INCENSe awards 28 startups with up to 150,000 euros each in second open call

• INCENSe is the only CleanTech and energy accelerator project co-funded by the European Commission as part of its FIWARE Accelerate programme. 
• INCENSE’s second open call was launched on June 15th, 2015. The winners were selected by external experts and consortium partners from over 250 applying startups that come from across Europe and Israel.
• INCENSE has an overall budget of about 8 million euros for support of the 42 startups selected through two open calls. Other support services offered by INCENSe partners include a six-month acceleration programme.

INCENSe (INternet Cleantech ENablers Spark), the business accelerator dedicated exclusively to clean technology and energy that is being supported by the European Commission’s FIWARE Accelerate programme, has selected the 28 winning startups of its second open call during a ceremony held today  at Enel’s headquarters in Rome. 

The event saw the participation of Italian Minister of Labour and Social Policy Giuliano Poletti, Enel CEO and General Manager Francesco Starace, Innovation Adviser to the Italian Prime Minister Paolo Barberis, Member of the Permanent Advisory Board for the Innovation and Digital Agenda of the Italian Government Francesco Sacco and two representatives of the European Commission, the Director of the Institute for Energy and Transport DG JRC Giovanni De Santi and the Head of Sector for the FIWARE Programme DG CNCT Ragnar Bergstrom. 

“With INCENSe, Enel confirms once again its commitment to support innovation, entrepreneurship as well as socio-economic development,” said Enel CEO Francesco Starace. “The work that the winning startups will carry out throughout the acceleration period is aimed at developing players capable of creating effective solutions, as can be seen with the first call winners, some of which are working on joint projects with Enel.”

INCENSe is an initiative launched by Enel, Endesa, Accelerace and FundingBox that aims to encourage innovation and high-tech employment in the European energy and cleantech sector.

Below are the 28 winning startups. 

Each  winner will receive a free grant of up to 150,000 euros without equity considerations and  support services offered by INCENSe partners. These services include a six-month acceleration programme, additional coaching sessions, tailored workshops on European funding programmes, and the business support provided by INCENSe partners and network. The startups also have the chance to collaborate with INCENSe partners in the development and testing of their projects.

In total, INCENSe, which has an overall budget of about 8 million euros funded by the European Commission, will offer its support up to 42 startups.

INCENSe’s second open call was launched in June 2015 and gathered 257 applications from Europe and Israel through the website www.incense-accelerator.com. The submissions, which came from SMEs and entrepreneurs, were classified under the following categories: Energy Efficiency & Home Automation, Renewable Energy, Renewable Forecasting Solutions, Smart Grids, Energy Storage, Advanced Diagnostic & Automation Solutions, e-Mobility, Cyber-Security and Digitalisation of Energy through ICT.

The 14 startups selected in the first call concluded their acceleration programme in December and almost half of them are collaborating with INCENSe corporate partners to further develop their projects.

INCENSe is coordinated by Enel, a multi-national energy company and a leading integrated player in the world’s electricity and gas markets, with a particular focus on Europe and Latin America. Other partners include Enel subsidiary Endesa, Spain’s number one electricity business, Accelerace, the leading accelerator in northern Europe that has experience in supporting startups, and FundingBox Accelerator, which is the largest global public funding platform for startups and researchers. The competition winners will benefit both from the experience of these partners and the opportunities that the Enel Group’s large customer base and global presence could offer their products and services.

The FIWARE Accelerate Programme is the third phase of the Future Internet Public Private Partnership (FI-PPP) Programme, which was launched by the European Commission in 2011. The FI-PPP Programme has involved key European technology businesses in the development of an internet-based open technology platform (FIWARE), and had a budget of 400 million euros for its first two phases. The third phase, which has a budget of 80 million euros, aims to offer market access to products and services based on these technologies by supporting SMEs and web entrepreneurs, aiding the development of a new generation of European startups and encouraging high-tech employment. 

For further details on INCENSe: www.incense-accelerator.com.