Polar Bear Startup Pitching not for the cold hearted

by Startacus Admin
We’ve written plenty about startup pitch competitions here at Startacus. But if you want shock value, we think this one pretty much beats the rest. Think ice bucket challenge x 100, whilst also giving your startup pitch, and you’ve kinda got the concept of Polar Bear Pitching.
We only heard about Polar Bear Pitching just after this years event had already taken place (14th and 15th 15th Feb 17), but the concept was more than a little intriguing.
Polar Bear Pitching gathers startup participants from around the world every year to Oulu in Finland. Unlike in other pitching competitions, in Polar Bear Pitching there is no time limit, however, the entrepreneurs have to give their pitches while standing waist deep in ice cold water on a stage carved in the frozen Baltic Sea!
However, with a €10k cash prize, a two weeks stay at Hacker Hotel, Mustakarhu in Silicon Valley and an office for two weeks in Plug and Play Tech Center in Silicon Valley too, this event is not just for the shock value, and some serious startups from all over the world gather to take part in this annual event.
The overall 2017 winner Virta is developing a platform that provides tools and services for running an EV (electric vehicle) charging business anywhere in the world.Virta serves the entire EV charging ecosystem and allows running EV charging services ranging from large professional EV charging networks to single charging points.
Anyhow with this pitch comp concept, the video below really does paint a true picture of the event itself, so why not take 5 minutes out and take a watch - you’d be cold hearted not to!
Virta
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Published on: 19th February 2017
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