- Unicorn Battles Q1 2023 begin on January 12th
- The events series begin with Robotics and Hardware Battle
- 5/10 participant slots are still available for startups working with robotics, drones, autonomous systems, or computer-aided manufacturing
It hasn’t even been one month since Unicorn Events concluded their Unicorn Battles Q4 2022, and they are already announcing the new series of Battles. Unicorn Battles Q1 2023 will kick off on January 12th with Robots & Hardware Battle. The series will consist of nine industry-specific battles and culminate on March 16th with Unicorn CUP Finals Q1 2023.
Network.VC, Silicon Valley Syndicate Club, and Startup Inc. are the sponsors of the event. Ten startups will be selected to pitch before top-tier VC representatives as judges who will determine the winner. The winning startup will get the chance to compete with other industry-specific winners at the Unicorn CUP Finals. Startups of the following sub-niches are welcome to apply to participate in the Battle:
- Robotics
- Drones
- Autonomous Systems
- Computer-Aided Manufacturing
There are three ways for a startup to enter the competition:
- Winners of Unicorn Events’ geography-specific pitches get whitelisted automatically
- Founders are welcome to apply here and get admitted to the competition by Unicorn Events’ analysts. Before applying, please take a look at the startups’ application procedure.
- Founders can also sponsor their pitches here and get shortlisted automatically
Here are the startups that have already been selected as participants:
- BeautAI – an American developer of automatic makeup application machines
- Viridius Technology – a Brazilian startup that automates agriculture harvesting
- Future Delivery – a German drone delivery solution provider
- 1MRobotics – an Israeli developer of robotic nano-fulfillment centers, i.e. next-gen dark stores
- XELA Robotics – a Japanese developer of robotic sensor patches
Some of the experts who will be assessing the pitches have also already been announced:
- Oleksandr Soroka – Partner & CEO at Network.VC
- Kelly Luo – Founder and Investor at Mans International
- Dr Peter Boras – Managing Director at The Change Innovation Services
- Gaurav Shah – Managing Partner at Arete Ventures
- Walied Albasheer – Founding Partner at Intuitio Ventures
- Jordan Wahbeh – Managing Partner at SV Venture Group
- Gary Fowler – Co-Founder & CEO at GSD Venture Studios
- Jules Walker – Senior Director for Emerging Technology Practice at KPMG
- Gajo Vanka – Group CFO at Fashion Union
- Sudhir Kadam – Venture Partner at FYDA Growth Partners
- Peter Hlavnicka – Venture Partner at R3i Ventures
- Keiichi Kane Matsumoto – Investor at Kuroneko Innovation Fund
The pitching session will take place at 17:00 GMT on January 12th in Zoom. Founders will have 5-6 minutes each to pitch their startups and answer the judges’ questions, after which the vote will determine the winner.
Regular startup enthusiasts are also welcome to attend and vote, tickets are available at Eventbite. There is also an option to donate to charities that help Ukrainians affected by the ongoing war.
For any additional inquiries, please write to [email protected].
Unicorn Events’ previous pitches and battles are available in full on their official YouTube channel.
Kostiantyn is a freelance writer from Crimea but based in Lviv. He loves writing about IT and high tech because those topics are always upbeat and he’s an inherent optimist!
