Motivated by last year’s success of the LSE Polish Business Society Start-up Challenge, we decided to further develop the initiative. This year’s edition, ł.pitch /ɛw/, aims to select, reward and help the best data-driven Polish startups to grow their businesses.

As a pioneer of the oil industry and the inventor of the kerosene lamp, Ignacy Łukasiewicz significantly contributed to the development of entrepreneurship in Poland. He was also an important social activist. His figure has inspired us to name our competition ł.pitch /ɛw/ in order to show that its mission is to promote entrepreneurship in Poland and abroad. Thus, we would like startups to exhibit not only innovative, but also, if possible, prosocial characteristics.

The first edition received vast support from the investors and aroused tremendous interest among startups, with over 75 applications from which 5 finalists were chosen to present their ideas at the LSE Polish Economic Forum (PEF) in front of investors and other professionals. Then, the jury, which included such renowned industry leaders as Sebastian Kulczyk, Krzysztof Krawczyk, Tytus Cytowski, Marcin Kowalik, Wojciech Szaniawski, Karol Górnowicz and Jan Habermann, questioned and assessed the finalists’ ideas in a Dragons’ Den formula, and awarded prizes including dedicated support from an experienced consultant from Bain & Company and a place in the finals of the CVC Young Innovator Awards competition. The competition attracted extensive publicity, with numerous articles covering the initiative and its winner appearing in leading media outlets such as Forbes and Business Insider.

For the second edition, we have prepared some exciting improvements:

• This year’s competition will focus on “data-driven” startups. Data-drivenness is about building tools, abilities, and a culture that acts on data. Employing data-driven approach means using vast amounts of data to improve products and make strategic decisions based on insights from its analysis.
• This year the prizes are both more numerous and impressive than last year – there’s a lot worth fighting for! The winners will receive i.a. cash prize, help with business development from Microsoft, legal care package from Kondracki Celej legal office, a place in the final of the Space3ac Poland Prize program with the possibility of winning a prize of 45,000 euro (equity-free) and one week stay in luxurious apartment in Egypt with wakeboarding course at Sliders Cable Park.

ł.pitch /ɛw/ is a unique opportunity to present your company to investors from top Polish venture capital funds as well as an excellent chance to promote your project in media and to the wider public. If you believe that your startup has what it takes, be sure to apply!

The deadline for sending applications is 13th February 2019.