Nominations are open for Europe’s 25 Corporate Startup Stars – the first ranking of exemplary big businesses working closely with startups, led by Nesta and the Startup Europe Partnership (SEP).

The starting and scaling of new business is vital to the economy. Europe’s 25 Corporate Startup Stars will help recognise the contribution of firms within the startup ecosystem and provide role models for large firms.

Working with media partner startups.co.uk, Nesta and SEP will showcase the mutual benefits of working together and explore how corporates are supporting startup growth and learning from those at the cutting edge to keep pace with digital innovations.

Entries for Europe’s 25 Corporate Startup Stars will be ranked according to their level of engagement with startups and judged by an expert panel that includes Sherry Coutu, angel investor and author of The Scale-up Report, Neelie Kroes, former European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, and Bart Clarysse, entrepreneur and Chair in Entrepreneurship at Imperial College, London.

Nominations close on Thursday 31st March 2016 with the 25 stars and final ranking revealed in June. Visit www.startupeuropepartnership.eu to nominate, or apply, and www.startups.co.uk to read more about the ranking.

Europe’s 25 Corporate Startup Stars Judging Panel:

• Alberto Onetti, entrepreneur and Director of the Startup Europe Partnership
• Candace Johnson, entrepreneur behind SES, Loral Teleport Europe and Europe Online
• Sherry Coutu, author of The Scale-up Report and angel investor
• Andy McCartney, former CEO-in-residence at Microsoft and Founding Partner of Whitespace Ventures
• Bart Clarysse, entrepreneur and Chair in Entrepreneurship at Imperial College, London
• Dolf Wittkamper, Head of EIT Digital’s Accelerator
• Edward Wray, entrepreneur and angel investor
• Ian Wallis, editorial director of Startups.co.uk
• Neelie Kroes, former European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda and Special Envoy StartupDelta.org NL

Neelie Kroes, Special Envoy StartupDelta Netherlands, says: “Cooperation between corporates and startups speeds up new business models and innovation. It is a key action to strengthen our ecosystem. Europe’s 25 Corporate Startup Stars is an inspiring European step forward. Celebrate successes, embrace failures; let’s speed up the learning curve on a bigger scale.”

How To Get There Summit in the Netherlands

Together with the Dutch innovation hubs, ECE organizes the How To Get There Summit on November 17. How To Get There is a movement aimed to stimulate collaborations between startups & corporates in the Netherlands. People join this movement to innovate faster together. Meetups are organized throughout the Netherlands by multiple StartupDelta partners with startup/corporate speeddating sessions, startup pitching nights, dinner tables and workshops to bring the world of corporate innovation managers and startup founders closer together. The movement will come together once a year at the How To Get There Summit. For more info check: www.htgt.nl.