Giving your idea a stage

During the Idea Stage, you will hand in your business plan, using our guidelines. These guidelines provide clear instructions on how to write a business plan. By handing in your business plan, you will be one step closer to participating in the semi final.

After you submit your business plan, it will be reviewed by our business panel, which consists of experienced entrepreneurs, businesswomen and businessmen. The business panel will evaluate your business plan according to several criteria such as originality, sustainability and degree of innovation, and provide you with personal feedback. The thirty startups with the highest scores will make it to the semi final which will take place during the next stage: the Development Stage!

During the Development Stage, 19 Innovators and 11 Rough Diamonds are selected to participate in the semi final. Before the semi final takes place, the thirty selected startups will undergo a comprehensive program aimed at accelerating their growth. This includes personalized coaching sessions with our partners, workshops led by WeAreReasonablePeople, and an exclusive Find Your Talent day where startups can scout potential collaborators.

During the Refining Stage, the semi final will take place. The 30 best teams will compete against each other in the pitching rounds to secure a ticket for the final on the 17th of June 2025. The Innovation Market is there to create an opportunity for participants, partners, investors and motivated students to have an interactive and dynamic dialogue about their projects. By pitching for the jury and showing their product at their stand, participants will try to convince all the attendees of their product and their place in the final. At the end of the day, the jury will choose five Innovators and three Rough Diamonds to participate in the Grand Final. The eight finalists will fine-tune their ideas and presentations at the Pitching day. The finalists will additionally be brought in contact with mentors from our pool of scale-ups and past Philips Innovation Award finalists.

During the Grand Final, the Philips Innovation Award will reach its climax. Five Innovators and three Rough Diamonds will battle for a price worth €50.000 and €10.000, respectively. In the Grand Final, they will compete before a jury that includes industry leaders like Roy Jacobs, CEO of Philips.  The only thing that separates the finalists from the grand prize is a three-minute pitch. The Grand Final takes place on the 17th of June 2025 in Theatre Rotterdam.