Science4Life Venture Cup & Energy Cup: the three-phase competition for life-science and energy founders

Science4Life is a non-profit association (Sanofi + the State of Hessen are the principal sponsors) that runs two parallel competitions: the Venture Cup for Life Sciences, Chemistry, Medical Tech, Diagnostics, and Digital Health; and the Energy Cup for energy and climate tech. You enter at any of the three phases, with submission deadlines roughly in October (Idea), January (Concept), and April (Business Plan).

Three things distinguish it from other Businessplan-Wettbewerbe: (a) it's free and non-equity-taking - no commission on later funding rounds; (b) every team gets at least three written expert reviews per phase from a network of commercial and scientific reviewers; (c) the Academy Days are real workshops with operators, not just networking events. Many German biotech founders cite Science4Life as the cheapest way to get senior life-science feedback before approaching a VC.

If your project is pre-product and you want feedback to shape the direction, enter at Phase 1 - low cost, fast feedback. If you have a clear concept and want validation before approaching investors, enter Phase 2. Only enter Phase 3 cold if you already have a real business plan; phase-1-and-2 finishers have an information advantage over newcomers. Teams that ran all three phases consistently place better in Phase 3 than direct entrants.