- Day 1 of the Finals will include a public US Finals event, where the winner will take home the $50,000 grand prize from Startbot. All US and international finalists will have a chance to pitch to the audience and have a demo table at the event
- Day 2 of the Finals will be a private Investor Day event, where all Hardware Cup finalists will have the chance to meet one-on-one with top hardware investors and corporate partners from around the country
Prizes
- Startbot VC will award a $50,000 convertible-debt investment to the Hardware US Finalist. 2nd and 3rd prize finalists will each receive cash prizes.
- Winning teams from each US region will get $3000 cash and other prizes.
- International competitions are run by international partners, and the winners will attend the US Finals and pitch for a special international prize during Investor Day.
Details
- Application Deadline: January 27, 2019
For more information, visit the competition website.