Be part of the Year of German-American Friendship (“Deutschlandjahr USA”) and join a delegation of German Industrie 4.0 startup/scaleup companies for a week of events, meetings and visits in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

Pitch your company to a Silicon Valley audience, promote your Industrie 4.0 solutions and services to US industry representatives and establish valuable new contacts.

Learn about the Silicon Valley innovation ecosystem and what it can mean for your company.

This program is organized by EIT Digital and the German American Business Association (GABA) as part of the Year of German-American Friendship with support from the German Federal Foreign Office, the German Industry Association BDI and the Goethe Institut.

Participating startup/scaleup companies ("Program Companies") will receive a contribution to their travel costs of EUR 1,200 each.
The Program Companies are responsible for planning their travel and for paying their travel costs as well as all of their costs during the trip while on location.
It is expected that each Program Company will send one of their senior team members (C-level / (Co-)Founder) to join the full program from September 2 (travel day to the US) to September 6 (travel day to return to Germany with arrival on September 7) and to present the company during this trip, especially during the Industrie 4.0 Startup Showcase pitch event on September 4 in San Francisco.

There is no program participation fee for Program Companies.

Companies that are interested in participating in the Industrie 4.0 Startup Showcase in Silicon Valley need to apply for participation on this website and register their contact information.

If more than 8 applications are received, the Program Companies will be selected by the organization team consisting of representatives of EIT Digital and the German American Business Association based on the process and the selection criteria summarized below.

Apply Now

Submission Deadline: July 6, 2019

Program Characteristics

• 3 full days of Activities, including one dedicated Industrie 4.0 pitch event (the Industrie 4.0 Startup Showcase) and one networking event
• Open for startup/scaleup companies based in Germany (i.e. with a significant percentage of their employees / team members in Germany) that can demonstrate a relevant connection with the Industrie 4.0 topic
• No program participation fee!
• Each Program Company receives EUR 1,200.00 travel cost contribution!
• Program Companies are responsible for their own expenses (i.e. travel/transportation, hotel, food, etc.) and for their travel arrangements.

Company Selection Process

1. Companies that are interested in participating in the Industrie 4.0 Startup Showcase need to apply for participation on this website and register their contact information as well as some key company data and characteristics.
   Application deadline is July 6, 2019.
   
   
2. During an initial review round, the organization team consisting of representatives of EIT Digital and the German American Business Association will pre-select the most interesting companies. It is expected that during this phase not more than 20 companies will be pre-selected.
   
   
3. Pre-selected companies will be interviewed during a ~60 minute video conference session by a team member of EIT Digital with a focus on understanding their Silicon Valley Readiness, i.e. their likelihood of being able to successfully create business opportunities in Silicon Valley.
   These sessions are expected to take place between July 8 and July 19. 
   
   
4. The final selection will be made by the organization team consisting of representatives of EIT Digital and the German American Business Association.
   Program Companies will be informed about the selection result between July 22 and July 24.

Company Selection Criteria

Next to the relevance of the company's solution(s) for the Industrie 4.0 concept, the main overall selection criterion is the "likelihood of business success" in the US.

To evaluate the applying companies with respect to this criterion, the following aspects will be considered:

• Differentiation of product or service
• Maturity of company
• Availability of European reference customers
• Commitment to US market

Program Schedule
(illustrative, subject to change)

SAN FRANCISCO / SILICON VALLEY

Monday, September 2

• Travel from Europe to San Francisco
• ~ 6pm - 8pm: Evening reception / dinner after the arrival of the Program Company representatives

Tuesday, September 3

• Startup info and coaching sessions
• Company / customer visits

Wednesday, September 4

• Company / customer visits
• 5:30pm - 9pm: Industrie 4.0 Startup Showcase (San Francisco)
  - Dedicated public pitching event
  - Each Program Company will pitch and receive feedback from a panel of experts

• Company / customer visits
• 5:30pm - 9pm: German Rising Stars startup event
  (Menlo Park; https://germanstars.org/)
  - Annual startup event of the German American Business Association (GABA) and the Representative of German Business for the Western United States (GACC West)
  - Each Program Company will attend the event as a networking opportunity
  - Companies are welcome to participate in the workshop sessions
  - Companies are also welcome to apply separately for the Rising Stars startup competition that is held in the context of this event (https://germanstars.org/)
  

Friday, September 6

• Program closing with review of week
• Return travel to Europe

Apply Now

Submission Deadline: July 6, 2019