Category: Business

Do you spend hours painstakingly curating the perfect Spotify playlist? We have the perfect side gig for you!

Playlist Push pays music lovers to give new songs a shot. They send over a track, and you listen. If you’re a Spotify user, your next step is to send the artist an honest review of the song. If you’re a TikToker, you make a video featuring the track.

Then, you get paid! How much? A lot. Spotify curators get up to $12 per track, while TikTok users can get up to $250 per video.

So why isn’t everyone getting paid to listen to music? Here’s the catch: the eligibility requirements for this lucrative side hustle are pretty strict. Spotify curators need a playlist with at least 1,000 followers and 30 active listeners; TikTokers need at least 31,000 followers with 3.1k views per video.

Could that be you? Read on.

What Is Playlist Push?

When evaluating a potential side hustle (especially one that sounds too good to be true!) it’s smart to figure out the company’s business model. So why would Playlist Push pay you to listen to music, exactly? Here’s the quick and dirty explanation.

Independent music artists struggle to get their music out there. But sometimes they get lucky: a popular curator adds their music to a playlist, or an influencer makes a video dancing to their song. This can get them a lot of exposure and sweet, sweet streaming money.

Playlist Push makes that lucky break a little more likely. Artists pay Playlist Push to share their work with influential music lovers in the hope that they’ll share it with their followers.

How Do You Apply?

Interested? Not so fast. There are strict requirements to become a Playlist Push curator.

Basically, you need to have a healthy following on Spotify or TikTok.

For Spotify curators, you need a playlist with

• 1,000 followers
• At least 30 active monthly listeners
• At least 1% active monthly listeners out of total
• No bot followers or listening activity

What’s more, that playlist cannot be:

• A movie or television soundtrack
• Based on a particular artist, song, or album
• From a specific decade
• Aimed at gaining followers (i.e. “Sub for Sub” or “Follow me!” in the title)

Here’s an example of a qualifying playlist from a real Playlist Push curator: “Ballet/Contemporary Dance/Modern Dance.” It has more than 9,000 likes, well over the 1,000 threshold. It’s organized around dance music that inspired the curator, not a particular decade, movie, or band. If you have a similar playlist, you’re in good shape to apply!

The requirements for TikTokers to be considered are simpler: at least 31,000 followers with 3,100 views per video to qualify.

Note: At the time of writing, there is a waitlist to be considered for the Playlist Push TikTok network.

How Do You Review Music on Playlist Push?

Once you’ve made it past Playlist Push’s strict eligibility requirements, what do you actually have to do? It depends on whether you’re a Spotify curator or TikTok influencer.

For Spotify curators, a typical day side hustling for Playlist Push might look a little something like this:

• Log in to the curator dashboard. If you get approved as a curator, you’ll get access to a private dashboard where you receive tracks for review.

• Listen to a track. The number of tracks curators receive per week varies. For instance, if you’re known for hip-hop playlists, and 10 hip-hop artists pay Playlist Push to promote their music one week, you might get 10 tracks for review. If you’re known for classical music, you might have to wait awhile.

• Write a high-quality review. Here’s an excerpt from a real Playlist Push review of a hip hop track: “Your voice matched with your flow goes really hard… Really well-made song where your voice is clearly your highlight but also well complimented by your lyrics and your beat.”

• Add the track to your playlist (optional). Playlist Push does not pay curators to add songs to their playlists. That would be against Spotify’s terms of service. But there’s always a chance the curator will love the track and add it to their playlist!

For TikTok curators, the process is a little different.

• Log in to the curator dashboard. 

• Pick a sound. TikTokers don’t get access to tracks to review – they get sounds to use in videos. The sounds come from real tracks by up-and-coming artists. According to Playlist Push, TikTokers can expect to see at least 30 new sounds per month.

• Make and post a TikTok. If you get inspired, you can use the sound in a TikTok and post it.

• Send the link to Playlist Push. Once they see you’ve shared the sound with your followers, you can get paid!

How Much Can You Earn?

Spotify Curators can expect between $1 and $15 per review. Why do some curators get a buck while others get $15? It comes down to a few factors. Curators with more followers and more active listeners are more valuable to artists, so they get higher payment.

TikTokers can expect up to $250 per video. Similarly, a bigger following means bigger payments.

Members of the Playlist Push network get paid via Venmo or direct deposit.

Other Ways to Make Money to Listen to Music

Playlist Push isn’t the only company paying music curators to check out indie artists. Partnered Projects, Indie Music Academy, and SubmitHub have a similar business model. If you get rejected as a curator with Playlist Push, you could give these companies a try.

Love music but hate influencing? There’s more than one way to make money with music. You can teach music classes, perform, or even put your own music on Spotify for extra cash. Read more here.

Contributor Ciara McLaren is a freelance writer with work in HuffPost, MoneyGeek, and The Penny Hoarder. You can find her on Substack (@camclaren). 

What Penny Hoarder hasn’t been tempted by the thrill of a good deal?

If you’re into brand name goods, you’ve probably been lured to the local outlet mall in the hopes of snagging some luxury items at deep, deep discounts.

Whether you’re shopping for mid-range brands like Gap and Banana Republic, or the higher-end houses, like Coach and Burberry — outlet malls seem like great places to splurge at a fraction of the cost.

But are you really getting huge discounts at outlet stores? Unfortunately, the answer is usually no.

Here’s the truth about outlet stores that they don’t want you to know.

Do Outlet Stores Offer High Quality at Low Prices?

One reason to consider luxury labels (albeit at a wildly discounted cost) is because they’re made to last. Yes, part of their jacked-up price is due to the brand name, but it’s also because luxury goods are often made of higher-quality fabrics in a higher-quality manner.

If you don’t care that the Coach bag you got at an outlet is “so last season,” you can probably expect it to weather several seasons and still look fabulous, unlike the cute bags you might pick up for a steal at Target that last less than a year if you’re lucky.

Right?

Not necessarily.

Most consumers assume outlet malls stock their shelves — and clearance racks — with excess inventory, end-of-season or slightly flawed factory seconds (think: a seam with a few errant stitches). In other words, the same stuff you’d find at full-price retail stores.

But the truth is, many outlet stores sell their items cheaper than their retail counterparts because their quality is cheaper, too.

Say hello to a dirty little industry secret: made-for-outlet products.

As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports on its Consumer Information blog:

“Many stores sell products at their outlets made exclusively for those outlets. These items may be of lower quality than what’s sold in the regular stores. For example, a jacket might not be fully lined, the stripes on a shirt may not match up at the seams, a t-shirt may be made of a lighter-weight fabric, and shoes might be made with synthetic materials rather than real leather. If top quality is important, you may want to shop elsewhere. But if it’s the brand, style, or look that’s key, you may be in the right place.”

This fact is so little known that four members of Congress wrote the FTC in 2014 requesting it investigate the “potentially misleading marketing practices” of outlet stores.

And in 2017, when outlet shopping was dominating, Forbes also highlighted “that outlet malls fail to offer real deals since much of the product is specifically made for the locations.”

In essence, luxury brands are knocking off themselves, then selling those knockoffs to you — whether you realize it or not. At least when you buy a knockoff from a street vendor in New York City, you enter into the transaction fully aware you’re not getting the real deal.

The Lure of the Experience at Outlet Malls

So maybe the quality of outlet items isn’t on par with what you’d find in a traditional store — but some outlet retailers are focused on shopper experience over the lure of the label.

That means you can still sport something made by brands you normally couldn’t afford and enjoy a great outlet store experience.

According to Retail Leader, not only are outlet malls moving ahead of regular malls in terms of size and selection, some outlet retailers are designing immersive shopping experiences that encourage consumers to stay longer and shop more.

We talked to Richard Laermer, public relations guru and author of eight books on marketing and bargain hunting, including “Trendspotting.”

“What does an outlet provide in a good way? Well, probably a good time,” he said. “It’s a great way to spend an afternoon, hanging with friends and buying cheap goods.”

But I’m Still Getting a Discount at Outlet Stores … Right?

All right, so you’re getting potentially lower-quality items that may not even be manufactured by the brand whose label is on them. But at the very least, you get the thrill of buying something for a fraction of its original cost, right?

Maybe.

Some outlet stores like Dooney & Bourke have a reputation for brand quality legitimacy. We asked Catherine Koziol, a savvy shopper who used to work at a high-end outlet shopping mall in South Florida.

“Although prices may not be that much better, in terms of the bags, they appear to be the same as the ones on the regular website,” Koziol said.

In her experience, sometimes outlet shops get “retail transfers” which is the same brand name, same quality merchandise that sells at regular stores, just marked down.

“But most of the stuff is ‘made for outlet,’ which means cheaper quality,” Koziol said.

Not so at Dooney & Bourke, according to Richard Laermer.

“As for Dooney & Bourke, this is a totally unique idea. It’s almost all online and that is really cool,” he said. “They also seem to sell more quality.”

What About Online Outlet Stores?

If it’s the discount you’re after and not the breezy, outdoor, browsing-for-hours shopping experience, why not shop at an online outlet store?

Fact: Comparing prices online can save you money. Especially when you’re not tempted with in-person impulse buys.

So, if you turn your outlet mall obsession virtual, you can save yourself the gas money and still score some great deals, especially at these 10 online outlet stores.

• Amazon Outlet
• J. Crew Factory
• Best Buy Outlet
• 6pm
• Neiman Marcus Last Call
• REI Outlet
• Zales Outlet
• Reebok Outlet
• Nordstrom Rack
• Burkes Outlet

So Are Outlet Stores Even Worth Visiting?

While all this info may feel a bit doom-and-gloom, there’s still nothing wrong with shopping at an outlet store — so long as you do so with your eyes wide open as a savvy consumer.

“Most people go to outlet malls as sport,” said Laermer. “But just don’t think there’s a bargain in poor-selling old models of clothing and other goods.”

Despite a downturn in consumers flocking to physical stores, retailers are increasing their outlet presence.

So if you still love the idea of fooling your fashionista friends with a “luxury” item they think you spent a fortune on, go right ahead. Your secret’s safe with us.

Contributor Veronica Leone Matthews is a North Carolina-based freelance writer with 11 years of experience writing for non-profits and higher education. She covers lifestyle topics for The Penny Hoarder. Freelance blogger Kelly Ernst and deputy editor Tiffany Wendeln Connors contributed.

When you’re looking to start a new career, what are the factors you should take into consideration?

First of all, the career should be something you’re passionate about. Second, it should be able to provide you with the lifestyle you want to live. That could mean work-life balance, career advancement opportunities and, of course, enough money to support your dreams.

That doesn’t mean an entry-level position is going to make you six-figures this year. But you should look at the earning potential of each possible career and what it would take to reach your ideal salary.

We’ll outline some of the highest-paying jobs in 2023, plus how to leverage job sites like ZipRecruiter to find openings.

How to Prepare For a High-Paying Job

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a study every year about the highest-paying jobs, including wage estimates, number of job openings, on-the-job training programs and what it takes to land a job in one of these highest-paying occupations.

If you want one of the highest-paying careers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics study shows that many of them require additional schooling and certifications. But not every high-paying career is only available to people with an advanced degree.

For example, the highest paying job in America is a cardiologist — making an average salary of $350,000 per year — but it requires more than a decade of medical school, internships and residencies before you can make that much. Not to mention, you’ll have to pay back those student loans. But with a master’s degree, you can still enter the medical field as a nurse practitioner and make over $100,000.

With only a bachelor’s degree, you could start a career in marketing and work your way up. Marketing managers can make a median salary of $140,000 per year. In the Bureau of Labor Statistics section on how to become a marketing manager, it says that many people currently in these roles were former sales representatives.

Sales representatives, no matter the industry, can start at an entry level position with zero experience. Most companies will offer additional training, giving their sales reps in-depth knowledge about the company’s product and how to best sell it to customers. By gaining experience as a sales representative, people can build their careers into sales managers, marketing managers and even C-level executives.

But not all high-paying jobs require a degree or formal training. Especially these days, self-taught coders and software engineers can land a job working at technology companies without ever stepping foot in a university or completing a formal education. And not only are these positions in high demand for employers, but you can also start off making an average salary of more than $100,000, if you land at the right company and have the skills needed. No need to take the bar exam or step into an operating room.

The Highest-Paying Jobs in the U.S. 2023

Don’t know where to start? These are the highest-paying jobs in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

How to Find High-Paying Jobs

There are plenty of ways to find a job, but how can you find the highest-paying jobs? A lot of companies don’t list the average salary range on their job postings, so it can be difficult to know if it’s worth your time. If you need to make at least $75,000 a year, but you don’t find out the pay is $55,000 until you get an offer, you could be wasting weeks or months.

So first things first, do your research. Learn what positions have high earning potential and what industries dole out bigger paychecks. Some industries with the highest-paying jobs include healthcare, engineering, information technology, finance, energy and legal.

Next, use a website like ZipRecruiter to search for high-paying jobs in your area. Not only can you use their search bar to find jobs by keyword or job title, you can also filter by average salary range (and by several other filters, too).

ZipRecruiter makes it easy to find and apply for jobs that will help you reach your earning potential. By using the website for your job search, you’ll have access to real salary data from millions of active job postings. You’ll be able to see real salaries from more than 35,000 job titles — from computer science to human resources— giving you the confidence to negotiate fair pay for yourself.

Transparency about salaries is… not exactly a strong suit for most employers. But with ZipRecruiter’s help, you can find, apply for and negotiate a higher-paying job for yourself. 71% of job seekers earned a higher salary when they found a job on ZipRecruiter.

It’s totally free to use and only takes a minute to sign up for an account.

How to Prepare for a High-Paying Job

In order to increase your value to employers, there are many things you need to do to show off why you’re worth a high salary. It’s not just having education and experience, but also establishing yourself as an expert and making yourself more desirable to companies.

1. Grow your skill set. This can be done by taking online courses or taking on cross-departmental projects at your current job. The more skills you have, the more desirable you may be to potential high-paying employers.
2. Set yourself up to be a leader. There’s no doubt that being in a supervisory position will earn you more money, no matter your job or industry. So even if you’re not a manager yet, you could offer to mentor an entry-level employee and attend management training seminars.
3. Get noticed. Just because you’re not Gary Vaynerchuk doesn’t mean you can’t make a name for yourself. By posting about your expertise often on social media, including LinkedIn and TikTok, you can establish credibility and get noticed. This can set you up to become an expert in your field.

Additionally, if you have some available cash, hiring a career coach can help you land a higher-paying role. The average price is around $75/hour.

If not? Network, network, network. You never know who can introduce you to a hiring manager and give you a glowing reference. Plus, you can connect with higher-ups in your network for free advice (or at least the price of a coffee) to help you navigate your path to a higher paying position.

The Future of High-Paying Jobs

While there will always be high-paying jobs associated with high levels of education — doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. — the future of well-paid employees is seeing a trend toward self-taught skills and social expertise.

Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and a decade in school can help ensure a good salary, but the future of high-paying employment is seeing people ascend the ranks without ever having stepped foot in a masters program. Many are even self-taught or have taken advantage of what the internet has to offer, in terms of training.

So are you ready to change your future and pursue a high-paying career? Start your search for that next high-salary position on ZipRecruiter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Kari Faber is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.

The modern age, and all of the means that have come along with that, primarily through factors like the internet, have allowed for the emergence of a greater number of successful startup companies than ever before. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a sure thing if you’re behind such a venture, but it does mean that you have a much higher degree of flexibility in your approach than you would have had previously.

Part of this is exposure, but part of it is also having access to the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of companies like yours that have gone before you. Identifying your startup launch needs can help you to navigate these early waters with efficiency and precision.

Tools, Space, and Resources

The way that you approach this aspect of your startup is going to be radically different depending on what it is your business aims to do. However, at least having an idea of how you approach these will be handy. Many startups, for example, opt for a work-from-home setup due to the money that saves on a dedicated office, and how it allows you to be more far-reaching in who you recruit. If you do need tools, it’s important to know of relevant stores, such as hotairtools.com – plastic welding supplies, or something like Staples if you need office supplies.

What you need might range from being essential to your operations to being something that would be useful daily, but being prepared in this regard is invaluable.

Employees

As mentioned previously, you might opt for a work-from-home setup in part due to how it makes it easier to approach the topic of hiring employees. There are many recruitment platforms that specifically focus on promoting startup companies, which can help to give you a greater degree of visibility in this regard over more established employers.

If this is your first foray into the business world, it’s also important that you have an understanding of how to work with people in the employer/employee sense, as a lack of communication, or a perceived unfairness on your behalf, might make the working relationship more difficult than it needs to be, which is something that could go on to negatively impact your operations at large.

A Business Plan

Perhaps most important of all is to have a strong business plan. This is not only something for your benefit, with being aware of how you’re going to move forward, but you also need it to show to investors and prove that you know what you’re doing enough to be worth the money you want from them. Something that a lot of startup companies struggle with is funding, so when an opportunity like this arises, you must make a strong first impression.

It might be that you have no prior experience in this area and, therefore, the prospect of having some help might go a long way. This help might come in the form of people you’re working with, but there are also plenty of resources online to help reassure you and push you in the right direction on your startup launch needs.

As one of the leading pan-European competitions, EIT Digital Challenge aims to identify the best European deep tech entrepreneurs and help them scale up internationally. Since its launch in 2014, the competition has attracted thousands of applications from more than 33 European countries. Back for its Ninth Edition, EIT Digital Challenge seeks fast-growing companies with a differentiated product offering across Digital Tech, Digital Cities, Digital Industry, Digital Wellbeing & Digital Finance. Many of the previous winning scaleups have moved on to become internationally successful companies.

Discover SidekickHealth – an EIT Digital Success Story

In 2019, Nordic digital therapeutics (DTx) innovator SidekickHealth competed in the EIT Digital Challenge and from a field of hundreds of applicants was selected as a finalist in the Digital Wellbeing category.

Starting in January 2020, Sidekick was actively supported by the fundraising experts in EIT Digital Accelerator’s Access to Finance team. The team’s experts helped Sidekick launch and coordinate a round that closed at USD 20 million. The round was led by Wellington Partners (Germany) and ASABYS Partners (Spain), with participation by existing investors Novator (UK) and Frumtak Ventures (Iceland).

“The EIT Digital Accelerator team delivered critical support during this process and was key in the successful closing of our fundraising: in addition to providing invaluable feedback and advice, their systematic management of the process and coordinated efforts allowed us to meet with all the right investors from across Europe in a very short period of time.”, says Dr. Tryggvi Thorgeirsson, CEO & Co-Founder of SidekickHealth.

Learn more from EIT Digital’s Fundraising Specialists

We spoke to Francisco Ibañez Diez & Daniel Auriel, Fundraising Specialists from EIT Digital’s Access-to-Finance Team to learn more about the prize – entry into the EIT Digital Accelerator worth € 50 thousand – as well as about the EIT Digital Challenge.

The success of SidekickHealth is inspiring – what are the key factors that, in your opinion, allow scaleups to get the most out of a collaboration with the EIT Digital Accelerator program?

Sidekick Health was indeed a great story. The credit belongs to them. They are one of the best teams we have worked with in the program: they were so fast and efficient that we could almost barely keep up with them, to be honest.

In general, scaleups get the most value out of participation in the EIT Digital accelerator when they come well prepared but are still eager to learn. Those founders that have given a lot of thought to the details of their business will be in a great position to act on the expert advice EIT Digital’s access to finance team can provide.

In your experience, why do you believe EIT Digital is ideally positioned to help startups & scaleups raise funds and accelerate their business?

Our team of technology financing specialists knows what it takes for digital ventures to secure funding from professional venture capital investors. Our knowledge of the funding process and deep understanding of investors’ exacting requirements make all the difference to your funding success.

Leveraging a network of 1000+ investors, EIT Digital Accelerator has directly facilitated over €130 million in investment for its portfolio companies. In total, the portfolio and alumni scaleups have raised close to €1 billion.

Additionally, one of the challenges of fundraising startups is getting investor attention, as we all know. Being able to have warm introductions through our extensive “live” network makes a real difference. Not only that, but we can also leverage our place in the EU-Commission ecosystem when we “cold-reach” investors outside our original network as we continuously explore potential matches for our portfolio companies.

The EU-Commission brand is known by pretty much everyone, everywhere, and it is recognized that players belonging to this ecosystem are serious, credible, and professional. This allows us to open many doors that would otherwise not react to cold outreach efforts.

Can you introduce our readers to the EIT Digital Access-to-Finance team? What are its functions and how can scaleups benefit from interacting with them?

The Access-to-Finance team is made up of very senior individuals with diverse and complementary backgrounds. They all have a direct startup and/or venture capital experience, i.e. they have all been on one or both sides of the fundraising/investment fence. They each closely cover a region where they maintain direct personal contacts with dozens, even hundreds, of investors.

Each company that joins the program is mentored and supported by one of them personally, and by the whole team collectively as the progress and challenges of each company are debated in weekly team meetings. Here, everything relevant is addressed, from fundraising strategy and investor targeting to data room and documentation, from presentation skills to due diligence – it’s all covered. Each entrepreneur is uniquely sophisticated, and we adjust how we support them as needed, all the way until the investment is signed and wired.

The process by which this support is given is characterized by two phases:

• Investment Readiness (Phase 1): The EIT Digital Accelerator will review and discuss with the scaleups regarding fundraising material and help them to present their activity accurately in business terms and a structure familiar to financial investors. The fundraising material includes a crisp Two-Liner, a One-page Teaser, and a Pitch Deck. In addition, the Accelerator will coach the management and founders of the scaleups via individual and group training to professionalize presentation techniques and skills in order to make the best impression and selling point to potential investors.
• Meeting Investors (Phase 2): After successfully completing the first phase of the Access to Finance Program, the Accelerator will introduce potential investors from its ecosystem to the scaleups. The objective of these introductions is to trigger interest from potential investors who may request follow-up meetings and discussions.

What can the finalists of the EIT Digital Challenge expect from the exclusive closed-door event?

Each of the 20 selected finalists will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Brussels for the final event. At this exclusive event, finalists will have private access to dozens of VCs. And of course, they’ll do so in the company of other high-performing scaleups from across Europe. The highlight of the day will be a pitch competition where each finalist can make the case for why they will be Europe’s next digital unicorn.

The day will wrap up with a VIP dinner where all finalists will have yet another chance to hold direct conversations with VCs. While the five winners will walk away with a spot in the EIT Digital Accelerator program, all 20 finalists will receive free marketing promotion by EIT Digital, acknowledging their prominent place amongst Europe’s best deep tech scaleups.

Are there any additional benefits companies should expect by accessing the EIT Digital Accelerator program?

Besides everything mentioned above, the Accelerator will provide a variety of growth and support services to scaleups to allow them to expand throughout and possibly beyond Europe. For example:

• EXCLUSIVE INVESTOR MEETINGS & EVENTS – Targeted connections to the right VCs and corporate venture funds & access to exclusive investor events.
• EXPERTISE ON DEEP TECH SCALEUPS – Our team is composed of experts with engineering backgrounds that understand well the potential of technologies and their related business models.
• MARKET READINESS – Via the support of a dedicated team of Business Developers, the Accelerator will provide support to scaleups to get ready to launch their business in one or more European countries or even the US.
• STRATEGIC COACHING – Provisioning of expert coaching and strategic advice to accelerate growth & go-to-market strategies to commercialize mature technologies and innovative solutions.
• ACCESS TO MARKET – EIT Digital Accelerator will actively support scaleups by identifying international prospects and facilitating introductions.

 

Ready to scale your business with EIT? Apply for the EIT Digital Challenge today!

 

 

 

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Sharing is Caring!

TE Connectivity develops highly engineered solutions that power electric vehicles, aircraft, digital factories, and smart homes. For more than 75 years, TE has partnered with customers to produce connectivity and sensing products that make a connected world possible. With a strong focus on reliability and durability, TE’s extensive range of products enable companies – both large and small – to turn ideas into technology that transforms how the world works and lives tomorrow. In this context, TE is launching the “Power Up with E-mobility” Startup Challenge!

Discover the “Power Up with E-mobility” Startup Challenge

Since the beginning, TE Connectivity has been one of the leading players in mobility electrification working with almost every automotive OEM and tier-one supplier worldwide. In essence, almost every car has a TE component in it!

The “Power Up with E-mobility” Startup Challenge is open to startups, small businesses & university research teams, and spin-offs working on tech solutions across four specific categories:

• Connect: TE is looking for next-generation connectivity solutions that are faster, smaller, more reliable, and more efficient. How do you get more out of less?
• Protect: Pushing the boundaries on power and power density, also in combination with increased high-speed data communication, needs to be carefully managed. How do you make E-mobility safer?
• Sense: Data can help to improve almost everything – what insights do you generate to boost the performance of E-mobility solutions?
• Other: Do you help advance electric mobility in another way? Do not hesitate to apply! TE is always interested in innovative technologies that enable the future of E-mobility.

In addition, your solution must be at least at Technology Readiness Level 6.

For more background, TE builds high-voltage connectivity and sensing solutions that are the electrical foundation for safe and reliable zero-emission cars. TE’s range of EV products covers the complete spectrum of EV energy transfer – providing safe, reliable, durable, and efficient electrical systems connectivity that meets the increased power ratings and higher thermal and vibration requirements that design engineers demand.

Explore the Benefits of the “Power Up with E-mobility” Startup Challenge

Six top applicants will be invited to an exclusive internal pitching event where you will have the opportunity to interact with TE engineering and business leadership, as well as subject matter experts. Apart from the cash prize, TE offers the following benefits to all the six finalists:

• Cash Prize: USD 30,000 for one final winner, equity-free & no strings attached.
• Expert Collaboration: Closely interact with TE Engineering in an intensive & intimate two-day collaboration.
• Internal Access: Enjoy access to TE’s experts, products, tools, processes, and data, as well as its deep knowledge of automotive and transportation industry requirements.
• Executive Networking: Gain exposure to senior TE leadership from its Business, Engineering, Strategy, M&A, and Marketing teams.
• Potential Pilot Project: TE may offer the six finalists the opportunity to subsequently collaborate on a Proof of Concept (PoC) or Pilot Project with TE’s Transportation Solutions Segment.
• Global Publicity: A public press announcement of the six finalists and the winner across TE’s communication channels.

Your applications will be evaluated by the leadership functions of TE’s Transportation Solutions Segment which is comprised of four business units – Automotive, Industrial & Commercial Transportation, Sensors & Application Tooling, as well as Business Unit Leadership from TE’s Senior Engineering, Product Management, Strategy & Marketing teams.

Important Dates and Challenge Timeline

• The last date for submitting your application is 4th November 2022.
• Applications Evaluation ends by the end of November 2022.
• Virtual Pitching Events will be held between 6th and 8th December 2022.

More about the Exclusive Virtual Pitching Events

Day 1: 6th December 2022 – An exclusive Pitching Event for the Six Finalists will be held online for a global TE internal audience.

Day 2: 7th December 2022 – After the Pitching Event, each finalist will be matched with a team of pre-selected TE engineers for a virtual collaboration session. The overall time window of this teamwork will be around 40 hours. The goal of the collaboration is to apply the applicants’ technology to either a new or improved product, process, or service.

Day 3: 8th December 2022 – Finally, on the third day, the joint proposals will be presented with real-time scoring by a jury followed by winner selection.

 

Ready to create a safer, more sustainable, productive & connected future with TE Connectivity? Apply today!

 

 

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TE Connectivity develops highly engineered electrical, data, and sensing solutions that power electric vehicles, aircraft, digital factories, and smart homes. By partnering with its customers, TE’s products and services help to make a more connected world possible. TE is seeking applications for its “Power Up with E-mobility” Startup Challenge to find innovative solutions and also help them scale up.

In this context, TE invites startups, small businesses, university research teams & spin-offs from all over the world working on the next generation of connectivity and sensor technologies to apply and scale your E-mobility solution. Since the beginning, TE Connectivity has been one of the leading players in mobility electrification working with almost every automotive OEM and tier-one supplier worldwide.

Why join TE’s “Power Up with E-mobility” Challenge?

Six Finalists will be invited to an exclusive internal pitching event where you will get the opportunity to interact with TE experts in engineering, product management leadership, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Besides the cash prize, TE offers the following benefits to all six finalists:

• Cash Prize: USD 30,000 for one final winner – equity-free & no strings attached.
• Expert Exposure: The six finalists will get to closely interact with senior TE leaders from its business, engineering, strategy, and M&A teams.
• Collaboration & Network: TE will host an intimate collaboration in a two-day session with TE Engineering for the six finalists.
• Expert Access: Gain access to TE’s experts, products, tools, data, and customers, as well as automotive and transportation industry requirements.
• Global Publicity: A public press announcement of the six finalists and the winner across TE’s communication channels.
• Potential Pilot Project: Finally, TE may provide the six finalists with the opportunity to collaborate in a proof of concept (PoC) or Pilot Project.

Discover What’s Next for E-Mobility at TE Connectivity

We spoke to Qiong Son, global Vice President of TE’s Automotive E-mobility business, where she oversees the product portfolio, technology strategy, and future solutions for automotive E-mobility. Read on to discover what’s next for TE’s E-mobility future.

In your opinion, what makes the future so exciting for electric mobility?

Electric vehicles are no longer a niche option for early adopters — they’re the future of mobility. EVs are already one of the fastest-growing segments in the automobile market, with worldwide sales doubling in 2021. That rapid growth rate is likely to continue as governments and auto manufacturers set ambitious targets to have EVs make up 40%, 50%, or even 100% of new car sales within the next 10 to 15 years.

TE Connectivity has spent more than two decades collaborating with automotive manufacturers to create electrical components uniquely suited for the demands of the evolving EV market. While each manufacturer’s EV designs are unique, we’ve developed an approach that allows us to deliver customized EV solutions where needed, while still pursuing the industry-wide goals for higher performance and lower costs to help the EV market reach its full potential.

One of the significant challenges preventing the higher adoption of e-mobility solutions is EV charging capabilities. How is TE tackling this challenge?

The challenge for EV designers is ensuring that their vehicles can handle the challenges of ultrafast charging. Every component — from the charging inlet to the connectors, wiring, and battery contactors — must be designed to manage the higher temperatures that come with high-voltage fast charging.

TE’s engineers have launched a high-performance charging inlet capable of carrying 350 kilowatts of electricity at 500 amps. We are now working on an ultra-high-power DC charging inlet capable of delivering 640-kilowatt power, which will charge a battery for a 200-mile drive in about 10 minutes.

For example, TE’s new TENDUR surface plating technology for EV charging inlets uses an innovative combination of silver and graphite, delivering strong electrical conductivity performance with lubrication from its embedded graphite particles. This state-of-the-art contact plating provides superior abrasion resistance and delivers continuous high-performance charging throughout the vehicle’s lifetime.

What’s more, TENDUR was recently recognized as a finalist for the 2022 PACE Innovation Award from Automotive News. I was delighted to accept our recognition plaque on behalf of TE Connectivity and all of our engineers.

Staying with charging & charging infrastructure, energy storage – particularly batteries – still struggle to perform and last at the level of consumers’ expectations. What does TE have in its pipeline to overcome this bottleneck?

Battery longevity depends on several subsystems and components within the vehicle. To support a longer lifespan, a battery must safely switch on and off during normal vehicle operational modes and be protected against abnormal conditions that can damage it.

TE’s high-voltage contactors are an essential piece of this safety system, providing a way to switch between batteries or shut the battery down entirely in the case of a short circuit or excessive current load. In addition, pairing these contactors with low-resistance terminations to avoid power losses and a battery management system to prevent the battery pack from overheating can help keep batteries operational for the vehicle’s life.

Finally, what are TE’s main priorities and/or focus areas for strengthening and building the future of electric mobility?

As EV manufacturers race to develop more powerful, efficient vehicles, they must remain focused on another major consideration for EV drivers: environmental sustainability. TE is playing its part in this effort with innovations such as our GreenSilver contact surface technology for high-voltage EV connectors.

By selectively applying silver to limited areas of the connection surface, GreenSilver uses less precious metal than traditional connectors, while still delivering the same electrical performance and enhanced vibration and heat tolerance needed for EV powertrains. In addition, the proprietary, non-galvanic dry plating process does not use any hazardous materials and achieves a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions and a 99% reduction in freshwater consumption during production.

TE is committed to helping manufacturers deliver the advancements in performance, efficiency, and reliability needed to fully realize the age of the electric vehicle.

 

Ready to scale your business with TE? Click here to apply for “Power Up with E-mobility”

 

 

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LG believes that diverse inclusive perspectives can lead to better innovation. LG NOVA, LG’s new innovation center based in Silicon Valley, is looking to partner with innovative startups and entrepreneurs. With its global reach and infrastructure, LG believes it is in an ideal position to help these ideas succeed for the betterment of people, communities, and the planet. The LG NOVA Mission for the Future 2022 is a global startup engagement program for startups and entrepreneurs to propose their ideas to LG.

Discover the LG NOVA Mission for the Future 2022 Open Innovation Program

The LG NOVA team and the Mission for the Future program have been set up to offer resources to nurture and grow businesses with startups. These resources include the opportunity for grant funding to explore pilots and proofs-of-concept (POCs) and/or equity investments where relevant.

Key Focus Areas of Mission for the Future 2022

LG NOVA’s Mission for the Future is seeking new and innovative solutions in six key areas that improve the quality of life for people, communities, and the planet:

• Digital Health: Transforming the concept of health and wellness.
• Metaverse & Gaming: Building immersive, boundless experiences for all.
• ESG & Electric Mobility: Accelerating the growth of sustainability.
• Display Solutions: Changing lifestyle of people and community.
• Smart Lifestyle: Exploring new innovations for better living.
• Open Innovation: Discovering new ideas that will help create the future.

Mission for the Future Benefits & Opportunities

Startups selected to advance in this program will enter an incubation and commercial acceleration program with the LG NOVA team to further test and explore business ideas. These companies may also be eligible for the following benefits:

• Collaborate with LG for potential opportunities to develop multi-million-dollar engagements as new businesses within LG’s global innovation portfolio.
• Receive grant funding of up to USD 100 000 for pilots, proofs of concept (POCs), or development.
• Receive resources and potential investments from LG Electronics, LG Display, and other LG NOVA affiliates that could total in millions of dollars.

Important Dates & Program Timeline

The deadline to submit your proposal is October 20th – apply now!

• Mid-October to December: Evaluations and Selection process. LG NOVA may invite companies to come to pitch their idea to the LG team and work with EIRs.
• January 2023 Onwards: Proposal idea/pilot formation process with LG NOVA Incubation team. The engagement process continues.

Selected companies will enter into a six- to nine-month collaborative process with LG. This will be a time for evaluation, testing, and piloting. Up to 10 companies will be selected as the finalists.

Are You Eligible for LG NOVA Mission for the Future?

The Mission for the Future 2022 is open to all types of applicants, including:

• Companies of any size
• Academic Researchers
• Research Institutions
• Entrepreneurs
• Inventors

Teams and collaborative groups of one or more individuals or companies can also apply.

Why Work with LG NOVA?

LG NOVA’s Entrepreneurs-in-Residence are well-versed in what is required to take a business from startup to scale-up and beyond. They are motivated to develop market fit, advance product customer testing, align resources, find capital, facilitate introductions and expand application ideas to help startups succeed. Further, LG NOVA benefits from its strong network of corporate partners, public and private organizations, advisors, and industry leaders who are ready to build a better future.

Ready to collaborate with LG NOVA & globally scale your business? Apply today!

 

 

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Do you have questions about the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge? Attend the next webinar & look out for the session with Scott Williamson, Senior Vice President at the Reinsurance Association of America, and RISE Executive Director Paul Robinson, on Thursday, 1st December at 2 pm EST. The discussions will focus on the Community Disaster Resilience Zone Act, the bipartisan legislation that will designate communities most at risk from natural hazards, and how it will help direct public and private funds to meaningful resilience projects. Scott will also discuss the NFIP Risk Rating 2.0 and how it affects the current flood insurance environment.

RISE is a non-profit, economic development organization that accelerates innovation and business growth around solutions to coastal communities’ most intractable problems. Through its Challenges, more than 300 entrepreneurs and businesses from across the globe have competed to join RISE’s comprehensive program and win a funded pilot project using coastal Virginia as a living laboratory to test and refine their climate tech solutions. RISE acts as a “one-stop shop” for innovative solutions by identifying pilot sites, coordinating installation, developing an evaluation plan, and facilitating business development. To address the gaps between flood risk and protection, RISE Resilience is launching the Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge.

Does Your Solution Help Reduce Flood Insurance Protection Gaps?

As current insurance strategies struggle to accurately identify, minimize and cover the risk to properties that are increasingly susceptible to flooding, RISE is looking for solutions that have the potential to reduce flood insurance premiums and payouts by 50%.

To achieve this, RISE Resilience has identified multiple topic areas as suggestions to companies including new sources of capital and approaches to insurance, linking risk mitigation solutions to reduce risk transfer costs, and enhancing accuracy and granularity of data and processing capabilities.

Implement Your Solution in Real World Pilot Testing Sites

All the winning solutions must be implemented in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. This region provides a unique testbed for the development and demonstration of solutions for the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge since:

• It is the location of many current and planned resilience projects.
• The regional cities are proactive in hosting and assessing new resilience technologies and approaches.
• RISE has extensive experience in developing and running resilience Challenges in this region.

Explore the Benefits of Joining the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge

Since 2018, RISE has deployed over US $6 million to more than 35 businesses developing new, scalable products and services that help coastal communities adapt to climate change impacts. RISE provides selected companies with technical, government, and business mentors, investor matchmaking, customized accelerator curriculum, and ongoing support to get their businesses to the next level while solving communities’ resilience needs.

If selected, RISE will support your business in the following ways:

• Access to the Resilience Innovation Fund (non-equity, non-dilutive)
• Access to the Resilience Innovation Accelerator
• Access to real world datasets, testbeds & pilot sites
• Fabrication & testing spaces
• Co-working office spaces
• Regulatory & permits support
• Become a part of an established resilience community
• PR and media visibility
• Strategic collaborations with experts and stakeholders

What’s more, RISE offers variable funding awards to both single companies (up to US $300K) as well as teams of companies (up to US $750K) developing integrated solutions. Call your partners today!

What Type of Solutions Is RISE Looking For?

Apply for the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge if you work on solutions that:

• Offer new sources of capital and approaches to flood insurance.
• Integrate with resilience infrastructure projects underway or planned in the Hampton Roads region, resulting in a reduction in risk and insurance costs. This includes assessing current resilience projects for their impacts on insurance, as well as proposing or guiding future projects.
• Build on past or current flood insurance program approaches — for example, community-based or parametric, to demonstrate effectiveness on a city-wide basis.
• Some insurance approaches require measurement data in order to trigger a payout. There is a need for accurate and reliable measurement data and processes to accurately and reliably characterize the event which triggers the payout.
• Assist municipalities in reducing flood insurance premiums on a community-wide basis (for example, through a Community Rating System).
• Develop data, analysis, or modeling, to support and enhance insurance premium and payout reduction efforts. Some examples include:
  • Parcel-by-parcel information of properties (e.g., first-floor elevation, construction, flooding mitigations, etc.)
  • Critical infrastructure and other parameter mapping and cataloging to guide and improve the calculation of insurance costs.
• Products and processes to reduce fraud-related costs to insurance companies. This may include improved processes to detect fraud, prevent future fraud, and deal with fraudulent claims and practices more efficiently.
• Designs and plans for communities in Hampton Roads to establish Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ). These zones have been proposed as a federal structure that directs public and incentivizes private-sector funding for resilience projects to communities most in need and most at risk from significant natural disasters. CDRZ communities would be provided a menu of funding and financing options to pay for resilience projects to better protect them against significant natural disaster risks.

This Challenge seeks solutions to be applied to specific planned efforts in Hampton Roads communities, for example, the “Ghent to Harbor Park Flood Protection Program” planned with the USACE in the City of Norfolk, as well as focuses on those activities required to meet the Challenge goals.

Submissions will be considered in areas other than those described above if the achievement of the Challenge goal can be demonstrably met.

RISE Focuses on Supporting Companies That Help Tackle Climate Change

RISE has initiated more than 30 novel pilot projects to solve the climate challenges that coastal communities face today. Examples include:

• The world’s first integration of flood modeling technology with Waze offers drivers real-time alerts to help them navigate flooded roads.
• The nation’s first Home Raising Academy piloting workforce training and certification in the home elevation industry.
• Mobile manufacturing units that produce affordable shoreline protection structures to mitigate flooding faster and safer.
• Stormwater monitoring software and sensors that give real-time analytics and alerts to prevent flooding, decrease costs, help prioritize retrofits, and plan future infrastructure projects.

Ready to scale your flood risk management solution? Click here to apply for the RISE Resilience Flood Insurance for the Future Challenge! Submit your application by 7th December.

 

 

 

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Renewable energy leader Iberdrola invites startups to participate in its Autonomous Offshore Inspections Startup Challenge. Iberdrola seeks fully autonomous or remotely controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that will optimize the inspection of Iberdrola’s offshore assets, particularly focusing on, although not limited to, detection of anomalies and faults in wind turbine blades and foundations.

Iberdrola is well-placed as a global leader in the offshore wind market. Offshore wind has become a leading growth vector for Iberdrola with current offshore wind assets of 1.26 GW and a further pipeline of 9.6 GW, both under development and construction, expected to come into operation by 2027.

Does Your Solution Optimize Autonomous Offshore Inspections for Wind Energy Assets?

Offshore environments can be harsh with extreme weather conditions. Iberdrola is looking for UAV solutions that are able to withstand these conditions and also optimize maintenance inspections, reduce costs and time, as well as make it safer for its employees. For this challenge, Iberdrola seeks solutions that include the following:

• Fully autonomous self-driving or remotely operated vehicles (FASDVs or ROVs).
• Beyond Visual Line of Site (BVLOS) technology.
• Inspection systems for wind turbine components including blades and foundations.
• Minimal or zero downtime for wind turbines.
• Image/video capture and condition scan with subsequent data analysis.
• Full inspection packages including 3D modeling and digital twin solutions.
• Preventive maintenance and in-situ repair, if needed.
• Solutions that address both above- and below-water inspections.

However, if your proposal does not fit this challenge, it will also be analyzed, provided that the competitive advantages of the proposal for a specific type of site are clearly explained.

Explore the Benefits of Collaborating with Iberdrola

Besides earning its position as one of the top wind power operators worldwide for over 20 years, Iberdrola is well-seasoned in working with startups advancing emerging technologies. Over the last two years, Iberdrola has launched more than 19 Global Startup Challenges to solve various problems in today’s energy industry. Your benefits include:

• Collaboration Agreement & Pilot Test: The winner gets an opportunity to collaborate and sign test agreements with PERSEO or any other Iberdrola group company. The group will support the cost of the pilot activities.
• Access-all-Areas: Iberdrola will provide the winner with all necessary technical support, as well as a site and real data to test the solution. This includes access to equipment, teams, infrastructure, high-technology sites, and shared work areas.
• Scale Your Technology: If the pilot test is satisfactory, Iberdrola may offer the winner the opportunity to scale up the solution by adapting it through commercial agreements.
• Potential Investment: What’s more, PERSEO will consider investing in the participating company and/or the winner of the challenge.

Timeline & Structure of the Iberdrola Autonomous Offshore Inspection Startup Challenge

Applications close on 14th November — apply now!

• Evaluation of Proposals: January 2022
• Pilot Project Commencement: 2023

How will Iberdrola evaluate the proposals?

While evaluating your proposals, Iberdrola will consider the following value propositions, among others:

• The maturity and reliability of the solution
• Whether the device is self-operated
• Investment and operational costs
• Required working hours
• Ease of deployment, use, and maintenance
• Minimal training requirements to operate the solution
• Continuity of energy production
• Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) standard compliant

Ready to collaborate with Iberdrola and scale your autonomous offshore inspection solutions for wind energy assets? Apply today!

 

 

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