2017 | Entrepreneurship Forum & Start-Up Competition at IROS
The International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Systems is an annual flagship conference financially co-sponsored by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. This year’s event has a theme of “Friendly People, Friendly Robots” and will focus on the collaboration between humans and robots in various areas of industry and home life. Entrepreneurship and innovation in the hardware technology space often goes hand-in-hand with developments in robotic technology. The field of robotics is versatile, exciting, and encompasses a lot of different types of technology that are popular among “frontier tech” entrepreneurs.
This September, the cross-section of entrepreneurship and robotics will be further explored at IROS in Vancouver, Canada, at the Entrepreneurship Forum and Start-Up Competition. The Entrepreneurship Forum and Start-Up Competition will be held for the purpose of “foster[ing] the entrepreneurial spirit and provid[ing] a platform to encourage researchers and practitioners to transition ideas and prototypes to commercializable products,” according to the IROS 2017 conference organizers.
Anyone with an idea that utilizes robotics and automation technology who have reached a proof of concept, especially those which are comparable to the theme of “Friendly People, Friendly Robots,” can participate in this competition. The idea must be less than three years old, and cannot have received any angel investor or venture capital funding within the last five years. The competition is largely aimed at young innovators and entrepreneurs who are just getting started and could use a boost to get their ideas and products off the ground and into the marketplace.
EFSC at IROS’17 will consist of three stages. In the first stage, applications will be reviewed and down-selected to create a group of entrepreneurs who fit the criteria developed by the organizers. You can learn more about these criteria on the Application Form. Next will be a remote stage, where selected applicants will be paired with coaches who will help them to improve their products and their pitches. Finally, the pitches will be presented at IROS in front of a distinguished panel of venture capitalists and industry experts.
You can find out more information on this event, including application deadlines and how to participate, on the IROS’17 website. We hope to see you at this amazing event!
Follow this and similar activities via the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS).
