The programme offers participants the opportunity to work on their ideas directly with seasoned experts in business, finance and marketing, providing advice on how to tackle the challenges facing early-stage companies. After six months of acceleration and close interactions with Industry 4.0., the programme is to help startups create solutions that are ready for commercialisation.

‘At Grupa Azoty, we recognise that the chemical industry cannot grow and develop without innovation. Therefore, R&D&I is one of our strategic pillars. We are taking concrete steps to become a pioneer in R&D and innovation. One of these steps seeks to establish lasting relationships with promising startups. As part of the ongoing call for applications for the KPT ScaleUp programme, Grupa Azoty is looking for solutions supporting digital transformation of manufacturing, logistics and business processes, development of new and existing products, and technologies that would support the company’s transition in line with the European Green Deal,’ said Iwona Kielian, Head of the Innovation Development and Promotion Department.

To date, KPT ScaleUP has accelerated growth of 64 Polish startups.

‘KTP ScaleUP’s core mechanism is to create a friendly space for collaboration between young tech companies and established, experienced firms in various industrial sectors. It’s where bold innovative ideas meet expertise and market knowledge. As a result, startups learn how to improve their product, technology or service, and the big company discovers how it can support and enhance its business or manufacturing processes. The two teams interact almost daily, holding numerous meetings informed by their expertise. Startups can test their technologies in factories, plants or warehouses provided by their industrial partners,’ explains Angelika Popławska, project manager of KPT ScaleUP.

This year, the accelerated startups will have the opportunity to work with selected KPT ScaleUP technology recipients including Grupa Azoty. Each company has precisely defined its technological challenges, available from scaleup.kpt.krakow.pl. Startups can apply for the accelerator by submitting original solutions to the identified challenges.

KPT ScaleUP is open for applications until April 18th 2021. All submitted applications will be carefully reviewed by the accelerator team together with industry partners. The startups which submit solutions that best solve the technological challenges of technology recipients will be selected for the second round, which consists of in-depth interviews with prospective partners, providing the startups with the opportunity to pitch their industrial innovations.