S3E is thrilled to announce its latest Open Call, extending a warm invitation to startups and SMEs from Southern Europe to actively participate in S3E Reverse. This groundbreaking brokerage program establishes connections between corporate and public organisations with deep tech challenges and solution providers, meticulously crafted upon a proven open innovation methodology.

Solvers, encompassing startups and SMEs, who are interested in participating, are encouraged to apply and address challenges presented by the six organisations below. S3E's deep tech brokers will carefully select the most mature and suitable 'Solver,' based on the solutions submitted, and pair them with the challenging organization. The application window is open until April 30th.

Meet the Challenges:

1. Collaborative Intelligence in the Service of Humanity

• Challenge organisation: Infinitivity Design Labs (IDL)
  
• Solution needed: How can AI be designed to prioritise collaborative intelligence and effectively address human needs? Are there concrete use cases? The solution will need to demonstrate how AI can addressing specific human/business needs in various sectors (e.g. healthcare, agriculture), focusing on the collaborative intelligence aspect of AI.
  
• Solve this challenge: Apply here.

2. Route Optimisation for Meter Reading Collection

• Challenge organisation: EYATh (Thessaloniki Water & Sewer Company S.A.)
  
• Solution needed: Water meter routes currently lack geographical optimization. Considering traffic patterns and existing route parameters, can you develop a route optimisation tool for cost and time efficiency using geographical and network analysis?
  
• Solve this challenge: Apply here.

3. Reduction of Free Melamine Content in Wastewater

• Challenge organisation: Sonae Arauco
  
• Solution needed: Due to melamine’s carcinogenic classification, how can free melamine be removed from wastewater from processes like decorative paper impregnation? To tackle this challenge, you need to develop a competitive, industrially-applicable, and scalable solution to remove free melamine from wastewater without impacting current production processes.
  
• Solve this challenge: Apply here.

4. Improving User Experience for Data Protection and Privacy

• Challenge organisation: University Hospital Cologne
  
• Solution needed: How can users have more control over health data usage, enhancing trust in data sharing for research? Help us design user-friendly and secure solutions giving citizens and patients greater control over their health data; consider routine and research workflows.
  
• Solve this challenge: Apply here.

5. Weather Radar Interference

• Challenge organisation: 3DSA – General Aviation Applications
  
• Solution needed: 3DSA’s weather radars are experiencing interference from wireless communication devices operating on the same frequencies. This disrupts weather monitoring, potentially impacting storm tracking and warnings. We need solutions or technologies that can mitigate or filter severe interference on weather radar output, while maintaining accuracy in detecting precipitation and storm behaviour.
  
• Solve this challenge: Apply here.
  

6. Integrating collaborative robots into various facets of the food production industry

• Challenge organisation: I4byDesign Competence Centre
  
• Solution needed: Address the integration of collaborative robots (cobots) in the food production industry focusing on hygiene, safety, adaptability, human collaboration, quality control, traceability, sustainability, and resource efficiency. We’re looking for innovations in cobot technologies that enhance food safety, adapt to diverse environments, facilitate human-robot collaboration, ensure product quality, and promote sustainability.
  
• Solve this challenge: Apply here.

S3E Reverse's Open Call #2 for Solvers presents an exciting opportunity for startups and SMEs in Southern Europe to engage with these organizations and contribute to innovative solutions. Solver organizations may apply for more than one challenge with different applications. The matching process between challenge organizations and solvers will remain confidential, with notifications sent to all SMEs and startups, regardless of the selection outcome.

Applicants are strongly advised to download and thoroughly review the Application Guidelines for comprehensive information about the program and selection process.

The S3E Reverse Open Call for Solvers warmly welcomes applications from startups and SMEs based in:

• Southern European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.
• Associated countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Turkey.

Know more about the program here.