ENRICH IN THE USA Smart City Bootcamp

ENRICH In the USA Smart City-Bootcamp

June 08– 12, 2020 (postponed/cancelled)

A pilot service offered by ENRICH in the USA.

Rolling Application opens: February 18, 2020 | Call closes: May  08, 2020 – 23h59 CET

1. Services offered in this specific call

ENRICH in the USA is launching the Smart City Bootcamp to assist European Union and EU-affiliate headquartered, high-growth startups, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and/or other research actors with the pursuit of US-based business and investment opportunities. This Smart City Bootcamp is co-hosted by Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners (Curiosity Lab) located just outside Atlanta in Peachtree Corners, GA.  Curiosity Lab is an incubator and living lab for testing and demonstrating state-of-the-art smart city innovations. This provides European stakeholders a powerful entrée to the heart of the United States smart city, mobility and internet of things (IoT) industries.  The entire Bootcamp provides hyper-focused programming, connections, and services designed to help identify appropriate US market opportunities, execute US market entry, provide access to cutting edge testing facilities and learn from industry experts.

This Smart City Bootcamp was made for entrepreneurs or researchers seeking commercialization, product testing, technical and business support in the areas of smart city, mobility or IoT. After the bootcamp each participant will: gain a better understanding of the market entry and dynamics for this challenging sector in the U.S.; catalyze promising connections to a local network in the United States; have an opportunity to test and/or demonstrate their own technology in world-class living lab facilities; and be better prepared to consider a satellite presence within the region to be closer to critical stakeholders.

During the bootcamp, Curiosity Lab will immerse participants in conversations and experiences ripe with business connectivity opportunities. Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners is a unique public/private smart city living lab located in a 500 acre technology park where more than 7,500 people work and another 1,000 live. The lab features a 1.5 mile autonomous vehicle test track and $5M+ of infrastructure for teams to test smart city solutions. Alongside the test track, there is a 25,000 square foot innovation center where corporate innovation teams and tech startups discover and work with one another.

Bootcamp participants will receive a registration to the Smart City Expo in Atlanta which is an industry leading conference on smart city innovations, trends and best practices in addition to being the only U.S. edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress. 

Eligible participants may either have companies already incorporated or planning to incorporate, already proven their technologies in at least a closed lab environment, and able to send one executive-level personnel responsible for company development. Participants who attend the Bootcamp must be either responsible for technical sales and/or have invented and is responsible for the future development and scale-up of the product. 

This Bootcamp will accept up to 50 participants. If 50 qualified participants who meet the eligibility and other selection criteria apply, a waiting list will be created; therefore, you are highly encouraged to apply for the Bootcamp immediately upon interest. If any spots on the Bootcamp become available, potential participants on the waiting list will be invited on a first-come, first-serve basis, so long as they also meet the eligibility and selection criteria. The Bootcamp is open to EU Member States and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries  smart city, mobility and IoT (further defined in Target Group section) stakeholders.

This bootcamp gives participants the opportunity to:

• Create US-based smart city business opportunities for EU and EU-affiliate startups and entities.
• Have access and understand of world class living lab facilities used to test and develop smart city innovations.
• Find financial support for EU startups and entities.
• Explore facilities and programs to serve as a Soft Landing destination for EU startups and entities to be closer to the first two aims.
• To find opportunities, through engagement with leading players from the business, investment, and regulatory domains of a top U.S. ecosystem for smart city and related technologies.
• Attend a world-renowned conference to learn business and technology trends, best practices and to connect with leading industry organizations.

Tentative schedule

Introduction

Selected participants will meet virtually with both the Peachtree Corners and ENRICH in the USA staff to best understand what connections could be made while in the region.

Bootcamp – Arrival

Participants will travel to Atlanta, GA, and are expected to arrive no later than by mid-day June 7, 2020. The following itinerary for the Bootcamp is below for June 8 - 12:

Expected outcomes and impact per participant

Average per participant

• ≥4 business connections per participant resulting in direct follow-up between participants and potential customers and/or industrial partner
• ≥ 1 participant demonstrating technology in the living lab

2. Target Group of this Call

Individual EU Member States/Associated Countries high-growth startup and SME founders, as well as researchers who are interested in exploring the US market as a short to middle term vehicle for commercializing deep tech products and services broadly in the domain of smart city, mobility and IoT.  Examples of relevant technologies may be related to, but are not limited to, the areas of: multimodal mobility, efficient transport, open data, infrastructure, sustainable urbanism, safety, government administration, safety, local and global resource management, drones, fleet optimization and many other related technologies.  Please send an email to the contact person listed at the end of this application if you have any questions about your eligibility.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• If an individual, applicant must be a tax payer in an EU MS/AC AND/OR be an EU MS/AC passport holder
• If incorporated, applicant must pay taxes in an EU MS/AC AND/OR have as the majority of shareholders EU MS/AC passport holder
• Be able to communicate (read and speak) in English

3. Funding Principle

Thanks to support for this Bootcamp by the European Commission, participants have the ability to participate in the bootcamp, which includes full admission to the Smart City Expo, for reduced costs. Early applicants will receive the opportunity for special pricing. 

The first 5 accepted participants will be required to pay a fee of only 500€. All additional accepted participants will pay a fee of 1,500€. These reduced participant fees are not reimbursable and cover two meals per day, entrance fees to associated events/venues, and transportation to/from hotel and all Bootcamp sessions.

Participants must cover the costs for flights to and from the United States, and other costs not mentioned above (e.g. ESTA/VISA application costs, health insurance, accommodation, dinners, etc.).

4. Submission Procedure

All applicants must register at the electronic submission tool F6S under https://www.f6s.com/smartcitybootcamp/apply. It is highly advised again, that interested applicants apply as soon as possible, and not wait for the application deadline, as eligible applicants who meet the selection criteria will be invited to the Bootcamp in the order in which they applied. ENRICH in the USA staff will assist with questions or portal issues for applicants. Besides basic information, applicants must complete a checklist to ensure compliance with the eligibility criteria and each section of the application

In F6S, the applicant is asked to register and provide general and personal information, (such as name, institution, organization type, contact details, and specific questions referring to the organization type). All applicants must acknowledge that they are aware that some costs have to be covered individually.

Applicants must complete all required questions in the F6S application and confirm that they:

• Engage in commercial and/or research activities within the smart city, mobility and/or IoT sectors
• Are a major decision-maker in executing new customer, supplier, or partnership relationship developments
• Have a sincere interest in US-based business, technology development, and/or other partnership collaboration opportunities and be a decision-maker in potential location scouting activities

The questions listed under Specific Questions were designed to help both the applicant and Host organizations foster ideal connections within the ecosystem, as well as to refine the Bootcamp itinerary. These questions include:

• What types of products/services and/or research does your organization develop? If you do not directly conduct technology development, please indicate if you have stakeholders (customers/clients, members, tenants, etc.) that do conduct technology development and in what areas relevant to the Bootcamp sector.
• What are your expectations from the ENRICH in the USA Smart City Sector Bootcamp?
• Why are you interested in learning more about the US market?
• Please list particular companies, investors, and/or institutions you are interested in being connected to within the Landing Hub region this Bootcamp is held within.
• If you are interested in testing or demonstrating your technology during the bootcamp utilizing the extensive resources of Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corner, please share more here about your solution.  Please share what your test use cases would be. Note: additional application materials will be required.

Note that all application responses have to be submitted in English.

5. Evaluation and Selection Procedure

The fundamental principles governing the evaluation of the applications are:

• Transparency: The process for selecting applicants will be clearly described and made available to any interested party.
• Fairness and Equality of treatment: All applications shall be treated alike, irrespective of where they originate or the identity of the applicants.
• Ethical and Legal considerations: Any application that contravenes ethical principles and legal regulations may be excluded from being evaluated and rejected at any time.

Selected participants must meet basic eligibility criteria and participant fee must be received by May 8, 2020. Applicants who meet the criteria will be contacted with payment information.

Step 1: Eligibility Check: Will be done by the ENRICH in the USA staff following the criteria defined in section 3:

1. If they meet the respective eligibility criteria (outlined above)
2. If they meet the respective target group for this call (outlined above)

Step 2: Applicants who meet the optimal selection criteria and satisfactorily answer the Specific Questions outlined in Section 5 listed above, will be invited to the Tour. Unanswered or partially completed questions will not be considered to move forward in the process. A team formed of ENRICH in the USA staff and ENRICH in the USA Smart City Hub organization executives will review applications in the F6S portal, every two weeks leading up to the application deadline.

Step 3: Scoring: All applicants will be evaluated on a five-star evaluation scale – if applicants can confirm all three selection criteria statements and answer all four of the Specific Questions thoughtfully, they will earn a 5-star rating.

Step 4: Admission: The first 50 candidates with 5 star-scores will be invited to attend the Tour. Within two weeks of applying, if not sooner, applicants will be notified of their selection.

Please note: ENRICH in the USA is beholding the right to create a wait list of suitable candidates reaching the necessary 5 stars score

Time Schedule

Contacts

For questions regarding the ENRICH in the USA Smart City Bootcamp, please contact