Timeline

The initial registration period ends on May 1st, 2023, granting ample opportunity for startups and scaleups to sign up and participate. Following this, we will carefully review the submissions and select those that meet the criteria to move on to the second round. 

After closing of the registration phase, the process of selecting the top 20 candidates begins.

After the initial registration, we'll review and select qualifying submissions for the second round, where additional information will be required. Please note that the deadline for the second round is May 25th.

On this day, the best entries are selected on the basis of the quality and potential of their business model, innovative technologies and digital solutions. The twenty best entries are the participants of the New Energy Challenge 2023.

All twenty participants are invited for deep-dive interviews. The interviews are conducted by Rockstart, Shell and YES!Delft experts in June to select the ten finalists.

The ten finalists are announced and invited for the Finals Phase, taking place late September, October and November 2023.

The Finals Phase officially start with a kick-off meeting on September 26, 2023. All finalists are invited as this is the official welcome to the finals programme and at the same time an opportunity for the finalists to meet alumni of the New Energy Challenge.

An extensive network of experts coaches the finalists to validate their business proposal, find their product-market fit and prepare to pitch for an expert jury during the Finals Event in November 2023. The coaching and expert sessions are provided by Rockstart, YES!Delft and/or Shell and take place in October.

The Finals Event starts on November 6th, 2023. On this day, the most promising companies pitch in front of a jury of experts, and then again to a wider audience later that day.