Project H2020 CLIC Circular Models Leveraging Investments in Cultural Heritage Adaptive Reuse - Deliverable 6.12 Report start-up competition

The deliverable D6.12, "Report on Start-up Competition", falls within the project work package dedicated to Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication (WP6) and, precisely, within the Task 6.4, "Start-up creative and innovative initiatives competition" (M23 - M42). It provides exhaustive information on the CLIC international Startup Competition, which represented one of the project milestones. In times when cities and communities are facing a growing number of interconnected challenges at the environmental, social and economic level, global in scope and unprecedented in scale, with a dramatic impact on our lives, supporting on the ground innovative businesses working on ideas with high potential and vocation to a fairer, more prosperous and resilient society is more important than ever, particularly in the post-pandemic world. In this framework, the CLIC Startup Competition was designed to enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the heritage sector, offering valuable opportunities and capacity building for startups, in Europe and beyond it, recognizing the enormous potential of cultural heritage to shape a better future for all, generating new jobs in diverse economic sectors, creating vibrant spaces of relationship and innovation and increasing the wellbeing of citizen, also through a more equitable development. The competition was meant to give entrepreneurs and innovators a real-world experience to fine tune their business plans and elevator pitches to generate funding for successful commercialization of their innovative services and products. The final event represented a unique opportunity to receive mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, business coaches, investors; meet potential investors and receive individual feedbacks in separate sessions. The CLIC Startup Competition resulted in 73 participants, 25 best startups accepted for the online voting phase, 15 finalists and 6 winners in three main categories: Circular Tourism, Circular and creative cities and regions, Circular creative industries and social innovation. About 40 supporting Partners including Research Institutes and Universities, investors, twin projects, incubators and cultural foundations decided to support the CLIC Startup Competition as result of the intensive networking activities carried out by all the CLIC Partners. The 6 winners accessed the mentoring provided by CLIC and additional 5 special prizes were assigned to particularly relevant startups.