Deep Tech Award - Terms of participation

The Senate Department for Economics, Energy, and Business is awarding the Deep Tech Award 2024 as part of the Deep Tech Berlin campaign.

The Berlin Deep Tech Award honours application-oriented and proven solutions/products from Berlin that are characterised by a high degree of innovation and great future potential (in terms of assured marketability).

We are looking for solutions/products from the following five technology and application areas:

● Artificial Intelligence
● Photonics and Technologies
● Robotics
● Social & Sustainable Impact
● Web3 – DLT, Blockchain, NFT & Metaverse
(further information on the individual categories can be found under 2) Categories)
The award focusses on solutions and products with a Berlin connection, i.e. the solutions/products were (predominantly) developed in Berlin.

Timetable
6.02.2024 Announcement of the competition call and the start of the submission period
26.04.2024 End of the submission deadline
30.05.2024 Announcement of the nominees
11.07.2024 Announcement of the award winners and award ceremony

3) Categories

Artificial intelligence
With the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, “generative AI” took off last year and triggered the biggest wave of hype in the AI technology field to date. For the Deep Tech Award 2024, we are not only looking for innovative solutions and products from the field of generative AI, but are also focussing on the entire field of machine learning: From deep learning image and pattern recognition systems in the healthcare sector, to the applications of natural language processing in business process optimisation, to predictive maintenance in industrial plants – we want to see which AI solutions and products you want to take off into the world from Berlin.

Photonics and Quantum Technologies
Supercomputing, high-performance, highly sensitive sensors or tap-proof communication: controlling quantum properties and light can change the world.
We are looking for innovative ideas, concepts and products for hardware and software in the field of quantum computing, quantum sensor technology, quantum communication and photonics that meet current challenges and have the potential to shape the future.

Robotics
Make your mark in the fascinating world of robotics, an industry that is not only moving machines, but revolutionising entire branches of industry. We are looking for pioneering ideas and products that push the boundaries of automation. From intelligent robotic systems that work precisely and efficiently to collaborative robotic solutions that interact harmoniously with human workers, your innovations should make industrial users and competitors alike sit up and take notice.
Robotics is a central part of the digital transformation and we want to understand how your solutions will increase production efficiency, revolutionise the world of work and set new standards for intelligent automation processes. Whether in the manufacturing industry, healthcare or logistics – your innovations should lead the way into the future. Use the momentum and help to spread the strength of the Berlin robotics scene to the world!

Web3 – DLT, NFT & Metaverse
The blockchain is dead! Long live the blockchain! The cheers and death announcements of decentralised technologies have been coming thick and fast in recent years. The promises range from the end of the monetary system as we know it to new digital worlds; the reality currently looks very different.
We’re not looking for golden advertising promises, but for innovations in the fields of Web3 – DLT, NFT & Metaverse, which intelligently solve existing problems and/or form the basis for taking digital, decentralised worlds a step further.

Social & Sustainable Impact
In the Social & Sustainable Impact category, we are looking for technical innovations that have a positive impact on individuals, our society and/or the environment/climate. This cross-cutting category of the Deep Tech Awards recognises the mix of innovative technology and a social and/or environmental impact.
If your deep tech solution opens up new treatment options in the healthcare sector, if it can contribute to improving the care of humans, animals and plants, if it brings us closer to achieving the climate goals we have set ourselves, or if you can present a solution with a sustainable and/or social impact that we haven’t even thought of yet, then this is the right category for you and your solution!

The winners are selected by an independent panel of experts. For each category, there is a jury of three renowned experts from the fields of business, science and associations.

The Jury:

Artificial Intelligence
o Franziska Weindauer, CEO of TÜV AI.Lab
o Dr. Theresa Züger, Head of AI & Society Labs at HIIG
o Fabian Westerheide, CEO Asgard Capital and Organiser of the Rise of AI
Conference

Photonics & Quantum Technologies
o Dr. Gabrielle Thomas, Group Leader Marketing Menlo Systems GmbH
o Dr. Mathias Petri, Co-Founder & CSMO at Anaqor AG, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board SIBB e.V.
o Dr. Markus Krutzik, Leiter des Joint Lab Integrated Quantum Sensors (IQS) am Ferdinand-Braun-Institut

Robotics
o Prof. Dr. Jeschke, CEO KI Park
o Dr. Gregor Thiele, Head of department (process automation and robotics) at the Fraunhofer IPK
o Matthias Ziege, Head of Mercedes-Benz Digital Factory Campus

Social & Sustainable Impact
o Geraldine de Bastion, CEO & Founder at and founder of the Global
Innovation Gathering (GIG)
o Peter Udo Diehl, CEO & Founder at Aiur Capital
o Prof. Dr. Jochen Schiller, Chairman of the Management Board at Einstein
Center Digital Future

Web3 – Blockchain, DLT, NFT & Metaverse
o Prof. Dr. Ing. Katarina Krüger, Professor at Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Technik Berlin
o Dr. Christoph Haupenthal, Director/Co-Founder, Institute for Applied
Blockchain at Digital Business University of Applied Sciences
o Regine Haschka-Helmer, CEO, Seedlab GmbH, IOTA Foundation Adviser

The competition has a total prize fund of up to 50,000 euros. The Deep Tech Star title and 10,000 euros will be awarded in each of the five Deep Tech categories. The Deep Tech Star winners will each receive a certificate and a prize sculpture. They may use the “Deep Tech Star” logo and the Deep Tech Award in their marketing activities, indicating the year of the award ceremony.
In addition to the prize money, the winners and finalists (1-3 places per category) can win non-cash prizes, including annual memberships with some partners and invitations to exclusive events (e.g. Deep Tech Dinner).
The winners and their products and solutions may also be featured in articles and interviews on the campaign’s website www.berlin.de/deeptech and by the campaign’s partners.

The award ceremony is expected to take place on 11 July 2024.

The competition is open to companies based in the state of Berlin that submit a solution/product that was predominantly developed in Berlin. Submissions from small and medium-sized enterprises are expressly encouraged.
We are looking for application-oriented and market-proven solutions as well as products based on software and/or hardware that are characterised by a high degree of innovation and great future potential.
The following criteria will be taken into account in the assessment by the independent jury:
● Presentation of the innovation
● Innovative content of the contribution
● Purpose and added value of the solution for users
● Business Model
● Quality of the business model
● Scalability of the solution and market potential
● Market positioning
For the Social & Sustainable Impact category, the criterion “social and/or ecological impact” will also be assessed.
From the submissions received, three Deep Tech Finalists will be nominated per category, from which the Deep Tech Star 2023 of the respective category will be selected at the award ceremony on 11 July 2024.
If too few submissions are received for each category, we as the organiser of the award reserve the right to suspend the category in question and therefore not award a prize in the category.
The prerequisite for receiving the prize money is the fulfilment of the requirements under state aid law in accordance with the so-called “de minimis regulation” (this will take place after the award ceremony).

Formal framework conditions for submitting the competition entry
Please note that you can only apply for one of the above categories with your respective competition entry.
● All rights to the competition entry remain with the sender. Multiple submissions are permitted. The sender must ensure that his/her competition entry is free of third party rights. The sender is liable to the organiser of the competition for ensuring that the competition entry/submission does not infringe the rights of third parties. If necessary, the sender shall indemnify the organiser of the competition against all claims and possible expenses that may be asserted by third parties due to an infringement of rights.
● By submitting the entry documents, the entrant agrees that the submitted work (photographic material, etc.) may be used by the organiser of the competition as part of the application for the competition and grants all necessary rights of use for this purpose. The documents will be deleted by the organiser after six months.
● By submitting the submission documents, the sender also agrees that the submitted documents may be used within the framework of the “Deep Tech Mentoring Programme” by a third party contractor commissioned by SenWiEnBe. The declaration of consent includes the examination of the submissions with regard to suitability for the mentoring programme as well as the use of the submissions in the implementation of the mentoring programme (in the event of selection as a programme participant). The documents will be deleted by the organiser and the commissioned service provider after the end of the mentoring programme (31.12.2024). A confidentiality agreement is agreed between SenWiEnBe and the service provider, which contractually secures the confidential use of the competition submissions.
● The organiser of the competition is entitled to pass on personal data obtained in the course of the competition, such as names or photographs, to third parties, such as the media. If disclosure is not desired, the entrant must inform the organiser in writing at the time of submission of the data to which the request for non-disclosure relates.
● The meetings of the jury are not public. Their decisions are final. Legal recourse is excluded.
● The data protection provisions published on the organiser’s website apply: https://www.berlin.de/deeptech/datenschutzerklaerung.1037695.php
● Should individual provisions be invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
● There is no legal entitlement to the award of a prize or prize money.

The Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises is organising the Deep Tech Award 2024 as part of the Deep Tech Berlin campaign.

Contact person:
Robin Hempel
Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe
Martin-Luther-Str. 105
10825 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0)30 901- 8347
robin.hempel@senweb.berlin.de
Web: https://www.berlin.de/deeptech