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Deep Tech Startup Competitions (2027): 14 Global Prize Challenges and Pitch Contests for Science Founders

Deep Tech Startup Competitions Worldwide: Global Prize Challenges and Pitch Contests for Science Founders

Deep tech founders need a different kind of competition from software founders. Your product may be a battery chemistry, a quantum sensor or a desalination membrane, you may still be in the lab, and the judges who matter are investors and corporates who understand hardware and long development cycles. This guide lists the deep tech startup competitions and prize challenges outside North America that are worth your time in 2027: in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, plus the global prizes anyone can aim for. We checked every item on its organiser's official page in November 2026: prize, equity, who can apply and the next confirmed date. When a page does not show 2027 dates yet, we say so. Items from the 2025 version of this article that ended, changed or could not be verified are listed in a separate section.

Quick answer: the three deep tech competitions you can still enter for 2027 are the Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge (apply by 30 November 2026, a €200,000 equity prize), the SET Award for energy and climate tech (apply by 30 November 2026, €10,000 equity-free per category) and, for women founders in Europe, the European Prize for Women Innovators (apply by 1 December 2026, up to €100,000). For the biggest equity-free cheque, watch Slush 100 (€500,000). In Asia, plan for SLINGSHOT in Singapore and the K-Startup Grand Challenge in Korea; for science spin-outs, ask your university to nominate you for Falling Walls Venture.

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Deep Tech Startup Competitions Compared

Competition	Where	Prize	Who can apply	Next confirmed date
Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge	Global; final in Amsterdam	€200K equity prize	Deep tech up to Series B, team of 2+	Apply by 30 Nov 2026; Summit 2-3 Jun 2027
Slush 100	Helsinki, Finland	€500K, 0% equity	Startups selected from 1,400+ applicants	2026 applications closed; 2027 not announced
Falling Walls Venture	Berlin, Germany	Pitch stage, investors, Breakthrough of the Year title	Science start-ups up to 5 years old, nominated	Next round opens Feb 2027
SLINGSHOT	Singapore	Over S$2M in grant prizes	Deep tech startups from any country	2026 pitches done; 2027 not announced
K-Startup Grand Challenge	Seoul, Korea	Prize money for top 20, grants for top 8	Startups with a non-Korean CEO	2026 applications closed
Deep Tech Grand Prix (TECH PLANTER)	Tokyo, Japan	¥300K + right to a ¥5M investment	Deep tech teams entering TECH PLANTER	2026 final held in September
XPRIZE Water Scarcity	Global	$119M prize purse	143 qualified teams	Semifinal stage, runs to 2028
European Prize for Women Innovators	EU and associated countries	€100K / €70K / €50K	Women founders and co-founders	Apply by 1 Dec 2026
SET Award	Global; finals in Berlin	€10K equity-free per category	Energy and climate startups founded Aug 2016 or later	Apply by 30 Nov 2026
Earthshot Prize	Global; 2026 awards in Mumbai	£1M for each of 5 winners	Nominated by Official Nominators	Awards night set for 17 Nov 2026
Zayed Sustainability Prize	Abu Dhabi, UAE	US$1M per category winner	SMEs and nonprofits	Ceremony 12 Jan 2027
Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation	Sub-Saharan Africa	£50K winner, £85K total	African engineers with an early-stage product	2028 call opens in 2027
Deep Tech CEE Challenge	Warsaw, Poland	€5K top cash prize + investor meetings	Deep tech startups from Central and Eastern Europe	2026 edition held 26-27 Oct
Startup World Cup	Global; final in San Francisco	$1M investment prize	Regional winners	Grand Finale set for 4-6 Nov 2026

Sources: each organiser's official website, rules and news pages, checked 1-2 November 2026. Prizes and rules change every year, so read the current rules before you apply.

The Best Deep Tech Startup Competitions Worldwide for 2027

1. Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge: the competition built only for deep tech

The Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge is the best-known competition that accepts only science-based startups, and its 12th edition is open now. You can apply from early stage up to and including Series B if your company is based on a new technology, a scientific discovery or a complex engineering process, addresses an unmet industrial, societal or environmental need, has a team of at least two people and is not a subsidiary or spin-off of an existing company. There are 13 tracks, from next-gen computing and aerospace to industrial biotech, semiconductors and a Spinout Breakthroughs track. Selected startups become Deep Tech Pioneers with year-round access to Hello Tomorrow's investor and corporate network; finalists pitch at the Summit, and the winner can secure a €200,000 equity prize from DeepBright Ventures. Founders at business-angel or pre-seed stage compete for a separate cross-track prize for Emerging Pioneers. Startups based in Japan can also enter the Japan Challenge, whose final in February 2027 fast-tracks the winner into the global final. Next date: applications close on 30 November 2026; Pioneers are selected in February 2027, finalists are announced in April 2027, and the Hello Tomorrow Summit runs on 2-3 June 2027 in Amsterdam, with an Investor Day for 350+ VCs and corporate VCs on 1 June.

2. Slush 100: €500,000 equity-free in Helsinki

Slush 100 is a general startup competition, but its 2026 top 100 was full of deep tech: robotics, quantum light, batteries, space and biotech companies. The winner receives €500,000 with 0% equity, which Slush calls the largest equity-free amount in a startup competition. Out of more than 1,400 applicants, 100 startups were picked, 20 semifinalists pitch on the Startup Stage, and three finalists compete for the prize; the winner returns to Slush 2027 as a main-stage speaker. Hardware founders should also look at Slush's Hardware Foundry and Science to Scale sessions: the first covers robotics, space, energy and biotech, the second is for researchers taking their first steps from lab to company and is free with a Slush Pass. Next date: applications for 2026 closed on 7 September, and Slush 2026 was set for 18-19 November in Helsinki. Dates for 2027 are not announced yet.

3. Falling Walls Venture: for science start-ups, by nomination

Falling Walls Venture is the science start-up competition of the Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin. Universities, research institutes, accelerators and incubators around the world nominate start-ups; an advisory board picks the finalists, who pitch to investors and industry partners and compete to become the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in the Science Start-Ups category. To enter, your start-up must be based on scientific research (any discipline, from biotech and AI to new materials and engineering), be endorsed by a nominating institution, be incorporated and no more than five years old, have a prototype or proof of concept, and not have pitched in Berlin before. Since 2013 it has received more than 2,400 nominations and put more than 300 finalists on stage. Next date: the 2026 Science Summit was set for 6-9 November 2026 in Berlin; the next round of nominations and applications opens in February 2027.

4. SLINGSHOT: Singapore's global deep tech competition

SLINGSHOT, run by Enterprise Singapore at the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH), calls itself Asia's premier deep tech startup competition, and only deep tech startups are eligible. The 2026 tenth edition offered more than S$2 million in grant prizes; the Top 50 Global Startups, chosen across five challenge domains such as Advanced Computing and Intelligence and Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Systems, received a sponsored trip to Singapore and pitched live at SWITCH on 27-29 October 2026. The organiser says the 2025 edition drew more than 6,800 applications from over 150 markets, so expect strong competition. Next date: the 2026 competition is over. Dates for 2027 are not announced yet.

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5. K-Startup Grand Challenge: a government programme for foreign startups in Korea

The K-Startup Grand Challenge (KSGC) is South Korea's government-backed programme, run for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, for foreign founders who want to enter the Korean market. It works as a competition: the top 20 teams receive prize money, the top 8 receive additional commercialisation grants, and teams pitch at a Final Demo Day during COMEUP, Korea's startup festival. Along the way you get free workspace, help with setting up a Korean entity, introductions to Korean corporates for proofs of concept, investor meetings, startup visa support and up to KRW 8 million per team for travel to programme events. The CEO must hold a non-Korean citizenship, and you do not need a Korean company to apply. Priority sectors include mechanical engineering and materials, semiconductors and electronics, and AI. Next date: the 2026 application window ran from 6 May to 17 June 2026 and is closed.

6. Deep Tech Grand Prix (TECH PLANTER): Japan's deep tech pitch final

In Japan, the research company Leave a Nest runs TECH PLANTER, a programme that finds science and technology founders and ends in domain finals, including a Deep Tech Grand Prix for materials, devices, robotics, mobility, sensing, energy devices and manufacturing processes. Judges score novelty, feasibility, potential for overseas expansion, impact and passion. In 2026 the top prize was ¥300,000 in cash plus the right to receive a ¥5 million business investment, and about ten corporate prizes of ¥200,000 each were planned; SpinI/O, which measures molecular information with quantum spin sensors, won the top prize. Entries ran from 1 December 2025 to 3 July 2026, and the pages are mainly in Japanese. Japan-based founders can also enter Hello Tomorrow's Japan Challenge (see item 1). Dates for 2027 are not announced yet.

7. XPRIZE: the largest prize purses, backed from the Gulf

XPRIZE Water Scarcity is a $119 million competition (2024-2028) for seawater desalination systems that are reliable, affordable and sustainable. Its title sponsor is the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative from the United Arab Emirates. XPRIZE qualified 143 teams and named the semifinalists in May 2026, so the field is now closed to new entrants. XPRIZE Healthspan ($101 million, 2023-2030, co-sponsored by Hevolution) has 20 finalist teams working on therapies that restore muscle, cognitive and immune function; ten of them, from the United States, South Korea, Japan and China, received $1 million each as Milestone 2 awards. XPRIZE Quantum Applications ($5 million) is covered in our North American guide (linked below). Next date: no active XPRIZE accepts new teams right now; XPRIZE lists critical minerals, ovarian health and learning as future prizes it is raising money for.

8. European Prize for Women Innovators and the EIT Awards

The European Prize for Women Innovators, run by the European Innovation Council (EIC) with the EIT, rewards women founders whose innovations are often deep tech. In 2027 it has three categories: Women Innovators for founders and co-founders from the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe (€100,000, €70,000 and €50,000), Rising Innovators for women under 35 (€50,000, €30,000 and €20,000) and EIT Women Leadership for members of the EIT Community (€50,000, €30,000 and €20,000). You can apply to one category only. Next date: applications close on 1 December 2026 at 17:00 CET, and the award ceremony is planned for the second quarter of 2027.

If your startup is already in the EIT Community (EIT Health, EIT InnoEnergy, EIT Manufacturing and others), the EIT Awards include an EIT Venture Award for startups that address societal challenges and show strong growth potential. Each award pays €50,000, €30,000 and €20,000 for the top three places. The 2026 winners are announced at the EIT Awards ceremony on 2 December 2026 in Budapest; entry is by nomination through the EIT Communities.

9. SET Award: equity-free prizes for energy and climate tech

The SET Award (Start Up Energy Transition) is an international competition for energy and climate tech startups, run by the German Energy Agency (dena). Each of its five category winners receives €10,000 in equity-free prize money, a stage at the SET Tech Festival 2027 in Berlin and media exposure. For the 2027 edition your company must have been founded in August 2016 or later, be registered or in the process of registration, and apply in English to one category only. The judges pick the SET List of the most promising startups in February 2027, and the top three in each category (15 finalists) meet C-level investors and corporates at the jury meeting in Berlin. Next date: applications opened on 7 October and close on 30 November 2026; late entries are not accepted.

10. The Earthshot Prize: £1 million for climate solutions, by nomination

The Earthshot Prize gives £1 million to each of five winners every year, across five "Earthshots": protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate. Many finalists are climate tech companies, from clean transport to materials. You cannot apply directly: Earthshot works with a worldwide network of Official Nominators who put candidates forward, so the route in is to get known by the investors, accelerators and institutions that nominate. Next date: the 2026 awards night was set for 17 November 2026 in Mumbai, with 15 finalists.

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11. Zayed Sustainability Prize: US$1 million per category from the UAE

The Zayed Sustainability Prize, the UAE's prize for sustainability solutions, is open to small and medium enterprises and nonprofits in five organisational categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water and Climate Action, plus Global High Schools. For the 2027 cycle, according to its July 2026 announcement, each organisational category winner receives US$1 million and each organisational finalist US$150,000; it received a record 10,233 entries from 177 countries. Next date: submissions for the 2027 awards ran from January to June 2026 and are closed; the finalists were named in September and the winners are announced at the ceremony on 12 January 2027. The last cycle opened for submissions in January 2026.

12. Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation: £50,000 and an eight-month programme

The Royal Academy of Engineering's Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation supports engineers from sub-Saharan Africa whose innovation is past the idea stage and in early commercialisation. Shortlisted innovators get an eight-month commercialisation programme with training, mentoring from the Academy's Fellows and communication support. In the 2027 cycle the overall winner receives £50,000, three finalists £10,000 each and a One-to-Watch award £5,000, according to the Academy's call. Next date: the 2027 call ran from 13 July to 8 September and is closed; applications for the 2028 prize open in 2027.

13. Deep Tech CEE Challenge: for deep tech from Central and Eastern Europe

The Deep Tech CEE Challenge is the pitch competition of the Deep Tech CEE Summit in Warsaw, for deep tech startups from Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Its 2026 edition offered cash prizes with a top prize of €5,000, one-to-one investor meetings and a pitching track at the fifth summit on 26-27 October 2026. The organiser counts more than 750 applications from 2023 to 2025. The 2025 version of this article said the winners get up to €1,000,000 in equity funding; we found no such prize on the official site and removed it. Dates for 2027 are not announced yet.

14. Startup World Cup: $1 million for regional winners

The Startup World Cup is a general competition with regional events around the world, and deep tech companies often take part. More than 200 regional winners pitch in the semi-finals, 10 reach the Grand Finale, and one can receive the $1,000,000 investment prize. Next date: the 2026 Grand Finale was set for 4-6 November 2026 in San Francisco. Check the site for 2027 regional events near you.

More Stages for Deep Tech Startups: Dubai and Applied AI

Supernova 0X is the pitch competition of Expand North Star, the startup event held with GITEX GLOBAL on 8-10 December 2026 at Expo City Dubai. It pays $135,000 in equity-free cash: $20,000 to the pre-seed winner, $30,000 to the seed winner and $70,000 to the Series A winner. It is open only to startups exhibiting at Expand North Star; the final deadline was 1 November 2026, the semi-finals are on 8-9 December and the award ceremony on 10 December. The Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) is a global community and competition for applied AI and deep tech aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals; in October 2026 it gave its Excellence in Applied AI Award to G-Strata of Chile at the UN FAO World Food Forum in Rome. Its US events are listed in our North American guide.

For North American Founders

If you are based in the United States or Canada, most of the competitions above are still open to you (Hello Tomorrow, SLINGSHOT, the SET Award, XPRIZE and the Startup World Cup accept teams from anywhere). For US and Canadian programmes such as the SPIE Startup Challenge, U.S. Army xTech, the DOE EPIC pitch, Cleantech Open, NASA Centennial Challenges, Activate and Creative Destruction Lab, see our guide to deep tech startup competitions in North America. For general pitch events in the region, see our list of startup competitions in North America.

Competitions From the Old List That Ended, Changed or Moved

The 2025 version of this article listed 20 items. Hello Tomorrow, Slush, the SET Award, the Deep Tech CEE Challenge and the Startup World Cup are re-checked above. The others:

EIT Digital Champions: now called 28DIGITAL Champions. Its page says the call for its 12th edition is closed, with winners getting one year of fundraising support, and shows no new call.
TechChill Fifty Founders Battle (Riga): TechChill Riga 2027 is set for 17-19 March 2027, but its site does not show the Founders Battle or the old €610,000 investment figure, so we removed it.
sTARTUp Day Pitching Competition (Tartu): the festival now runs on 17-19 August in Tartu, and its site does not show a pitching competition or the old €660,000 figure, so we removed it.
Deep Tech Momentum: now a matchmaking and marketplace event (DTM27 in Berlin, 12-13 May 2027) with no competition prize, so it is no longer listed.
TNW Startup Competition: the TNW Conference site still shows the June 2025 edition, and we found no competition for 2026 or 2027.
Green Alley Award and Global Startup Awards: their websites no longer load, so we removed them.
CES pitch competitions, Web Summit Vancouver and TechCrunch Disrupt: held in North America; see our North American guides.
Latitude59, Web Summit PITCH, South Summit, EU-Startups Summit and START Summit: general competitions, now covered with 2027 dates in our guide to startup competitions in Europe.

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Which Deep Tech Competition Should You Enter?

You want investors who understand deep tech: the Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge (350+ VCs and corporate VCs at Investor Day) and Falling Walls Venture.
You want the largest equity-free cheque: Slush 100 (€500,000), then the Earthshot Prize and the Zayed Sustainability Prize if your technology serves climate, energy, water, food or health.
You build energy or climate tech: the SET Award (apply by 30 November 2026), the Earthshot Prize and the Zayed Sustainability Prize.
You are a woman founder in Europe: the European Prize for Women Innovators (apply by 1 December 2026), and the Rising Innovators category if you are under 35.
You are a university spin-out: Falling Walls Venture (by nomination), Hello Tomorrow's Spinout Breakthroughs track and Slush's Science to Scale session.
You want to expand to Asia: SLINGSHOT in Singapore, the K-Startup Grand Challenge in Korea and Hello Tomorrow's Japan Challenge.
You are an engineer in Africa: the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation (the 2028 call opens in 2027).
You are in Central or Eastern Europe: the Deep Tech CEE Challenge in Warsaw, plus the pan-European competitions above.

How Deep Tech Founders Use Competitions to Raise Money

A competition rarely funds a deep tech company on its own, so plan it as one step. Combine prize money with grants: our guides to deep tech grants in North America, grants for female entrepreneurs and grants for women entrepreneurs in Asia cover the public programmes. Use the deadline to finish a fundraising pitch deck that tells a story, then turn the judges and investors you meet into meetings with the deep tech VCs on our global list, the deep tech VCs in Europe and the deep tech angel investors in Europe.

If you need a longer programme than a pitch day, compare the deep tech accelerators worldwide, the deep tech accelerators in Europe and the deep tech incubators in Europe. To decide where to build, read our guides to the best countries for deep tech startups, deep tech countries in Europe and deep tech cities in Europe. For more stages, see our list of deep tech startup events.

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FAQ About Deep Tech Startup Competitions

What is the best-known deep tech startup competition in the world?

The Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge, now in its 12th edition, accepts only science-based startups up to Series B and offers a €200,000 equity prize plus access to 350+ deep tech investors. By prize money, XPRIZE challenges are the largest: XPRIZE Water Scarcity has a $119 million purse.

Which deep tech competitions can I still enter for 2027?

As of early November 2026: the Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge and the SET Award (both close on 30 November 2026) and the European Prize for Women Innovators (closes on 1 December 2026). Falling Walls Venture opens its next round in February 2027.

Which competition gives the most equity-free money to a single startup?

Slush 100 gives its winner €500,000 with 0% equity. The Zayed Sustainability Prize pays US$1 million per category winner and the Earthshot Prize £1 million per winner, but both are for sustainability solutions and Earthshot works only through nominations.

Are there deep tech competitions in Asia?

Yes. SLINGSHOT in Singapore offered more than S$2 million in grant prizes in 2026 and accepts only deep tech startups; the K-Startup Grand Challenge in Korea is for foreign founders; in Japan, TECH PLANTER runs a Deep Tech Grand Prix, and Hello Tomorrow runs a Japan Challenge.

Are there deep tech competitions in the Middle East?

The Zayed Sustainability Prize in the UAE pays US$1 million per category winner, XPRIZE Water Scarcity is sponsored by the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative, and Supernova 0X at Expand North Star in Dubai pays up to $70,000 to a Series A winner.

Can I apply directly to the Earthshot Prize?

No. Candidates are put forward by Earthshot's Official Nominators around the world. Five winners receive £1 million each; the 2026 awards night was set for 17 November 2026 in Mumbai.

Is there a deep tech prize for women founders?

The European Prize for Women Innovators pays up to €100,000 to women founders from the EU and countries associated to Horizon Europe, and up to €50,000 in its Rising Innovators category for women under 35. Applications close on 1 December 2026.

What happened to EIT Digital Champions?

It is now called 28DIGITAL Champions. Its page says the call for the 12th edition is closed and shows no new call yet. Startups in the wider EIT Community can be nominated for the EIT Venture Award instead.

Do I have to give up equity to win a deep tech competition?

Usually not. Slush 100, the SET Award, the European Prize for Women Innovators, the Earthshot Prize, the Zayed Sustainability Prize and the Africa Prize pay prize money. The Hello Tomorrow prize is an equity investment, and the Startup World Cup prize is an investment.

How can I get my deep tech startup in front of more investors and judges?

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About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.

Violetta Bonenkamp

2026-11-02 01:55 Top 20