Tartu Centre for Creative Industries Pitching Competiton will take place during the sTARTUp Day business festival, offering a platform for groundbreaking business ideas from the creative sector. For the first time, the competition is proudly powered by EIT Culture & Creativity. Among the seven finalists, three promising startups – Adirelounge, EKA SC, and Trendia come from the EIT Culture & Creativity Shape Acceleration Programme.
Together with four finalists from Estonia each team will have just three minutes to pitch their business model to an international jury and audience. The competition promises to be intense, as the participants pitch for the grand prize of €5,000, with the winner announced on the Starlight Stage of the sTARTUp Day festival.
Külli Hansen, Manager of the Tartu Centre for Creative Industries, highlighted the high level of this year’s participants: “We faced tough competition during the pre-selection process, with many ambitious and inspiring companies applying. I’m thrilled to see how the EIT Culture & Creativity Shape Programme participants have elevated the quality of this year’s competition.”
The finalists stepping onto the Creative Industries Pitching Competition stage are:
- Adirelounge (EIT C&C team) – Transforming agricultural waste into sustainable textiles (adirelounge.com)
- EKA SC (EIT C&C team) – A web platform connecting creative freelancers with clients, fostering collaboration and community (ekaistanbul.com)
- Franz Raver – Custom-designed corporate clothing and merchandise (franzraver.com/en)
- Mediamodifier – Online tools for marketing (mediamodifier.com)
- Spiiker – Software using Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) and AI to support people with limited vocalization
- Tartu Multifilm – Animation studio with a unique visual style (tartumultifilm.ee)
- Trendia (EIT C&C team) – AI solution for branding and audiovisual content that helps businesses to optimize their content for greater impact in social media www.trendia.ai
The finalists will be evaluated on: clarity of the need of their business addresses, novelty of their solution, market potential, team’s competence and pitching skills.
The esteemed jury panel includes:
- Külli Hansen, Manager, Tartu Centre for Creative Industries
- Javier Arias, Director of Business Creation, EIT Culture & Creativity
- Xenia Joost, Fashion designer and Business Development Director, Haage Vesi
- Ivo Remmelg, Angel investor and mentor
This competition highlights the vital role of innovation in driving progress and growth within the creative industries and is made possible by EIT Culture & Creativity and the Tartu Centre for Creative Industries, with special contributions from the Shape Programme startups.
_______________
EIT Culture & Creativity is an EU-supported partnership dedicated to transforming Europe’s cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSIs) into a competitive, prosperous, and resilient economic force.
Founded in 2023, we are part of the Knowledge and Innovation Communities powered by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union. Operating across 30 countries, we have teams on the ground in eight locations: our headquarters in Cologne, and offices in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bologna, Brussels, Helsinki, Košice, and Vienna.
With a community of over 60 partners, we forge lasting connections throughout the CCSIs: linking startups with corporates, entrepreneurs with investors, consumers with industry, research with impact, and ideas with reality.
Our mission is to drive sustainable and inclusive innovation in five key areas: fashion, media, gaming, architecture, and cultural heritage. Through education, business creation, innovation, and social transformation, we support CCSIs in creating meaningful jobs, reducing environmental impact, and fostering social cohesion.
Find out more: www.eit-culture-creativity.eu.