StartupBus is an annual technological startup competition and entrepreneurship boot camp, described as a Hackathon, created by Elias Bizannes in February 2010.
The competition is held across a 3-day bus ride where contestants or "buspreneurs" compete to conceive the best technology startup. The competition seeks to attract young top talents to compete, to search for the most innovative startup conceived by the groups, where the winners are determined by a panel of judges. Starting from February 2011, it has gone through many iterations in various continents from 2011 to the present day, with the first in Austin, Texas and subsequently in North America, Europe and Africa.
StartupBus receives an extensive online media coverage through platforms such as BBC News, CNN and technology blogs and news sites such as The Next Web, VentureBeat, WIRED and TechCrunch. Live coverage of the competition was also broadcast through StartupBus.TV via Livestream.
History
StartupBus started off as a joke by Elias Bizannes and Bart Jellema on 1 July 2009 to start a hackathon on bus trip from San Francisco to Austin for the SXSW Conference. Eventually, the first bus launched on 1 February 2010, which consisted of 25 strangers on the way to Austin for the SXSW Conference, during which a total of 6 startups were conceived from the time in the bus.
Starting from February 2011, StartupBus was officially an annual technological startup competition and has run each year since then.
Format
Prior to competition StartupBus' start off location is determined through voting via Facebook and Twitter since 2012, after its evident success. Buspreneurs are selected based on an invite-only basis after indicating their interest through submission of an application and proposal with an interview there after, if shortlisted. Application are only open to those who specializes in the field of coding, designing and business. Pre-events are organised before the competition to bond buspreneurs with the objective to create a network of like-minded people.
Competition The competition starts off with a 72-hour bus ride from the determined start-off location to its destination, voted through Facebook and Twitter. Each bus consists of 24 buspreneurs, which comes equipped with Wi-Fi, charging points and tables among the seats with no other luxuries.
Through the 72-hour bus ride, buspreneurs are to form teams of 3-4 members of their choosing and work on their final product which comes in the form of viable web applications to be presented to a panel of judges for submission on the end of the competition day. Winners will get funding to kick-start their idea with prior winners of StartupBus being able to expand their creations and creating new ones.
Power on board the StartupBus is however short in supply and with Wi-Fi that is unstable at times, making the competition even tougher for the buspreneurs. Experienced mentors from previous competitions are also present onboard the StartupBuses to render help to the teams where needed. Pit stops are made where buspreneurs gather feedback on their products, learn about business environments and to rest for the night.
Sponsors Activities on board the StartupBus competition and application fee upon acceptance are subjected to the amount of funding they receive each year. As much as possible, StartupBus tries to minimise application fees to allow college students to have the ability to participate in the competition. If sponsorship is low, busprenuers may also have to pay for their own night lodging.
Bus Routes StartupBus competitions cover 4 continents - North America, Europe, Africa and Australasia - and 26 countries. 15 major events had been held since its debut in 2010.
North America Eight StartupBus North America competitions had been held in North America annually since its debut in 2010. YearDateDestinationDescriptionBusesStartupBusFebruary 1, 2010SXSW Conference, Austin, TexasThe first ever StartupBus. 25 strangers met on the way to Austin for the SXSW Conference. 6 startups were conceived from the time on the bus.1 Bus: San FranciscoStartupBus 2011March 1 to March 4, 2011Austin, TexasThe first official StartupBus competition was held with 160 people on-board six buses which traveled across the United States and eventually converging at its final destination in Austin. The 3 day bus ride, conceived a total of 38 startups in the span of time, of which seven of the startup caught the eye of the judges.5 Buses: Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, New York City and Silicon ValleyStartupBus Americas 2012March 1 to March 4, 2012Austin, TexasThis year, StartupBus departed from 11 regions with 12 buses before converging at its final destination in Austin. After 4 days, eight teams advanced to the finals, namely Bumper Crop, Curious City, Adventeur, Gourmair, Happstr, Scoringo, Spott and Cerealize.10 Buses: San Francisco, Boston, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Mexico, New York City, Stanford University and Washington, D.C.StartupBus Americas 2013March 1 to March 4, 2013SXSW Conference, Austin, TexasStartupBus Americas 2013 once again headed to Austin, Texas for the SXSW Conference. There was also an addition of an alumni bus, inclusive of the 6 buses, which will compete against the winners.
The alumni bus was the subject of a reality show web series published by Relativity Media for their Coin channel on YouTube6 Buses: New York City, Mexico, Chicago, Tampa, San Francisco and the alumni bus.StartupBus North America 2014March 2 to March 5, 2014Rackspace Castle, San Antonio, TexasThere were 3 judging rounds this year, where the original 30 startups are narrowed down to 16 semi-finalists selected in Rackspace's headquarters in Rackspace Castle before heading for the SXSW Conference.7 Buses: Mexico City, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Nashville, New York City, Seattle and San Francisco.StartupBus North America 2015June 4 to 8, 201536/86 Conference, Nashville, TennesseeThe founding team and directors of StartupBus decided that it was time to move the competition away from Austin, due to timing and value concerns, to Nashville, as the city had welcomed StartupBus with open arms.5 Buses: Florida, Mexico, Midwest, New York City, and San Francisco.StartupBus North America 2016May 15 to 19, 2016Boulder Startup Week, Boulder, ColoradoThe North American competition of 2016 changed destination again. This time the buses rode to Boulder Startup Week. Each bus came with a theme, such as Food & Beverage, Emerging Markets, and IoT.7 Buses: Cleveland, Mexico City, New York City, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tampa, and Vancouver.StartupBus North America 2017July 31 to August 4, 2017New Orleans, LouisianaThe Akron bus was the "MakerBus", where teams were required to build physical prototypes of their products on the road. Due to long distances, the San Francisco bus is flown to Cleveland to merge with the Akron bus, and is lovingly nicknamed the "Saffron" bus.
The New York City bus was the subject of the StartupBus mini-series created by Eric Mennel, as part of the StartUp podcast produced by Gimlet Media.7 Buses: New York City, San Francisco, St. Louis, Mexico City, Tampa FL, New Orleans and Akron, Ohio.StartupBus North America 2018April 27 to May 1, 2018New Orleans, LouisianaThe buses headed to New Orleans in Spring, coinciding with New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals as well as Collision Conference. This year introduced the first buses from Detroit and Texas, as well as the diversity-focused Women+TGNC in Blockchain bus. A new Diversity Fellowship Program was introduced to encourage applicants from under-represented demographics to become entrepreneurs.9 Buses: New York, Florida, Ohio, Detroit, St. Louis, Texas, Mexico, Silicon Valley, and Women+TGNC in Blockchain.StartupBus North America 2019July 24–29, 2019New Orleans, LouisianaFor the 10th annual competition in North America, the buses will head to New Orleans again in 2019. A new Advancing Black Entrepreneurs bus was presented by JPMorgan Chase Advancing Black Pathways and Chase for Business, was designed for self-identifying Black tech talents with a custom route to travel to historically Black cities.8 Buses: New York, Florida, Ohio, Toronto, Mexico, Silicon Valley, Washington D.C., and Advancing Black Entrepreneurs.
Europe Six StartupBus Europe competitions had been held in Europe since 2012. YearDateDestinationDescriptionBusesStartupBus EuropeDecember 4 to 7, 2011LeWeb, Paris, FranceWith the help of Dutch entrepreneur Arne Hulstein, who was leading the StartupBus Europe effort along with business partner Timan Rebel, founder Bizannes hoped to repeat the success of the North American StartupBus in Europe. Bringing together 26 riders across Europe, the multi-day journey had traversed the cities of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Berlin, Zurich and finally Paris. Notably, the bus went on a boat in order to reach Copenhagen.1 Bus: AmsterdamStartupBus Europe 2012December 3 to 6, 2012LeWeb, Paris, FranceThe first European bus was a joint venture between StartupBus and FounderBus, where FounderBus ran the route from Germany, France and the United Kingdom and StartupBus ran the route from London, Spain and a wildcard location, later revealed to be the "Viking" bus from Copenhagen. The winning team from StartupBus Europe 2012 then proceeded onto the LeWeb Startup Competition as a finalist.France, Germany, London, Spain and United Kingdom.StartupBus Europe 2013October 27 to 30, 2013Pioneer's Festival, Vienna, AustriaStartupBus Europe 2013 saw a total of 150 buspreneurs, where buses departed for the 3 day road trip on 27 October 2013 from 6 regions.Paris, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam and London.StartupBus Europe 2014October 25 to 28, 2014Pioneer's Festival, Vienna, AustriaStartupBus Europe 2014 is the first year for the Greek and Estonian bus which starts its journey from Athens to Vienna. Next to the buses from these new countries, there were a total of 5 more buses from Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. A total of around 170 buspreneurs were on board for the 72-hour journey to Pioneer Festival in Vienna.
6 startups were conceived through the Greek journey, they are Trisleep which is a GPS based alarm, GoTrick which is an Uber for long-distance travel, HealthRate that finds and rates healthcare providers, Xplory which Gamifies cultural visits, Mezo and Zumo.Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, United Kingdom.StartupBus Europe 2015August 29 to September 3, 2015Pirate Summit, Cologne, GermanyStartupBus Europe 2015 changed its destination from Pioneers to Pirate Summit in Cologne. For the first time a Belgian bus participated in the competition.Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom.StartupBus Europe 2016September 2 to 7, 2016Pirate Summit, Cologne, GermanyThis competition was held on 2–7 September 2016, and had its demo day on 5 September 2016 at the Corda INCubator in Hasselt. Its final event at Pirate Summit in Cologne.Belgium, France, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
Africa StartupBus Africa 2013's first bus into Africa with a total of 30 buspreneurs started their journey from 17 November to 21 November 2013. The bus started out from the Capital of Zimbabwe, Harare and its final destination was South Africa, Cape Town for the Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Pacific StartupBus' first time in Australia since its debut 5 years ago was done in partnership with SydStart. StartupBus Pacific 2014 started from 29 August 2014 to 2 September 2014 with 25 buspreneurs. StartupBus Pacific 2014 departed from Sydney and on to Melbourne and Canberra before arriving at its destination in Sydstart's Main Day 2014 in Sydney, Australia.