2025 Innovation Challenge
Data Center World held its 4th annual tech startup competition at our annual conference in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 2025. The Innovation Challenge contest pitted data center technology technology startups against each other. The panel of judges included:
- Vlad Galabov, Senior Director, Enterprise Infrastructure Research, Omdia
- Raymond Parpart, Director Data Center Strategy & Operations | IT Services, The University of Chicago
- Tara Gibb, Senior Director, Data Center World
How to Apply
Data Center World's Innovation Challenge is the #1 opportunity for early-stage data center market product/services companies to pitch to the data center community. The competition offers unmatched exposure and access to valuable networking and mentorship that will help gain publicity and scale your business.
Companies selected to participate have been developing or selling a technology solution that directly impacts the data center or data center professionals and are judged by a panel of experts based on several business model and go-to-market criteria (outlined below). Winners are chosen by the panel based on their presentations on stage and their demonstration of a clear technology solution, a concise pitch, and the value of technology to the data center industry.
The submission window is closed.
After You Apply
- You will be notified by the Data Center World team by March 14, 2025, if you’ve been chosen to participate as a Finalist.
- If you are selected, you are required to send up to two company representatives to participate in the competition. Each person will receive a complimentary Standard Pass to Data Center World, providing access to the main conference and the expo floor.
- Finalists will be featured on the Data Center World website and in the event app. Presentations will be made from the Data Center World stage on the expo show floor.
- Please note that travel and accommodation costs will not be covered.
The winners will be announced at Data Center World 2025, which will take place in Washington, D.C., on April 14 - 17, 2025.
Judging Criteria
The following criteria will be used by our panel of judges (experts from the market research, editorial, and investment communities). Contestants should be prepared to address each of the five main criteria (we’ve included some examples with each category) with a concise and informative presentation that will be judiciously timed to 10 minutes per company.
Business Model
- How does the team plan on making this a successful business? Have they done due diligence on competition?
- Is the business model scalable, either globally or regionally?
How will the company acquire customers?
What is the company’s revenue model?
Is there customer validation proof?
Is the company building something that people actually want?
- How well does the company understand their customer and their customer’s needs?
- Did the company get out and talk to customers? What is the value proposition to customers?
- What is the company’s capacity to recognize and describe the problem to be solved?
- Does the company know the cost of acquiring a customer and their lifetime value?
Go to Market
- What’s the plan for building sales team and a sales ecosystem?
- Is there a plan to open source the product?
- How do you plan to use partners/analysts/PR?
Execution & Design
- Does the technology or service deliver a compelling and valuable user experience?
- How much capacity to disrupt the market?
- Is there a sustainable competitive advantage, or can it be copied?
- What’s the lead on the competition?
- If applicable, are they able to demo a product, and if so, was it functional?
The Team
- Is the founding team multidisciplinary and complementary with the capacity to implement their stated goals?
- Are the team’s goals ambitious enough? Or too ambitious?
- Is the team capable of selling the “vision”?