The NVIDIA Blog

Catapult Your Startup to Success with $100,000 from NVIDIA

Posted: 23 Sep 2015 10:00 AM PDT

You: Starry-eyed startup with impressive hardware and big ideas.
Us: Experienced player, seeking mutually rewarding engagement.
Turn ons: AI, robotics, machine learning, automotive technology, graphic imagination.
Turn offs: Serial processing, bores, Peter Pan syndrome (fear of growing up)

We're only partly kidding. But if you're looking to propel your startup into the big leagues, we need to connect.

We're looking for a dozen competitors for the 2016 Early Stage Challenge — where hot young startups using GPUs vie for a $100,000 prize, awarded on the spot.

Here's how it works: CEOs get four minutes to pitch their company to our expert panel, and another four minutes to answer questions. After all have presented, the panel and audience choose a winner, who gets handed the check.

It'll all take place in a furious two hours at our annual GPU Technology Conference, on April 6, 2016, in Silicon Valley. Last year, GTC drew some 4,000 attendees from 40-plus countries.

The 2015 Early Stage Challenge winner, Artomatix, will be a tough act to follow. See Artomatix's CTO impressions of participating here.

Artomatix — which uses deep learning to create artwork for video games – isn't the first startup to get a huge boost at ECS. Scores of featured startups have gone on to be acquired or to grow their business exponentially.

A few previous participants that have gone on to greatness include:

Oculus: The startup synonymous with VR appeared onstage and won an award at ECS in 2013. One year later, Facebook acquired it for $2 billion.
NaturalMotion: In 2010, we featured this gaming company's amazingly realistic physics simulation. Zynga acquired it last year for $527 million.
Elemental Technologies: This video streaming company, which won an award at our 2012 Emerging Companies Summit, is being acquired by Amazon for a reported $500 million.
Gaikai: Shortly after appearing at ECS in 2012, game-streaming pioneer Gaikai was acquired by Sony for $380 million.

We can help you, too.

Our eighth annual Emerging Companies Summit is set for April 6 in Silicon Valley. If selected to participate, you'll be able to introduce your company to some of the world's smartest investors and executives at our GPU Technology Conference, happening April 4-7 in the San Jose Convention Center.

So, let us know if your startup has raised less than $1 million in capital and uses GPUs for AI, visualization, robotics, automotive technology, entertainment, cloud or mobile computing.

Start by completing this form by Jan. 12, 2016.

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