EUROPEN Market Expansion Award

University

About the award

This award recognises the Start-Up team that has understood and demonstrated its ability to explore the opportunities, recognised problems and found solutions to operate its business across different markets in Europe.

Criteria

1. Impact

To what extent does the start-up demonstrate a clear understanding of the opportunities offered by the EU Single Market (e.g. free movement of goods, services, capital and people; regulatory harmonisation; access to the Digital Single Market)?
How effectively has it leveraged — or how credibly does it plan to leverage — these opportunities to operate or expand in more than one EU Member State?

2. Sustainability

To what extent is the start-up’s business model environmentally sustainable?
Does it integrate environmentally responsible practices into its product design, operations, and growth strategy, and is this approach scalable across multiple EU Member States in line with EU environmental standards?

3. Innovation

How innovative is the proposed solution?
To what extent does the start-up leverage — or plan to leverage — EU-wide networks, funding instruments, partnerships, or market access to accelerate innovation and support cross-border scaling?

4. Future Development

How clear, realistic, and strategically grounded are the start-up’s plans for expansion within the EU?
Do these plans address target Member States, timelines, market entry strategy, regulatory requirements, partnerships, and funding?

Judges

Winner(s)