START-UP & SCALE-UP CONTEST

Get ready for the European Supply Chain Start-up & Scale-up Contest 2024, where the brightest minds and boldest innovators in the European supply chain showcase their groundbreaking ideas and solutions. This annual competition serves as a platform for emerging startups and rapidly growing scale-ups to demonstrate their potential to revolutionize the industry.

Against the backdrop of an ever-evolving global marketplace, the contest spotlights the most promising ventures that are reshaping traditional supply chain paradigms with cutting-edge technologies, disruptive business models, and sustainability-driven initiatives. From enhancing operational efficiency to optimizing logistics networks, participants offer a diverse array of solutions that address the complexities and challenges of modern supply chain management.

Finalists 2024

The supply chain start-ups Gryn, Lagrange.AI, and Quantics, from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria respectively, have made it to the final of the European Supply Chain Start-up Contest 2024.

The submitted supply chain solutions of the three finalists are quite diverse: CO2 emissions visibility (Gryn), real-time network simulation (Lagrange.AI), and rapid demand forecasting (Quantics). However, all three utilise artificial intelligence (AI) in their solutions.

In addition to these start-ups, Digilo, Holocene, and The Climate Choice also qualified for the final of the European Supply Chain Scale-up Contest, due to their diverse applications of AI at various points in the chain.

Pitches

The finalists will deliver a 3-minute pitch during inNOWvate Supply Chain Event, demonstrating why they have reached the final of the European Supply Chain Start-up and Scale-up Contest. They approach the challenges in the supply chain with a fresh perspective and present innovative solutions that, in hindsight, appear surprisingly simple."

Jury assessment

This year, the jury consists of Thijs Gitmans (investor at Shift Invest), Tariq Farooq (former Chief Operating Officer at Sanofi), Emilia Jevakhoff (CEO and founder of Winddle, winner of the contest in 2021), Jasper van Rijn (Managing Director at consulting firm IG&H), and Martijn Lofvers (CEO & Chief Trendwatcher at Supply Chain Media, also serving as jury chair). The jury will evaluate the finalists based on the commercial potential of the presented solutions, the level of innovation, practical applicability, and the clarity of the presentation.

Attendees of inNOWvate Supply Chain Event can cast their vote for their favourite finalist on-site on the 22nd of May. Join us at the event and support your preferred chosen start-up by purchasing a ticket today!

Maturity Matrix

For the seventh consecutive year, Supply Chain Media publishes the Maturity Matrix of European Start-ups and Scale-ups that are a maximum of five years old. This maximum age means that startups and scale-ups automatically drop out of this overview annually, although they may still be active in the market. The maturity of these young companies in the matrix is based on age, number of employees, awards won, number of customers, and especially raised capital. The overview distinguishes between startups and scale-ups, mainly based on a minimum financial funding of 2 million euros.

Similar to last year, the Maturity Matrix features many new start-ups with solutions for Demand Planning & Forecasting using machine learning and other artificial intelligence. There is also a clear eruption of new start-ups and heavily funded scale-ups in the field of Carbon Accounting. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has come into effect for large companies as of this year, requiring them to meticulously document CO2 emissions throughout the entire supply chain.

Recordings

More recordings of previous editions of inNOWvate Supply Chain Event are available on the YouTube channel of Supply Chain Movement: