C2E@2015 is organized with the opportunity for 2 Capstone Projects in partnership with Demola at University of Maribor.
The Demola concept is normally dedicated to established companies, also several big international players, seeking students’ help to solve a technical/business challenge, for a new product, a new technology,
following an Open Innovation approach. The Demola network of partner companies, providing challenges for Capstone Projects includes many top technology vendors.
Click the picture on the right for a (reduced) list of these companies.
For C2E@2015, the 2015 autumn round of Demola projects will feature a special Clear to Engage track reserved to 2 startups, that are advanced enough to keep up with being side by side with big companies.
In order to be eligible to advance through C2E accelartion path and start a Capstone Project in Maribor, your startup will have to reach a Red Pill Engager level by September 2015, either through Project Work (Bologna) + Mentoring (if your startup is early stage upon submission to C2E@2015) or through Mentoring alone (if your startup is more advanced upon submission and C2E decides to let you skip the Project Work in Bologna).
In case your startup reaches this milestone, this is what you will have to do, during the mentoring, to set up a Capstone with Demola in Maribor:
- Pick up a technical and/or business challenge regarding your business that is strategically and economically reasonable to outsource to students. You’ll check this during the mentoring, too. It is not reasonable neither to outsource the core of your future company, neither to come up with far-fecthed ideas that you’ll not be able to leverage economically with your startup
- Prepare a brief description to communicate your request to the Demola students. You’ll have to make it very challenging and compelling, since students will likely prefer to work on a big company project, for recruiting and track record reasons. However, if you are able to resonate with any entrepreneurial
spirit students might have on their own, you’ll get the interest you need. Click on the screenshot on the right: that is an example of the description you’ll have to prepare, taken from one of the current Capstone Projects offered to students (by Intel, in this case). - Coordinate with the students for the whole project period. This is both in your interest (to getting what you need done) and in the students’ interest (to be able to maximize learning). This coordination phase, in case you are based in Italy, can perfectly be conducted remotely, through collaboration tools and video-conferencing.
If you wish to take a look at more in depth information material about Demola, click the button below