Portugal’s largest biofuel producer and exporter, Prio, will invest €1 million in sustainable tech startups through the Jump Start accelerator.
Prio’s €1 million investment is integrated with the distributor’s international startup acceleration program, Jump Start, which began taking applications on Thursday.
Applications can be submitted here up until to May 28 and are open to startups from all over the world.
The biofuel production and exportation company launched the second edition of the Jump Start accelerator in partnership with imatch, an innovation consulting company that specializes in marketing entrepreneurship, sales, and organizational culture.
Cristina Borges Correia
“Jump Start and this year’s innovations, coupled with the planned investment in innovation, clearly demonstrate our willingness to continue bringing innovation to the national energy and mobility sectors,” said Cristina Borges Correia, Director of Innovation at Prio.
“We aim to offer more value to our customers, make our business more environmentally friendly and prepare Prio for the great trends of the future,” she added.
The companies that apply will have to respond to three challenges and present entrepreneurial ideas that correspond with Prio’s agenda.
- How to integrate Prio stations in the “cities of the future”
- How to scale up Prio’s commitment to sustainability and green energy
- How to place PRIO in the customer’s heart and at the tip of their fingers
Organizers are looking for startups that respond to these challenges with solutions involving:
- Robotics
- In-store retail-tech for smarter shops
- Smart waste, smart air quality, smart buildings
- New energy sources
- Biomass, bioethanol, and agro-food waste
- Digital transformation
- Gas IoT
- Customer experience gamification
Startups will need to be in Portugal [Lisbon] at least two times during the process, according to the application:
- June 14-15 for the selection Bootcamp
- July 4-6 for the Final Pitch Training and Presentation
Twenty startups will be chosen to work out their value propositions in the intensive bootcamp that will take place between the June 14 and 15.
During this bootcamp, the 10 finalists will be chosen to be accompanied by Prio and imatch in mentoring sessions with the aim of adapting their innovative solutions to businesses such as Prio.
The top five will get the opportunity to pitch on Prio’s “acrobatics plane” while the “most audacious” will get an Alpha stand at Web Summit and €2,500 to promote their startup in association with Prio.
The finale will take place July 6 and the three winning startups will receive €10,000 base value to implement their pilot projects.
They will also have access to an implementation grant based on the evaluation of their business models and the permanent support of the Prio team.
The Jump Start Manifesto
Every day, Prio sees people come and go. Some come rushing in and cut to the chase, while others take their time and think things through. For all of those, Prio is more than just a pit stop. Prio is in their lives fueling their power. Today, Prio wants to go further and push progress to fuel your dreams. Why? Because we picture a better society. We imagine a more efficient and sustainable world.