Danubia NanoTech from Slovakia was named the overall winner by the judges following a close battle with its rivals for the top prize at the fifth edition of InnoEnergy’s PowerUp! Competition. The event saw participation from over 300 start-ups from 24 countries across Central and Eastern Europe. The company has received a check for 50 000€, as well as the opportunity to join the prestigious Highway® by InnoEnergy business accelerator. Romania was among the 14 country finalists and was represented by Green Spots, a multi-functional smart city solution – an urban solar charger and platform.

The winner presented a solution for aerial temperature monitoring in a form of graphene temperature sensor, available as an extremely thin film, applied on any non-metallic substrate. This technology is valuable for EV batteries and for grid battery storages, extending the batteries’ lifetime.

“We applied in the competition because we have been seeking for a smart investor like InnoEnergy that does not only provide financial investment, but also supports us in business development with its network and business accelerator” – said Patrik Krizansky, CEO of Danubia NanoTech. “With this award, we are very excited to start fine tuning the product to the needs of the final customers and commercialize it“ – added Krizansky.

Second place – and a 10 000 € prize – was awarded to Atlant3D from Latvia which has created a versatile 3D printer for micro and nanochip fabrication, and developed a unique solution that can rapidly accelerate prototyping for micro-and nanodevices and systems at a fraction of current time and cost. Third place – and a 5 000 € prize – was taken by V-Chiller from Hungary, a revolutionary cooling device that can chill canned beverages in just a minute, using minimal energy with minimal environmental impact via a vacuum cooling method with a proprietary, environmentally friendly refrigerant.

This edition’s Grand Final was held in Krakow at Impact’19, one of the most high-profile economic events in the CEE region. The panel of judges and wider audience consisted of investors, industry representatives, clean energy experts and international media. 14 start-ups took part in the competition, having won their respective Country Finals to gain entry to the Grand Final. Participants came from Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey and Greece. Romania was represented by Green Spots, a multi-functional smart city solution – an urban solar charger and platform.

The panel of judges consisted of Jakob Ruiter, CEO InnoEnergy Benelux and representatives of the PowerUp! partners: DTEK, RAFAKO, ZSE Energia and Enerjisa Enerji A.Ş. There was also a panel of representatives from previous InnoEnergy success stories, including HYGEN, Gradis and Skeleton Technologies.

InnoEnergy is supported by the EIT, a body of the European Union.

About InnoEnergy

InnoEnergy is the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe.

We support and invest in innovation at every stage of the journey – from classroom to end-customer. With our network of partners, we build connections across Europe, bringing together inventors and industry, graduates and employers, researchers and entrepreneurs, businesses and markets.

We work in three essential areas of the innovation mix:

• Education to help create an informed and ambitious workforce that understands the demands of sustainability and the needs of industry.
• Innovation Projects to bring together ideas, inventors and industry to create commercially attractive technologies that deliver real results to customers.
• Business Creation Services to support entrepreneurs and start-ups who are expanding Europe’s energy ecosystem with their innovative offerings.

Bringing these disciplines together maximises the impact of each, accelerates the development of market-ready solutions, and creates a fertile environment in which we can sell the innovative results of our work.

InnoEnergy was established in 2010 and is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).