University Startup
World Cup
The best university startups from around the world come together to network, exhibit and pitch for a chance of becoming the world's best university startup!
Community of the best
university startups
worldwide
Venture Cup Denmark hosted the first University Startup World Cup back in 2015 with startups from around the world and has been running ever since. Despite reaching millions of readers worldwide, meeting some of the largest companies in Denmark and winning significant cash prizes, one of the most remarkable things about the World Cup is the international network that the participants achieve.
The goal with University Startup World Cup is to feature the best university startups from around the world, give them a network and help them grow.
Testimonials from participants
Winners 2020
Overall Winner
Early Stage and Smart City
Prizewinner of 15,000 USD
Epiclay
Vienna University of Economics & Business - Austria
Epiclay makes urban areas more liveable and healthy for its inhabitants by creating a modular green wall system, which can be implemented easily on facades with as little maintenance as possible.
The startup won because the innovation is great and it solves many challenges in the urban environment. They have mastered to rethink the use of materials.
Overall Winner
Growth Stage and HealthTech
Prizewinner of 15,000 USD
Banff Biotech
Ningbo University - China
They created two portable products used for qualitative and quantitative laboratory measurements on-site within 5 minutes. The products are able to quickly identify and quantify volatile organic compounds.
The startup won because of a strong team with comprehensive industry background, and because the product is based on solid scientific research.
GreenTech Growth Stage
Winner
Prizewinner of 1,000 USD
PlasticFri
Karlsruhe Insititute of
Technology, Sweden
A proprietary technology to make a plant-based biomaterial that looks and works like conventional (petroleum-based) plastics, but it’s 100% biodegradable, compostable & non-toxic.
Smart City Growth Stage
Winner
Prizewinner of 1,000 USD
Infinite Foundry
Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
A 3D digital plant platform for improved production efficiency of any industrial sector. It hosts the precise 3D model of the plant obtained from laser scan to provide an easy 3D gamification experience that drives industrial operational efficiency.
ICT Growth Stage
Winner
Prizewinner of 1,000 USD
Aurign
Georiga State Univeristy, USA
Aurign eliminates inefficiencies in the music publishing supply chain using A.I. and blockchain technology. The algorithms accurately generate publishing agreements and automate the filing process, while keeping a record on the blockchain ledger as a proof of record.
GreenTech Early Stage
Winner
Prizewinner of 1,000 USD
Alt Tex
University of Toronto, Canada
ALT TEX is a business-to-business biomaterials company, creating sustainable fabric solutions for eco-conscious fashion retailers and designers.
HealthTech Early Stage
Winner
Prizewinner of 1,000 USD
Safewheel
Bangladesh University of Professionals, Bangladesh
Safewheel has designed a mini three wheel ambulance that costs 1/10th of regular ones and can reach everywhere in the village. With the money needed to buy 1 regular ambulance, we can buy 10 Safewheel ambulances
ICT Early Stage
Winner
Prizewinner of 1,000 USD
BAG innovation
University of Rwanda, Rwanda
BAG is a digital platform that uses Gamification to offer a solution for students and recent graduates to access real-time experience-based learning.
As a participant,
who are you?
Country
Partner
If you are being represented by a country partner, they cannot be a co-founder within the team, but mentorship is allowed.
Early
Stage
You classify as either early stage or growth stage (see the definitions in FAQ).
Be Part
Of Network
You want to be part of a network of international student entrepreneurs.
Part
of Startup
You're part of a startup with two co-founders and one of them has to be affiliated to a university.
Meet
Key Players
You see the possibilities in meeting with key players from the Chinese startup ecosystem.
What will you get out of participating?
We offer startups several online workshops during the USWC Week, on topics such as leadership, management, storytelling, investor funding, and more.
Claus Raasted has worked with designing extraordinary experiences for almost a quarter of a century. Today, he serves as the Director for The College of Extraordinary Experiences, is a Coach at McKinsey & Company, and hosts the podcast ”The Business of Extraordinary Experiences”.
He is also a prolific author, with 30 books to his name, and has just finished ”The Innovation Cycle”. Raasted also has a past in reality TV, but these days, who hasn’t?
Learn more about IP and patenting.
Intellectual Property is a great way to create business opportunities – if managed properly. AWA’s customers know this, and that is why they consider IP legislation to be a strategic asset in their efforts to achieve a leading position in their respective markets.
Anders Lange
Anders Lange has spent 15+ years in the digital industry working with brands like Gucci, Warner Bros, Tesla og Google. Before COVID19, he built a consulting business worth €7M and sold it. Today, he is the go-to-guy for companies like Google, Facebook, salesforce and oracle when it comes to connecting strategy and technology.
During the COVID19 Crisis, he has helped startups raise over €30M in seed and pre-seed capital, and before COVID19 he raised €9M for his own startup which unfortunately cam to a stop due to COVID19. Today, he is helping startups so that they don’t make the same mistakes as he did, and he is helping them to scale as advisor and board member. He takes them from idea to launch to growth by making strategy easy and by playing an active hand in the companies he engages with.
He is currently on 7 advisory boards and 4 boards nationally in Denmark and has permanent seats on the Technology committee setup by Google and Facebook. He is on the committee of Future gaming setup by companies like RockStar and Ubisoft and on the committee setup by LVMH for sustainable fashion and beauty. Latest, he jointed the Vroom Summit as a mentor and investors. Vroom summit is a unique and invite-only pitch event for highlevel investors and selected startups.
He has joined Venture Cup to help startups navigate the VC, Angel and other funding worlds. While trying to make go-to-market strategy easy and simple for startups.
Category finalists 2020
There are four categories for each early stage and growth stage, with a total of 8 category winners and 2 overall winners.
Green Tech
(Click on the startup you wish to know more info)
Ecobutt
JCI Slovakia
Slovakia
Plastalyst
University of Cambridge
UK
Mi Terro
University of Southern California
USA
Sensegrass Inc.
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
India
Plastobricks
IOBE Nigeria
Nigeria
Synthesea
Imperial College London
UK
Green Mining
Fundação Getúlio Vargas
Brazil
HurRain
Tsinghua University
China
EcoPanplas
Faculdade de Campinas
Brazil
FarmHut
National University of Science and Technology
Zimbabwe
Zhongxin Ecological Agriculture
Northwest A&F University
China
Falcon Electric Aviation
Eindhoven University of Technology
Netherlands
Health Tech
(Click on the startup you wish to know more info)
Get Out Polio
CMACED
Pakistan
Treatably
Reykjavik University
Iceland
Maziwa
Northwestern University
Canada
Geniecup Inc.
Kickstart Asia
Korea
Miao Gao Sheng Ji
Hebei University
China
Pleaz
University of Copenhagen
Denmark
eSteps
University of Bologna
Italy
key2enable
Universidade Cruzeiro do Su
Brazil
Vanguard of Hygiene
Wenzhou Medical University
China
Happyr Health
Cambridge Judge Business School
UK
Healper
CBS/DTU/KU
Denmark
EMILLIA
Universidade Federal do Paraná
Brazil
E3A Healthcare
Pte Ltd
NUS
Singapore
Alpha & Omega
NutriPowder
Wenzhou Medical University
China
Portable Peak
Flow Meter
Zhejiang University
China
Noomee
Amsterdam University of Applied Science
Armenia
Trident
Tongji University
China
Portable Peak
Flow Meter
Zhejiang University
China
Smart City
(Click on the startup you wish to know more info)
Mbegu Solar
Lund University
Sweden
BridgIoT
Stellenbosch University
South Africa
Weavair
University of Toronto
Canada
Sterblue
IMT Mines Albi
France
Ngwala Inventions Limited
National Institute of Transport
Tanzania
GreenPlat
Universidade Positivi
Brazil
Adaptricity AG
Founder Associated: ETH Zürich
Switzerland
KEYOU GmbH
Munich University of Applied Science
Germany
Alpha Smart
Tsinghua University
China
Advanced Water Testing
Colorado College
USA
A stirred self-stratified battery
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
China
Zhong-Ye Lithium Energy
Central South University
China
ICT
(Click on the startup you wish to know more info)
Swap Language
Aarhus University
Denmark
Lingart - Future Books
Startup Kyiv
Ukraine
concerty
Beijing University of Technology
France/China
VitaSim
University of Southern Denmark
Denmark
TactileSensor
Hebei University of Technology
China
CeriTech
Bandung Institute of Technology
Indonesia
Lexikat
NUS
Singapore
Stonebox
University of Nottingham Ningbo
China
Flicfit
Daito Bunka University
Japan
Xuanji
Xidian University
China
HiHome
Donghua University
China
collectID
University of St. Gallen
Switzerland
CARE+
Wenzhou Medical University
China
Subreader
Copenhagen Business School / Danish Technical University
Denmark
Featured Alumni
Medified
Tampere University
Finland
Cellugy
Aarhus University
Denmark
Meet our Venture Cup Experts
(Navigate through categories and click on the mentor you wish to know more about)
- All
- Greentech
- HealthTech
- ICT
- Smart City
Urs Schuppli
Elizabeth Rankich
Floriano Bonfigli
Thomas Mollerup Lanng
Paul Hargreaves
Christian Heisterberg
Tatiana Gavrilova
Petko Donev
Stefan D. Buch
Filip Stipancic
Alin Ene
Martin Klee
Christoffer Buch-Larsen
Artem Galchenko
Adriano Petrino
Lennaert Jonkers
Johannes Riis
Anuj Sharma
Adrian Badea
Anders Birch
Peter Flemming Teunissen Sjølin
Henrik Vest
Erik A Krage
David Arias
Drew Bryan
Ram Prasad Modalavalasa
Mads Jöhnk Jørgensen
Anne Sode Jensen
Cecilie Ploug Sarp
Country Partners
Venture Cup Denmark works closely with several Country Partners around the world. These are usually Universities or organisations that focus on entrepreneurship, innovation, and startups. The Country Partner will get promotion from Venture Cup Denmark through our website, social media channels, and on some print materials. They will also be invited to attend the event, where accommodation and some food will be covered. See a list of our current Country Partners under 'Partners'. If you are interested in becoming a country partner, click the button below.
In return, the Country Partner will agree to nominate at least 3 teams from their country. The teams will still need to go through the application process. They will also promote the event on their own channels.
Informative Materials
FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Depending on the COVID-19 situation, the USWC 2021 will be held in Wenzhou, China.
If the situation with COVID-19 allows, then yes.
You will be pitching for 4 min so we encourage you to practice as much as possible
You will have the opportunity to meet the other startups, investors, mentors and experts in your field of business
Early Stage
All 4 category winners will receive 1000 USD each
Overall winner will receive 15,000 USD
Growth Stage
All 4 category winners will receive 1000 USD each
Overall winner will receive 15,000 USD
Considering we are working with several different time zones, we will have multiple ways of delivering content to ensure it’s comfortable for everyone. We will have pre recorded video, live events along with webinars.
By participating in the competition, competitors agree that Venture Cup assumes no liability and shall have no liability or obligation whatsoever for disclosures of information provided by a competitor as part of a submission or otherwise during the course of the competitions.
We are closed for 2020, but we are taking in nominations for 2021. Click this link and fill out the form, a team member will get back to you.
Yes, we call university partners, country partners. All you have to do is email our project manager at [email protected] to see if you qualify.
Applications usually open in the spring time. Keep an eye out for spring 2021, where the next application round starts.
Pitching schedule: Early Stage | Growth Stage
Yes, attending is mandatory. USA, Canada, and Brazil teams can watch the pre-recorded workshops. But we expect everyone to attend the Welcome, the Semi-Finals, and the Award Show.
Yes, and please show up 10 minutes before the starting time.
Venture Cup Denmark is a non-profit organisation with the purpose of helping students fulfill their dreams and try the life as an entrepreneur.
We offer development programs and host several annual startup competitions.
Read more about Venture Cup Denmark here.
Please watch the tutorial video here.
Your friends and family can watch the Award Show here.
On October 17th, Venture Cup has matched you with an Expert with whom you will have a live session on this day. From Oct 19th to Nov 19th, you are encouraged to review the Expert book and book one or two more sessions with an Expert.
If you are late for your scheduled pitch, it will be deducted from your overall pitch time.
If you want to show a video, then you are using your 4 min pitch time or you can request to show a video during the 10 min Q&A.
If you win, you can expect to receive the money before the end of 2020.
The announcement of the category winners, and two overall winners will take place at the Award Show on October 19th, 2020.
