THE RAPID
CHALLENGE
REALISING ADVANCED PERFORMANCE THROUGH INNOVATIVE DESIGN
Join The RAPID Challenge journey to define, develop and commercialise your idea.
The RAPID Challenge is run by
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
THE
RAPID CHALLENGE FINAL
The Rapid Challenge was created to specifically to act as the catalyst for the development of innovative new hardware projects with commercial potential.
After a multi-stage process where the applicants took part in a workshop, submitted business plans and were interviewed, the three finalists took to the stage to present their projects and business plans in front of an audience of investors and interested parties. In addition, the Final featured a project display area from the business throughout the RAPID Challenge journey.
The winner and runners up all recieved support from the Challenge Partners, these include packages from: Microsoft, Crowdcube, NatWest, KPMG, Clayden Law, The IP Asset Partnership and Prodrive.
RUNNER UP
Runner up of The RAPID Challenge is Njori. They have developed an induction cooking device enabling the user to have greater control and accuracy whilst cooking all with a simple and intuative user interface.
WINNER
The winner of the inaugural Prodrive Ventures Rapid Challenge is EAV (Electric Assisted Vehicles). Their aim is to revolutionise the way urban deliveries are managed through a new generation of zero emissions vehicles.
RUNNER UP
Runner of up of The RAPID Challenge is Actuation Lab. Creators of the composite linear actuator designed to withstand the toughest of environmental pressures in applications where reliability and safety is key.
WHAT IS THE
RAPID CHALLENGE
Why it has been set up?
Commercialising a hardware product is difficult, that’s why The RAPID Challenge aims to help you develop your product and accelerate your progress.
The RAPID journey
By joining in The RAPID Challenge journey, you’ll benefit from a series of workshops with advice and insight from a range of experts to help develop your project and business plan. The projects with the best plans stand to share in the £50,000 prize package and the opportunity to present in front of investors.
Who is behind The RAPID Challenge?
The RAPID Challenge has been created through the collaboration of contributing partners who share a desire to support and promote early-stage hardware businesses. We believe The RAPID Challenge can be a catalyst for the development of exciting new hardware projects with commercial potential and provide a rewarding journey for applicants. The RAPID Challenge is run by Prodrive Ventures, the hardware investment arm of Prodrive.
WHY SHOULD I TAKE PART
£50,000 PRIZE PACKAGE
The RAPID Challenge partners have collaborated to form a prize package aimed to help realise and accelerate your project. As well as receiving the workshop content, the best projects will share the £50,000 prize package consisting of:
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£5K cash prize
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£10K engineering services from Prodrive
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Business advice services from KPMG
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£10K Patent advice services from The IP Asset Partnership
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£20K Cloud computing credits for 12months
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Early business legal advice package from Clayden Law
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Microsoft Surface Book
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Discounted listing fees on Crowdcube
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Access to Natwest accelerator hub on 6 month programme
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12 months accounting software license
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Bing credits for finalists
CRITERIA
To be eligible for The RAPID Challenge applications must fulfil these requirements:
- Be a disruptive hardware project
- Have a sustainable business strategy
- Based in the UK
- Pre-revenue or up to £1M annual revenue
- No more than 10 employees
Desirable attributes:
- A proof of concept / prototype
- Demonstrate the potential for commercialisation within 12 months
- Have the potential to or have obtained IP protection.
For full details see our
APPLICATION
The first stage is an online questionnaire that helps our judges assess the potential for the business and what you’ve achieved so far. Applicants are also required to submit a short introduction video and aim to demonstrate their prototype should you have one. We then shortlist the submissions against our criteria and invite those selected to join our workshop sessions. Applications close on 15th September
JUDGING PROCESS
STAGE ONE
WORKSHOP
October
Projects matching the entry criteria will be invited to attend a range of workshops. These sessions will include valuable advice and insight from our challenge partners to help you build and develop the business plan for your project. Following the workshop, applicants will be asked to submit a pitch deck including their business plan in order to reach the interview stage.
STAGE TWO
INTERVIEW
November
The business plans will be reviewed by a judging panel consisting of industry experts representing The RAPID Challenge Partners. Five successful submissions will be invited to the interview stage to present their project and business plans in more detail and answer questions from the judging panel. The best 3 projects will proceed to the Finals event.
STAGE THREE
FINALS
November
The final event will provide the best 3 projects with the opportunity to present their project to a wider audience of RAPID Challenge partners, affiliates, invited guests and investors where the winners of the prize package will be announced.
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