Startup Avalanche
An ice-breaking competition for startups that speak business
June 10-11, 2019 | Polyvalent Hall BT Arena | Cluj-Napoca | Romania
proudly presented by
Event Info
Startup Avalanche, in partnership with Risky Business, is an extremely challenging and highly rewarding competition, bringing together the world’s best early-stage startups, international VCs and dozens of investors.
At Techsylvania’s, Startup Avalanche a golden rule applies: “Show, don’t tell”. The competition focuses exclusively on launched and validated products, with real customers or users
Since 2016 we encourage founders from all over the globe to bring their startups to the leading technology event in Eastern Europe and convince an international jury of their value and power to change the markets. Hundreds of projects from all industries apply every year, but only the best make the cut and win
Access to a pitch
training program
Exclusive access
to investors
Opportunity to demo in front of 2.000+ attendees
Win the Grand Prize €100,000 investment
Competition
May 24
Deadline for applications
May 29 – June 3
Ongoing support for pitching and investment strategy
June 3-9
Pitching simulation
June 10-11
Startup Avalanche
Be brave. Be bold.
How to win
“Be brave, be bold and work hard for the perfect pitch”, says Jennifer Austin. The Risky Business team she leads selects the best of the best and supports them through the toughest training sessions
Day 1
Startup Avalanche Stage
The top 15 startups that apply get the chance to present on the Startup Avalanche Stage in front of dozens of potential investors from around the world, partners, as well as Techsylvania speakers and other VIPs.
Presentation structure
- Pitch – 4 minutes
- Live demo – 2 minutes
- Q&A – 4 minutes
Day 2
Main Techsylvania Stage
The 5 finalists will go on a live battle in front of over 2.000 attendees on the Main Stage of Techsylvania for the Grand Prize of Startup Avalanche.
Presentation structure
- Pitch – 4 minutes
- Live demo – 2 minutes
- Q&A – 2 minutes
+ representatives from leading VC funds attended:
Previous winners
Planable
BrainyAnt
Troop Travel
Testimonials
In the words of last year’s winning team, TroopTravel: “Being an early-stage startup normally means that you are the last in line. You have to fight to be able to talk to investors and/or speakers at conferences and in general there is little tangible or personalized support offered. At Techsylvania, our experience has been completely different. When you are selected as one of the 15 startups to participate in the competition, you are treated as a VIP. Weeks before the competition, the Avalanche Team reaches out to you to connect you to leading entrepreneurs to work on your pitch. This is a key argument why you should attend Techsylvania next year if you are an early-stage startup.”
Another Avalanche Team, Little Data, from the UK, commented: “I learned so much from pitching at the Startup Avalanche competition at Techsylvania. The competition attracted startups from all over Europe and Asia, and Littledata was honoured to be chosen for the finals. After a few days of rehearsing the pitch and refining the slides, with intensive coaching from the Risky Business team, I have a much better idea of what investors want to hear – and how to communicate it succinctly.”
Judges and Investors 2019
Tim Sullivan
USA
CEO at Oceanic Partners
Oren Stern
USA
Co-Founder and COO of Connatix (Angel Investor)
Sakshi Chhabra Mittal
United Kingdom
Investment Director at Softbank Vision Fund
Voicu Oprean
Romania
Founder and CEO of AROBS (Angel Investor)
Fang Yuan
USA
Vice President at Baidu Ventures
Abdullah Al-Shaksy
Oman
Co-Founder and CEO of Phaze Ventures
Matt Michelsen
USA
Silicon Valley Insider (Working with Leading Brands: Lady Gaga, Nike, Cirque Du Soleil, YouTube)
Adam Jackson
USA
Co-Founder & CEO at Braintrust (Angel Investor)
Brahm Klar
Canada
Partner at Round13 Capital
Joey Brander
USA
Managing Partner at First Serve Partners
Remus Lechintan
Canada
President at RoundAssist (Angel Investor)
Gwendolyn Regina
France
Entrepreneur in Residence at Entrepreneurs First
Nan Zhou
USA
Investment Director at Baidu Changcheng Investment Partners
Dan Isai
Romania
CEO at Salad Box
Ricardo Mendez
Germany
Technical Director Europe at Samsung NEXT
Ted Persson
Sweden
Partner at EQT Ventures
Rob Kniaz
United Kingdom
Founding Partner at Hoxton Ventures
Calin Vaduva
Romania
CEO at Fortech
Sergiu Biris
Romania
Co-Founder & CEO at Zonga
Rohan Chandran
USA
Chief Product & Technology Officer at Shopkick (Angel Investor)
Andrei Roth
Romania
Manager Cluj office at UiPath (Angel Investor)
Bogdan Colceriu
Romania
Partner at Risky Business
Ciprian Paltineanu
Romania
Principal Investor at Innova Human Capital
Dan Cobeanu
Romania
Founding Partner at Scala Assistance (Angel Investor)
Rumen Iliev
Bulgaria
Partner at LAUNCHub
Dan Calugareanu
Romania
Partner at Early Game Ventures
Radu Lupas
Romania
Co-Founder & CBD of SALAD BOX
Jon Gruen
USA
General Partner at Starburst Ventures
Christian Renner
Germany
Managing Director at Kompass Digital
Francois Chopard
USA
Founder & CEO of Startburst Ventures
Simona Gemeneanu
Romania
Co-founder at Morphosis Capital
Jennifer Austin
Romania
Founding Partner at Risky Business
Márton Medveczky
Hungary
Investment Associate at Flashpoint Venture Capital
Marcelus Suciu
Romania
Founder of Marty Restaurants (Angel Investor)
Andrei Trifan
Romania
Business Development Agent at Subway
Mihai Frentiu
Romania
Product Owner at Metro Systems
Vlad Busila
Romania
Managing Partner at Mozaik Investment Found
Andrei Pitis
Romania
VP Engineering at Fitbit
Philipp Kandal
USA
VP Engineering at Telenav ( Angel Investor)
Adrian Enache
United Kingdom
CEO at Angels Den
Cristian Negrutiu
Romania
Partner at Sparking Capital
Rules & FAQ
Do I meet the eligibility criteria to apply?
- Launched and validated products, with real customers or users by the time of competition
- Scalable
- Company valuation target: $500K – $5M
- Currently fundraising
- Great pitch
- Functional live demo
- One team can only apply with one startup
How does the investment work?
We try to keep things simple. The investment is a convertible note. What means is that the valuation of your startup is decided by either the other investors in the round or your next round. Convertible notes are a standard type of investment structure for early-stage startups. You can read more about convertible notes here.
€50,000 of the investment is unconditional and upfront. The other €50,000 is triggered upon some milestones, based on your pitch, but decided between you and the investors. The Techsylvania and Risky Business team will be on hand to make sure the trigger is fair and supports your growth as a startup.
But the winning team has more than cash to look forward to. Besides some well-connected, sharp angels you’ll also get ongoing support when you need it from Techsylvania and Risky Business. Whether you need help connecting to a fund in the USA, Europe, or Asia, or you need some help on your product and strategy, we’ll be with you.
How does the application process look like?
- Launched and validated products, with real customers or users by the time of competition
- Scalable
- Company valuation target: $500K – $5M
- Currently fundraising
- Great pitch
- Functional live demo
- One team can only apply with one startup
What are the participation costs?
Every team accepted for the competition is granted VIP tickets for the 2-day event
How about the Privacy Policy?
Publicity
Participation in the competition means that you agree to have your startup presentation evaluated publicly.
You agree that Startup Avalanche and its partners can use your name, likeness, and the information provided in the competition to promote your product and this competition, in print and electronic communication means.
You agree that the videos and photos taken during the event and associated activities (preparation, networking events, etc) can be used by Techsylvania and Risky Business for promotional activity.
Disclosure
The written application to participate in Startup Avalanche will be read by a team of evaluators who have been asked to keep the contents of the application confidential, however, no formal guarantee of confidentiality will be provided or implied.
Confidentiality
By the submission of your application, you understand and agree that a short description of your startup will be considered a “public summary” and may be used in public documentation related to the competition.
Startup Avalanche will provide a copy of your business description to competition staff and judges and will inform them that no additional copies are to be made.
Startup Avalanche will have no responsibility to protect the intellectual property rights of each contestant. Protection of such rights is the responsibility of each applicant.
All participants must provide information on their development during and after the competition when requested by Startup Avalanche – e.g. submit surveys, testimonials, interviews, etc.