Congratulations, you have been selected to pitch during the Belgian preliminaries of the Entrepreneurship World Cup. Voka is organizing this challenging entrepreneurship competition in collaboration with GEN Belgium and UWE.
The preliminaries will take place in the third week of March:
- March 18, 2024 - idea stage pitch event powered by UWE - Louvain-la-Neuve
- March 19, 2024 - growth stage pitch event powered by PMV - Bruges
- March 20, 2024 - early stage pitch event powered by Smartpresentations - Ghent
Please keep in mind that if you are among the 3 finalists of your round, you will need to be available to pitch during the Belgian EWC finals, which will take place on March 25 in Antwerp.
Confirm your participation
This page is intended to confirm your physical presence during one of the preliminary rounds and to inform you about all matters related to your participation in that round.
Register here for your participation in the preliminary round for which you have been selected and also include the names of the individuals who will accompany you during the event (maximum of 4 people in addition to the person who will be pitching)!
If you cannot find the answer to your question, be sure to contact the organizing commitee.
You will pitch in English. You will have 15 minutes to convince the jury.
You will do this with a 5-minute presentation supported by a slide deck, in which you persuade the jury of your project, paying particular attention to the following items:
Product
- Is there a Problem/solution fit?
- Are you an imitator or an innovator? Does the company have a sustainable claim to fame?
- How is your traction? Are you starting to achieve meaningful market share? Is your growth accelerating?
- Do you delight customers and show repeated use?
People
- Experience and reputation of the Founding Team, advisors, clients, board etc.
- Ability to recruit and develop top talent
- Complementary nature of founding team
Potential
- How big can this opportunity be?
- Are you attacking either a massive addressable market or a small, but rapidly growing market?
- Is your market opportunity limited by megatrends (massive economic and cultural shifts) or are you being propelled by these trends?
Predictability
- For companies that have begun monetizing, are you recurring revenues or a formula that produces predictable operating results?
- Do you gain operating leverage as you continue to achieve economies of scale?
Following your presentation, the jury will have time to ask questions for 10 minutes, to which you can provide brief and clear answers.
Only one person can speak and answer the jury's questions.
By sticking to the 5-minute pitch time, you ensure that the jury has enough time to ask the questions they want answers to. This increases your chances of winning the top prize in your category!
The international evaluation criteria are outlined more in detail on the EWC Rules official page.
Idea Stage: Centre d'Entreprises et Innovation de Louvain-la-Neuve, CEI Louvain (Bâtiment 1), Chemin du Cyclotron 6, 1348 Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve
Early Stage: Voka, Lammerstraat 18, 9000 Gent
Growth Stage: Brugge Inc., Katelijnepoort Business Center, Baron Ruzettelaan 5, 8310 Brugge
We have the same schedule planned for each preliminary round.
We expect you promptly at 5:30 PM.
The pitches will start at 6:00 PM.
The winners will be announced around 10:00 PM and must remain available for interviews afterwards.
6:00 PM: Pitch round
7:30 PM: Break, sandwiches and drinks will be provided
7:45 PM: Pitch round
9:00 PM: Networking reception and jury deliberation
9:30 PM: Announcement of winners
You are expected to be present for the entire evening. The order of pitches will be communicated upon arrival on the evening itself.
EWC is all about the entire experience – training, resources, connections, mentorship and more. But on top of that, there is a chance to have access to a great number of impactful prizes.
In EWC Belgian Qualifier stage we offer:
- Visibility for your startup, interview and press coverage.
- Possibility to participate in one of the Voka or UWE training courses.
- Special prize offered by the partners SmartPresentations and PMV.
The Belgian finalist will be presented to the international jury and will have the chance to be selected for the top 100 in Riyadh:
- Free participation in the EWC virtual Bootcamp by KAUST University.
- Access to the Global GEN-startersclub.
- USD $1 million in cash and/or investment total for the global winners. plus in-kind support for the top 100 global finalists.
- Investment opportunities, resources and perks from the EWC global leading partners.
- Free trip to Riyadh (SA) + accommodation
The jury panel consists of the following individuals. During your preliminary round, there will always be 4 jury members present to ask questions and deliberate about the 3 finalists.
Harald Dumoulin - Storyteller en Presentation coach Smartpresentations
Arne Bassez - VP of Business Management Pexip - CEO en Founder Skedify
Alexis Malherbe - Senior Financial AnalystSenior Financial Analyst - finance&invest.brussels
Alexander Vanlerberghe - CEO Aqualex
Hilde Schuddinck - Managing Director / co-CEO Voka Oost-Vlaanderen - Chair Wintercircus Gent
Martin Nera - CEO Mind & Market
Iris Detavernier - Business advisor VLAIO
Paul Snauwaert - Advisor Advanced Technology and Innovation CNH Industrial
Sébastien Wulf - Head of Group S Management Solutions
Bart De Waele - Founder IKAg
Maxime Van Peel - Senior Investment Manager, Equity Investments PMV
Axel Boitel - Group COO Gantrex
Geoffroy Van Humbeeck - Founder en CEO aSmartWorld
Annelies Maes - Project Manager Entrepreneurship, start-ups, scale-ups and fast growing companies - Voka
The final will take place on March 25th at Humgy in Antwerp. The 9 finalists (3 per stage) will be further informed about all practical and substantive details after their preliminary round.
Those who cannot participate in the final cannot participate in a preliminary round either. Those selected for the preliminary rounds must therefore already have the date of March 25th (5:30 PM) reserved in their agenda.
