A week ago, we were among entrepreneurs, innovators and magic makers right here in Copenhagen at the Creative Business Cup Global Finals 2019. With a total attendance of 500+ and startups representing 60+ countries, to say that it was an international experience would be an understatement. Here are some highlights from the 4-day event!
Creative Business Bootcamp
The weekend prior to the event was kicked off with a bootcamp for our National Winners by seasoned pitch guru, Gleb Maltsev, co-founder of FundWise and featured a relaxed dinner at Copenhagen’s Reffen, a street food market by the harbor.
DAY 1: #CBCup19
#CBCup19 officially opened up to general audience on Monday, 1 July where the highlights were National Winners delivering their pitches and sessions such as ‘the state of entrepreneurship in the middle east’ and ‘top 10 reasons your startup needs to hire a lawyer’ by entrepreneurial stalwarts such as Amy Cosper, Nancy Willis Smith, Safa Sharif and Dr. Hashim Hussein. The day ended with a Mystery Makers (winner of Creative Business Cup Denmark 2012) tour.
DAY 2: #CBCup19
2 July began bright and early with the announcement of the semi-finalists… apparently the National Winners were SO impressive that the jury picked out not just the usual top 12, but top 14: Audioplay (Australia), PO8 (Bahamas), W.R. Yuma (Belgium), Lazarillo (Chile), Snuggs (Czech Republic), Lapee (Denmark), SPOT (El Salvador), Deafmetal (Finland), Power Six (Namibia), Alcoffea Tiles (Philippines), Kalium Labs (Romania), Marine Innovation (South Korea), Isostopy (Spain) and Story Tourist (Sweden). After another round of pitching, Michael Sturtz, Creative Provocateur, Carnegie Innovation Hall took the stage and enthralled the audience with his keynote on ‘launching entrepreneurial ideas with creative extremes’ and then made way for different spotlights on the side stages. Eventually, it was time to reveal the top 5: Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and South Korea. The finalists pitched their ideas once more to the audience and then segued into Garry Yankson’s keynote on The Hip Hop Economy: An Unstoppable Culture.
Lo and behold, it was time for the award show! The winners of Creative Business Cup 2019 were:
Winner of The Welcome Solution:
Story Tourist from Sweden, a new way of traveling and experiencing books and other stories in the places where the action takes place.
Winner of the INVIO Experience Technology Solution:
Audioplay from Australia, an action-based audio app that supercharges kids’ play. Kids put on headphones, step into the story and become the characters, physically playing out the action.
Winner of the Creative Business Investor Pitch
World of H.C Andersen from Denmark with the concept of an interactive experience museum – where you are not just a spectator, but also a participant.
Winner of the Creative Business Cup Africa Spotlight
Red Button from Nigeria who presented wearable fashion items from water hyacinths and coconut waste
Winner of the Creative Business Cup Americas Spotlight
AWN Nanotech from Canada with a Montreal-based deep clean-technology company, providing a paradigm-changing zero-energy solution for atmospheric freshwater generation.
Jury Special Mention
Maktab (Afghanistan), the first e-learning app in Afghanistan that combines e-learning, social networking, emotional intelligence, and game theory to create a platform where the learners can learn, interact, and compete.
Creative Business Cup Global Finals: 3rd Prize
Snuggs from Czech Republic who presented period-proof underwear, a backup to pads and tampons.
Creative Business Cup Global Finals: Prize
DEAFMETAL from Finland, a hearing aid accessory innovation which allows you to personalize your hearing device.
Creative Business Cup Global Finals: 1Prize
Lapee from Denmark, who came with the world’s first industrialized female urinal.
Winners, contenders, attendees et al then finally came together for an unparalleled dance-off which lasted until the sun set (which by the way is close to midnight at this time of the year).
For our team, these 4 days gave us momentum to keep doing what we do and served as a powerful reminder that creativity can indeed change the world. To all those who attended, and to all those who followed the event virtually, go be great and welcome to our movement: creativity in everything you do.
Click here for the official event photos.
