Zurich Innovation Championship returns with fourth edition

Announcing the timeline, Zurich said: “Ten (10) members of Zurich’s global leadership team will pick two to three winning initiatives per category by end-April. In the subsequent accelerator phase, stretching four months from end-May to end-September, project funding of up to US$100,000 will be provided for each of the winning startups, together with mentorship from Zurich leaders and external experts.

“This will allow the startups, working closely with Zurich’s leaders and businesses, to validate how their joint solution can meet evolving customer needs and prepare an operational business plan to adopt it across the group. By end-December 2023, the proven initiatives will have kicked off, bringing to life the joint proposition.”

Zurich, which currently works with 30 startups from previous years, will be accepting 2023 submissions until February 27. There had been over 4,500 submissions, involving more than 30 countries, across the past three editions.

“Previous championships have shown that the most value comes from startups with ideas to disrupt single parts of the value chain, or enablers, rather than challengers looking to disrupt the whole industry,” commented group chief strategy officer Paolo Mantero.

“Our goal is collaborating together and bringing together the best of what we and the startups have to offer. This is where innovation can make a real difference.”

For Ericson Chan, group chief information & digital officer, the competition fosters a new way of thinking.

“[It] allows us to get access to ideas and solutions we may not yet have ourselves,” said Chan. “For the participants, it is an opportunity to grow their business and pitch technology-driven solutions that can help meet emerging and evolving customer needs.”

Further details on competition structure, intellectual property, terms & conditions, etc., can be found here.