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THE SUPERNOVA ALL-STARS PITCH COMPETITION

Do you have what it takes to compete to be a part of the Supernova 100 and win from a cash prize pool of €100,000 Equity-Free? 

Winners of regional competitions benefit from sponsored participation to GITEX EUROPE as part of Supernova Challenge Qualifiers

Visibility with investors and accelerators who make up the Selection Committees of Supernova competitions; and Media and marketing visibility as semi-finalists and finalists

Opportunity to be considered for GITEX global events in markets including Africa, South East Asia, Central Asia & Caucasus, Middle East

FINALISTS & WINNERS SUPERNOVA

1st Place Winner

  • Company : LuxQuanta
  • Cash Prize : € 50,000
  • Country : Spain
  • Funding Stage : Series A

2nd Place Winner

  • Company : Arlan BioTech
  • Cash Prize : € 30,000
  • Country : Kazakhstan
  • Funding Stage : Pre-Seed

3rd Place Winner

  • Company : Bitteiler
  • Cash Prize : € 20,000
  • Country : Germany
  • Funding Stage : Pre-Seed

GITEX NIGERIA

  • Company : My-Money
  • Country : Italy
  • Funding Stage : Seed/Early

ENS Dubai

  • Company : BatteryCheck
  • Country : Czech Republic
  • Funding Stage : Seed/Early

AI Everything Global

  • Company : Nenna.AI
  • Country : Germany
  • Funding Stage : Seed/Early

GITEX AFRICA

  • Company : Adventum Tech
  • Country : Latvia
  • Funding Stage : Bootstrapping

GITEX ASIA SINGAPORE

  • Company : Zeroe
  • Country : United Arab Emirates
  • Funding Stage : Seed/Early

Digi Health Thailand

  • Company : Altered Carbon
  • Country : United Kingdom
  • Funding Stage : Seed/Early

ENS Women in Tech

  • Company : Wise World
  • Country : Portugal
  • Funding Stage : Pre-Seed

GITEX VIETNAM

  • Company : Infofla
  • Country : Republic of Korea
  • Funding Stage : Series A

Testimonials from startups and judges that participated in supernova challenge

European Regional Roadshows Supporting Partners

2026 Supernova Timeline

May 22nd

Final Applications Deadline

June 9th

Semi-Finalists Announced

June 24th

Semi-Finals Pitch Competition

June 25th

Finals Pitch Competition & Winners Announced

2025 Supernova Judges

Caroline Souchet

Investment Manager, Crescent Ventures

Mark Kleyner

Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Dream VC

Yannis Salavopoulos

Founder and Managing Director, CAPITALS Circle Group

Luis Felipe Gutman

Managing Partner, OW Ventures

Andrea Bohmert

Managing Partner, SBI

Mia Ekdahl

Co-founder and Partner, Bjork Ventures

Cristina Fonseca

Angel Investor

Alesia Ahmetaj

Investment Analyst, AMVS Capital

Tim Schwichtenberg

Sr. Investment Manager, Bloomhaus Ventures

Luca Zimmermann

Investment Readiness Programme , GIZ

Thi Binh Vu

Investment Manager, Brandenburg Kapital

Adelaide Renie

VC analyst, Cathay Innovation

Dr. Daniel Auriel

Head of Growth Services, EIT Digital

Daniil Liaimer

Investor, 468 Capital

Konstantin Klettke

Venture Associate, Plug and Play Tech Center

Amin Jaibi

Venture Capital, Vent.io

Daria Demchenko

Operating Partner, Startupwiseguys

Rika Christanto

Partner, LifeX Ventures

Vera Futorjanski

Founder & CEO , Veritas Ventures Global LLC

Hiroshi Baba

Venture Partner, Isomer Capital

Dietlind Wittig

Investment Professional, AI.FUND

Mariama Boumanjal

Founders Fund Manager , Google for Startups EMEA

Nicolas Barthalon

Principal, Ventech

Andreas Zaby

Innovation Manager, Sprind

Aleksandra Pietrzykowska

Investment Manager, Cobin Angels

Hale Yildiz

Founder & CEO, Lumia Partners

Joy Jack

Managing Partner, Nexterra Capital

Anmol Goel

CEO, Gacs Ltd

Emilie Vallauri

Program Lead, Techstars

Jacopo Faini

Head of Acceleration, B4i

Maxime Paradis

Tech Investor and Founder, Paradise Club

Moojan Asghari

Founder & CEO, Thousand and Faces

Milen Ivanov

Managing Partner, Sofia Angels Ventures

Ravik Mima

CEO & Angel Investor, Keiretsu Forum Southeast Europe

FAQs

The GITEX EUROPE 2026 Supernova Challenge is organized by the GITEX EUROPE organizing team by Kaoun International (the oversees events arm of the Dubai World Trade Centre).

To enter the Supernova All-Stars:

You must be an exhibiting startup to benefit from the opportunity to apply for the Supernova Challenge. Book your stand here (form), then apply through the Exhibitor Portal when applications open.

1st Place - €50,000 cash prize

2nd Place - €30,000 cash prize

3rd Place - €20,000 cash prize

If you are an exhibiting startup, the final deadline is May 22nd 2026 (no extensions) on the exhibitor portal.

 

Here is a good reference for you:

https://slidebean.com/blog/pitch-deck-structure

Your Pitch Video must be ONLY 60 Seconds or it will not be considered. Your Pitch Video must be in English and have a clear shot of your upper body (sitting or standing). Please submit your video by either a YouTube or a Vimeo URL.

Check out Paul Graham’s advice on story telling when pitching:

"Your goal, and your only goal, is to make investors feel it's not safe to cross you off. And there is a verb for convincing someone that something is not safe. It sounds dramatic, but your goal is to frighten them. But what frightens them? The possibility that you might become really big. They know there are maybe a few companies that will become really big….Before you start meeting investors, put together a rough draft of your fundraising vertebrae. These are the 3-4 points that compromise the narrative of why your company will be really big.

Together, if investors believed in any of these points, they’d be afraid not to bet on you. As you do, keep in mind that there is an important distinction between what the business is and how you tell the story of what your business is. Your conversations with investors should influence the latter, not the former. No investor knows your business as well as you do.”

If you are an exhibiting startup and applied through the Exhibitor portal, the announcements of the shortlisted startups for the semi-finals will be announced on June 9th 2026.

As part of the Supernova All-Stars, we are scouting for the most disruptive startups revolutionizing sectors of Deeptech, AI, Greentech, Digital Finance, Cybersecurity, Cloud and Mobility.

The general judging criteria is broken down into main areas. Please keep these in mind as you design your pitch deck, pitch video, and semi-finals, finals pitches!

  • Idea: How innovative is this idea?
  • Market Opportunity: Market Size, Competition, Scalability
  • Business Model: Revenue Model, Pricing, Target Customers
  • Traction: Any revenue, customers, investors?
  • Team: Is a skilled team in place for the startup’s success?

The judging panels for the Supernova All-Stars will be experts in the respective sectors and will be a diverse panel with investment, commercial, and entrepreneurial background in the focus sectors.

No, you cannot make edits to your application until the submission deadline.

If you are not shortlisted, there are many opportunities to engage with investors and the wider GITEX EUROPE audience. We will be keeping a waitlist in case of any last-minute changes. Please note that we receive hundreds of applications and the shortlisting goes through multiple rounds of review.

50 startups will be selected to pitch in-person as part of the Supernova Semi-Finals at GITEX EUROPE 2026 on Day 1 (June 24th 2026).

5 startups will move on to pitch in-person as part of the Supernova Finals which will take place on Day 2 (June 25th 2026).

There will be no sector categories as part of the semi-finals and finals of Supernova. The selection committee will score and shortlist startups based on a variety of metrics including sector disruption.

The team will be in touch regarding your cash prize or awards and next steps 1 week after GITEX EUROPE 2026.

No, there will be a new selection process each year. You will have to apply to be considered again. Similarly, if you are shortlisted for the finals after pitching in the semi-finals but you miss the pitch, you will be replaced with the next runner-up.