SparkAlert
A board of companies’ real technology needs: a startup sees at once what the market is looking for.
- Active
- Startups and companies
- Free
Test your technology on a real production line
- Active
- Since 2017
- Startups and innovation
Startup Spark connects startups with large manufacturers: you deploy your technology in a pilot at a real customer, and a grant covers the cost of that deployment.
Go to the programme site (opens in a new tab or window)
How Startup Spark works
A large company, Ericsson, Veolia or Miele for example, has a technological problem it does not want to solve from scratch on its own. We look for a startup that already has the technology and bring the two together. The startup receives a grant and deploys its solution as a pilot at that company, in its halls and on its data.
The programme is for startups whose technology is ready to be tested in industry, and for manufacturers that want to try a solution without building it in-house. The pilots run in real factories, because we invite manufacturers from among the Zone’s investors.
Spark runs in editions with open calls. You submit your startup during a call, go through preselection and interviews, and once accepted you enter a round of several months with mentoring and a deployment. The current edition, Spark 4.0 Rethink, focuses on green technologies and the circular economy. The terms of the call and the rules are on the programme’s own site.
What you gain
Spark gives a startup what is hardest to get on your own: a real industrial customer and the money to test the technology in practice.
The grant covers the cost of the pilot at the manufacturer — from preparing the deployment to running it on the line. The startup gives up no equity and pays the Zone no commission.
For every startup we pick a company that submitted a specific technological problem. Instead of hunting for a first customer after the programme, you work with one from the start of the round.
Throughout the round you work with mentors from the partner companies and with the Zone’s experts. They help you close the deployment technically, legally and commercially.
The pilots run in the real factories of the Zone’s investors. Along the way you meet the people who make the purchasing and investment decisions there.
Every edition closes with a Demo Day. You present the results of the pilot to manufacturers, investors and trade media — with hard data from the deployment, not a deck.
Spark in numbers
since 2017
- PLN 40 millionin deployment grants
- 250+startups supported
- 40+partner companies
- 6editions of the programme
Financed with support from the European Union
Spark is financed from the European Funds for a Modern Economy. The Zone runs it as an operator selected in a PARP competition, which is why taking part and the deployment grant cost you nothing.
Funded by the European Union.
Frequently asked questions
Both. A startup submits a ready technology it wants to deploy. A manufacturer submits a problem we then look for a startup to solve. Most calls are run for startups.
No. The programme is financed from European funds and the startup receives a grant for the deployment. We charge no fees and take no equity.
No. Startups apply to Spark from all over Poland and from abroad. The pilot runs at a partner company, not necessarily inside the Zone.
You need a working technology, ready for a pilot at a manufacturer. Spark begins where the idea stage ends.
Calls are announced separately for each edition. The current deadline and the rules are on the programme’s own site, and we announce every new round in the Zone’s events.
Questions about Spark? Write to the coordinator
Not sure whether your startup fits the current edition? The simplest place to start is a conversation with the person who runs the programme and will guide you before you apply.
Other Zone projects
We run more than a dozen projects for companies, and Spark is only one of them. If you are after something else, take a look below.
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