Fundación Repsol announces Entrepreneurs Fund to support the Best Startups around the World

Do you have an innovative project related to the energy industry, mobility, or the circular economy? If yes, then you can submit your application to the 8th call for proposals of Fundación Repsol’s “ Entrepreneurs Fund ”, a business accelerator aimed at startups related to the energy industry and advanced mobility.

The Program supports the best startups offering innovative solutions in the scopes of energy and chemical industry, advanced mobility and the circular economy.

The Entrepreneurs Fund has received more than 2,700 proposals since its creation in 2011. The startups selected in this call for proposals will be announced in July, 2019.

Last year, a total of seven startups were selected that stood out for their innovations in the areas of the call. One of them came from Portugal, another one from the US and the rest from the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Cantabria (Spain).

Scopes

This program aims to accelerate startups working in one of the following six scopes:

1. Efficiency in operations in the energy and chemical industry: development of new processes, technologies and services, aimed at improving safety, reliability and availability of industrial plants.
2. New materials and differentiated products: technologies to obtain or use materials of greater added value or higher performance in the chemical and energy industry, construction, home or transport.
3. Distributed energy resources.
4. Digitalisation and mobility: innovative proposals in the mobility sector that create more value for people.
5. Circular economy and biotech: proposals related to the recycling and reuse of waste and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the energy and chemical industry. Technologies for plastic-to-fuel/plastic conversions and to produce biofuels.
6. New oil and gas exploration and production technologies: digital improvements, drilling and cementing, new materials, improvement of efficiency and safety in oil and gas processes and operations.

Benefits

They offer:

• Up to 144,000 euros/year
  • Without any transfer of the company´s shares or intellectual property
• Expert mentoring
  • From a team of mentors
• Training
  • Business, legal, and marketing
• Prototype testing
  • Work with Repsol’s technology experts and, in some cases, get a chance to test applicant’s prototypes at their industrial facilities

Eligibility Criteria

Any natural or legal person who has an innovative energy project for the areas described in the the Terms and Conditions for Participation and meets the following requirements:

• Natural persons of legal age and companies at a pre-commercial or early commercial stage, provided their capital or voting rights are not controlled by (an)other company/ies which, separately or jointly, account for or exceed 25% of the company, or
• If the project is selected for the acceleration program, the applicants will have a period of three (3) months from notice of acceptance into the acceleration program to incorporate the company, in the event it is not already incorporated.
• The call for participation is open to start-ups from all countries.

Selection Process

• The proposals received are screened through an evaluation and selection process comprised of several stages:
  • A preliminary analysis is performed in order to check that the proposal meets all the requirements set out in the Terms and Conditions for Participation.
  • A detailed assessment of the information included in the application form, performed by experts in innovation in the energy and advanced mobility sectors.
  • A personal interview in which the teams present the finer points of their initiative to the Entrepreneurs Fund panel.
  • A pre-acceleration period in which entrepreneurs who have completed the previous stages receive training and guidance to improve their work plan, and to guarantee the technical and financial viability of the project.
  • Lastly, the finalist teams must give a presentation to a jury, who decides which initiatives will take part in the acceleration program.
• This process will begin in March 2019 and will end in July 2019 with the announcement of the selected teams. Fundación Repsol will keep the teams informed of the status of their proposals throughout the entire evaluation and selection process.

How to Apply

Deadline: 4 March 2019

Applicants can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.fundacionrepsol.com/en/talent-development/entrepreneurs-fund/apply