Buildings4people Open Innovation Initiative 2020 seeks for budding startups to solve facility management challenges

Buildings4people Open Innovation Initiative 2020 is a programme that is currently looking for startups in an advanced maturity state with validated solutions that can help Facility Management (FM) Innovators to solve critical challenges across all business areas and functions. This means that FM Innovators become a client of a startup at an early stage of product commercialisation.  

This is a corporate pilot programme to fine-tune promising solutions and a fast-track programme for solutions that are ready to be marketed, gaining access to a market worth $1.3 trillion globally. Buildings4People is the venture client unit of the Global Alliance of Facility Management Innovators, an initiative of leading facility management corporations across the world that have a clear will to promote and integrate new technologies in the facility management industry.

Criteria

In order to apply for the Buildings4people Open Innovation Initiative 2020 your startup must:

• Be a mature/post-revenue-stage company with a tested solution in the market
• Looking to scale and grow your existing business
• Have a consolidated team
• Be ready to scale your offer to facility management industry corporations with little or no adaption
• Address at least one of the referred challenges for the Facility Management Industry: Cleaning, Maintenance, Energy and Sustainability, Security and Access Control, Food Services, Inclusion and Diversity, and/or Workplace and Facility Management

Benefits

• Applications go through a quick selection process for validated and active startups, run by expert facility management professionals and renowned faces of the ecosystem
• You are liable to present your actual product/solution at the Facility Management Innovation Fair, this draws the attention of both FM Innovators as their corporate clients and gain entry into the pilot programme
• Top corporations select the winners, who will run a pilot in an environment of big buildings and large workforces
• Quick process for fast-trackers who have a ready-to-go solution that can be implemented with little or no adaptation
• You can fine-tune your solution to develop a commercial product that FM Innovators are eager to adopt for their own use or to be marketed to their clients
• You could get your product promoted and scale-up internationally
• You can build long-term commercial partnerships in an industry facing digital transformation as per this very moment

Timeline

• February 24th, 2020: Application opens
• April 24th, 2020: Application closes
• Apr 30th.2020: Decisions Notice
• May 14th,2020: Induction Day
• May 21st,2020: Pilot Winner Announcement
• June 1st, 2020: Pilot programme starts

How to apply

Qualified startups should apply immediately before the application deadline which is midnight CET on Friday, April 24th, 2020.