IMPACT Growth has extended the deadline of its open call until May, 16th, 2017. Take this last chance and apply to get up to € 250,000 funding equity free for your scale-up if working in the areas of Smart Infrastructures and Cities, Smart Content, Smart Manufacturing and Smart Agrifood.

IMPACT Growth Smart AgriFood is the new project from IMPACT Accelerator, one of the top ten accelerator programs in the world.

In partnership with Danone, they are looking to select growth-stage startups working to solve problems related to farming, agri-logistics and food awareness, and striving to create new applications for traceability, logistics and quality control in production and distribution.

Danone is an international corporation focusing on four business lines: Fresh Dairy Products, Waters, Baby Nutrition and Medical Nutrition, to bring health through food to as many people as possible. Present in over 140 countries, Danone has expanded in strategic geographies. Danone will bring its experience and knowhow to help startups in the Smart AgriFood sector succeed.

The startups that are selected for the program will receive €100,000 equity free — up to €250,000 for the best projects — as well as training and mentoring and the option to receive private investment from one of our partner investors and VCs: Kibo Ventures, Accelerace, INVESDOR.

IMPACT Growth is a high performance and equity free acceleration program supported by Fundingbox, ISDI.education, Accelerace, Mobile World Capital Fiware Foundation, Kibo Ventures, Invesdor, Danone, Ferrovial, Docomo Digital, and MADE, among other big players. IMPACT Growth will invest €3.6 million euros equity free in 2017 and 2018.

The three-month acceleration program, led by ISDI and Accelerace, is de-localized, which means that startups can receive training, mentoring, and funding without having to move to another city or country. This means that startups don’t need to go through the hassle of establishing themselves in a foreign place, but can rather focus their efforts on expanding their business, attending the world’s top startup events, training camps, and networking events in Madrid, Copenhagen, London, Tel Aviv, and more.

The best startups will move on to a second phase of internationalization. The best projects will be awarded up to an additional €150,000 in equity free funding. Finally, the four top startups will have the opportunity to receive private funding of up to €1.5 million, led by Kibo Ventures.

Why should you apply to IMPACT Growth?

First of all, because you have the possibility of receiving up to 250,000€ in cash equity free! The companies that enter in the acceleration program will receive up to €100,000 € and the two best companies a prize of €150.000, so in total you can receive up to €250,000 in cash equity free. Furthermore the two best startups will have the possibility to receive up to €1.5 million of private investment, in funding rounds lead by our VCs (Kibo Ventrures and Accelerace).

Startup Criteria

Applications for IMPACT Growth are due May 16, 2017.

This is global roundup, a summary of daily hot trending topics and news around the world.

Data, not oil, is the world’s most valuable resource. That means a new regulatory approach is needed for Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft.

The better to see you with. Amazon is expected on Tuesday to unveil a new version of its Echo speaker-slash-digital-assistant that will include a 7-inch touchscreen, a camera, and the ability to make telephone and video conference calls. Dubbed the Echo Show, the device will reportedly sell for $230, $50 more than the screen-less Echo model.

Alipay struck a deal with US payments processor First Data. The deal will let Alipay users shop at 4 million US merchants and put China’s mobile-payments king in the same league as Apple Pay in terms of acceptance. If the deal encourages more US retailers to offer tap-and-go transactions to shoppers—whether they’re Chinese tourists or US consumers—Apple might actually benefit from it.

Schoolhouse Rock. Microsoft unveiled a new version of Windows and some Chromebook-like inexpensive laptops last week in an effort to claw back ground in the education market. A new survey by EdWeek shows Google is currently far ahead, with 68% of classrooms using the search giant’s productivity tools frequently, compared to 17% for Microsoft and 1% for Apple. Another 14% said they used none of the big three frequently.

A grammar-checking startup raised $110 million. Grammarly, based in San Francisco and founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs, uses artificial intelligence to help users fix awkward phrases. Nearly 7 million people use its service daily, many through an extension of Google’s Chrome browser. Venture capital firm General Catalyst led the funding.