A welcome spotlight will be cast over Berlin at the first continental edition of the Europas Tech Startup Awards next January. Local startups will be hoping a home crowd can give them an advantage at ceremony at the Postbahnhof, which will celebrate the most forward thinking, progressive, and innovative tech companies.
Startups can apply for an award or be nominated by someone else, with winners being chosen by a panel of judges or a public vote.
Chaired by TechCrunch’s European editor Mike Butcher, who previously organised the London editions of the Europas, this time round most of the legwork will be done by the people at Web Summit – reflecting the growing popularity of the event with more manpower required.
The event has become so popular, in fact, that there are 1,000 spaces at the ceremony, which will feature not only the best and brightest of the European tech scene, but also attendees from Silicon Valley.
With judges yet to be announced, there’s 20 different award categories ranging from particular startup types such as gaming, fashion, and social media to individual awards like best founder,and best individual VC investor. There will also be a series of Hall of Fame and people’s choice awards up for grabs.
As for choosing Berlin, what better place to put the European startup scene under the spotlight? Daire Hickey of WebSummit told Silicon Allee: “Berlin is at the heart of Europe’s tech scene. We work in London, Dublin and New York but we’ve been looking for a reason to do something in Berlin, so we’re delighted to bring the Europas to Berlin.”
Daire also said the judging panel will include entrepreneurs, journalists and investors, and will be announced next week. Some special guests will also be revealed in the near future.
Following the Berlin bash, organisers will look to take subsequent Europas to other European cities, helping put the spotlight on up and coming scenes in places like the Balkans and the Baltic and strengthening a continental network.
The event will begin at 6.30pm, on January 22, and will be followed by an after party. Tickets will be available soon. A standing ticket for the ceremony and the after party costs €125 – but you can apply now for a 2 for 1 voucher for a seated ticket until the end of this week.
January 2020 Update: The link in the above article has been updated to include the correct web address for Postbahnhof.