2nd Amazon Launchpad Innovation Awards launched

Ecommerce giant Amazon has launched the second edition of the Amazon Launchpad Innovation Awards. The competition supports European innovative startups. The winner will receive the ‘Startup of the year’ prize of 100,000 euros.

It’s the second time that popular marketplace Amazon holds this competition. The first edition took place in 2021 with over 1,500 companies from 30 countries signed up during that edition. “We are honored by the huge number of products and startups that entered this competition last year, and we are thrilled to announce the second edition of the Amazon Launchpad Innovation Awards”, said Aditi Singh, General Manager of Amazon Launchpad Europe.

WeWALK, a startup from the UK was awarded the ‘Startup of the Year’ prize of 100,000 euros for its smart cane. ‘It has been a great privilege for us to be named as one of the winners of the Innovation Awards and we are even more thankful to our community and Amazon Launchpad for their support in helping us win the honor of ‘Startup of the Year’’, said Kürşat Ceylan, Co-founder of WeWALK. ‘We’re now well on the way to making WeWALK a global movement and this support from Amazon Launchpad is vital in helping us set solid foundations and reach users across more countries. Our ultimate vision is a platform that unites our community, improves societal integration through mobility, and allowing everyone, regardless of their ability, to walk together.’

The four other finalists last year were CasusGrill from Denmark, Swedish Påhoj, PlanetCare from Slovenia and Callaly from the UK. They received a grant of 10,000 euros each, as well as free access to Amazon Launchpad for one year.

The competition is part of Amazon Launchpad, which was introduced in 2015 and is now available across Europe in France, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands as well as in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, India and Australia.  It’s a program that supports the launch of startups in Europe. With help from over 200 venture capital firms, startup accelerators and crowdfunding platforms, Amazon has helped launch over 2,200 startups.

Companies that want to enter the competition can sign up until the 29^th of May. Startups need to sell physical products and be the owner of the brand. They also need to be registered within the European Union (or the United Kingdom or Switzerland), have less than 250 employees and a yearly turnover of less than 50 million euros.

All registrations will be judged by a jury, who will also choose the final winners. Products will be selected based on esthetics, design, originality and distinctiveness. Aspects such as social, ecological and economic sustainability will also be used as assessment criteria.

According to Amazon, these awards continue to demonstrate the company’s commitment towards startups in Europe to help promising brands that will shape the future with new innovative products.