EBV Innovation Hero Award – a special prize of the Innovation World Cup® – invites Europe’s most innovative electronic design, IoT, Edge AI, robotics, and wearable technology start-ups to fast-track their solutions to market with EBV Elektronik‘s expert support and global platform. As Avnet’s European semiconductor arm, EBV Elektronik offers winners unparalleled resources to scale from concept to market success.
Become the next EBV Innovation Hero and unlock these exclusive benefits:
- Pitch live at HANNOVER MESSE 2027 and showcase your innovation on an industry-leading stage.
- Hands-on engineering & supply-chain support from EBV’s dedicated start-up team (covering design, component sourcing, and logistics).
- Speaking & exhibition slots at global tech events (e.g. MEDICA, Wearable Technologies Conference, Wolves Summit) to help you connect with industry leaders.
- Free marketing promotion & media coverage to boost your start-up’s visibility worldwide.
- Spotlight in the Innovation World Cup® Hall of Fame and cement your status among Europe’s tech pioneers.
All eligible EMEA start-ups in the Innovation World Cup®, including health-tech entrants, are automatically in contention for the EBV Innovation Hero Award.
Participation is free of charge.
The finalists of the 8th EBV Innovation Hero are officially announced!
Previous EBV Innovation Hero Winners
PULSETRAIN – Winner 2025 Their technology extend battery life of electric vehicles, enhancing efficiency, safety and sustainability. They are also the winner of the Mobility category of the 16th Innovation World Cup®.
Allye Energy – Winner 2024 Allye Energy provides distributed energy storage at the grid edge to provide collective flexibility to the electricity network, helping accelerate decarbonisation of the grid while lowering energy costs for industrial, commercial and residential customers by up to 50%.
Dryad Networks – Winner 2023 Dryad Networks provides ultra-early detection of wildfires using AI-enabled IOT gas sensors utilizing a large-scale solar-powered mesh network in the forest. As well as health and growth monitoring solutions for public and private forests.
Ladon Energy – Winner 2022 Ladon Energy has developed an intelligent energy sensor, that helps to reduce energy costs and untap flexibilities in residential homes. The Ladon Energy sensor provides not only the necessary data, but also the computing power to apply even complex AI models on the edge device.
BEFC – BIOENZYMATIC FUEL CELLS – Winner 2021 BeFC make electricity from papers and enzymes. The company has developed a breakthrough innovation that allows generation of energy via biocatalysis using enzymes and carbon paper, suitable for powering microcontrollers, displays, sensors and wireless transceivers.
AFS AGRO FLOW SYSTEM – Winner 2020 AFS Agro Flow System disrupted the Agriculture industry with the advanced Soil Research Logger (DS Logger 500 + Sensor DSM 600), a unique multi-functional device for measuring soil compaction, air temperature, and air humidity. Together with sensor DS 600, it measures soil temperature, soil moisture, and soil conductivity. 
ARION – Winner 2019 ARION has brought a new level to runners and coaches with ultra-thin, pressure-sensitive insoles under the runners’ own shoe insoles. The advanced AI coaching engine makes cutting-edge exercise science accessible to all runners. ARION guides users to improve their running technique sustainably, helps to reduce the risk of injury and improves the overall performance. Runners with ARION smart insoles can now stay more active, run longer, safer, and further.
Luke Roberts – Winner 2018 Luke Roberts develops the world’s first smart design lamp that allows you to move the light in any direction without moving the lamp. With simple print gestures on your phone, you can have a bright light on the couch for reading, dimmed light on the table for dinner and colored indirect light for relaxing. The lamp also learns from your behavior and turns on the most likely light scene based on usage pattern, time of day and surrounding light. The smartness is in the lamp and does not require internet access or other smart home devices. Luke Roberts consists of a team of experienced hardware and software developers and the founders have several years of experience as management consultants.