Amazon Launchpad Innovation Awards support and promote next generation of innovative startups
Amazon announces the launch of the Amazon Launchpad Innovation Awards, a free competition designed to support emerging, innovative European startups by giving them chance to win a ‘Startup of the year’ prize of €100,000.
Entries are open until March 28th to European startups selling physical products to consumers. A judging panel will select the top five most innovative startups across Europe from a shortlist of 15 finalists. The five finalists will each win a €10,000 grant, free access to Amazon Launchpad for one year, marketing placements, and the ‘Startup of the Year’ will receive an additional €90,000 grant.
“Innovation is part of our culture. We continue to invent on behalf of customers, but we’re also the destination for innovative new products from small businesses,” said Xavier Flamand, Director EU Seller Services. “Since its launch, Amazon Launchpad has supported over 2,000 startups in Europe. These awards demonstrate both our commitment to supporting emerging brands and how we love to delight our customers with new and innovative products.”
Startups applying for the award must be brand owners, registered in the UK or the European Union, have less than 50 employees and have been operating for less than 10 years with an annual turnover lower than £6.5 million. The judging panel will select products by their aesthetic, design, uniqueness and differentiation, but also social, ecological and economical sustainability aspects will be considered as judging criteria.
The panel is composed of five industry experts: Andy Fishburn, Managing Director Virgin Start-up; Greg Williams, Editor-in-chief of Wired UK; Jamie Siminoff, CEO of Ring; Aditi Singh, General Manager of Amazon Launchpad Europe; and Ryan Frank, Head of Marketplace of Amazon in Spain.
Last year, Amazon invested more than £75 million to support small businesses globally with special Prime Day and festive season promotional programmes. Third party selling partners – most of which are SMEs – surpassed US$3.5 billion in sales globally on Amazon Prime Day 2020, growing even more than Amazon’s retail business. In the UK these businesses saw an increase of more than 75% in product sales.
In response to the impact of the pandemic and lockdown on small businesses, the company launched the Amazon Small Business Accelerator to help 200,000 small businesses and startups in the UK through online training, bootcamps, partner offers and support from the UK’s leading small business support network, Enterprise Nation. The company also provided practical advice for 1,000 businesses about how to prepare for reopening physical locations, in partnership with The British Chamber of Commerce.
