Startup Competition

The WMF is a certified International Trade Fair that has been a landmark for entrepreneurial culture, creating opportunities and connections within the international innovation ecosystem.

For over 10 years WMF, Certified International Fair, has been spreading entrepreneurial culture and creating development opportunities for the Italian and international innovative ecosystem, aiming to facilitate a flow of opportunities between Italy and abroad.

Within WMF, the World Startup Fest takes place - the international reference event for startups, scaleups, and investors. In the previous edition, it recorded over 73.000 attendees from more than 90 countries, including more than 3.000 startups and investors.

Among its many initiatives, WMF also organizes the largest International Startup Competition, now in its 13th edition, with the involvement of major international players in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship. The Competition's finale will take place on the Mainstage during WMF 2026, scheduled for June 24th to 26th.

Every year, more than 3.000 startups apply to pitch and compete in Bologna. Some of the pitching startups are chosen, in fact, from the WMF call for startups, while some others are selected from the competitions of the local events organized in the framework of the WMF International Roadshow.

In its international show in Greece, the WMF is holding a Startup Competition that will allow the best Greek project to compete in Bologna.

The call is currently closed.

Once the call is closed, and the candidates evaluated, the WMF's Innovation Team will announce the startups that will have the opportunity to pitch and present their project to the jury and the attendees on the local event. Each team will have 3 minutes to present the key elements of their business idea. The jury of investors, will then have another 2 minutes to ask further questions. A round of votes at the end will then announce the winners.

The top three startups of the Competition will be awarded with tickets to next edition of the WMF for the full team and the following prizes:

1° | FIRST PRIZE: Access with a dedicated desk to the Startup District of WMF 2026, with participation in B2B meetings, pitch on the Startup Stage, and exclusive access to open innovation side events.

Moreover, the first classified could be selected to compete in the WMF Startup Competition Finals (the biggest in southern Europe) and pitch in front of 73.000 attendees on the WMF Mainstage.

2° | SECOND PRIZE: Access with a dedicated desk to the Startup District of WMF 2026, with participation in B2B meetings and exclusive access to open innovation side events.

3° | THIRD PRIZE: Access with a dedicated desk to the Startup District of WMF 2026.

The call is dedicated to startups and businesses - made up of individuals or teams - with innovative projects or ideas regarding the, AI, digital and technological sector. Innovative projects aimed at generating a positive impact on territories and society will be considered with particular interest. Applicants will be selected according to the following criteria:

• Skills of the team, knowledge of the sector, the feasibility of the project;

• The development stage of the product/service;

• Degree of innovation and its defensibility;

• Positioning in relation to competitors;

• Consistency with market and customers’ needs and potential outreach;

• The business potential of the idea;

• Completeness of the documentation presented.

The elevator pitch is a brief presentation where you describe your business venture in a nutshell. A solid elevator pitch needs to convey the business idea in a concise manner, so as to attract the audience's attention quickly.

> Download the support material

> Watch the winning pitches from past editions of WMF

The call is currently closed.