The Squeeze is Orange Grove’s thrilling startup pitching competition! One of the first and most well-known pitching events in Greece, The Squeeze is a fast-paced competition that sees 8 Orange Grove startups go head-to-head on-stage pitching, in less than 5’, their business ideas to a panel of judges and an open audience.
Experts from around the world fly in to join the distinguished panel of judges, consisting of investors, international corporations, startup ecosystem experts and successful startup founders, at this open event that attracts a diverse audience of journalists, investors, executives, entrepreneurs, ambitious startuppers and members of the startup ecosystem. The judges quiz each pitcher for 5’ and select the 2 winners they believe have the most viable and high-potential ideas!
Since 2014, over 100 alumni of Orange Grove have taken to the stage, after a rigorous pre-selection process, to pitch their ideas and receive invaluable feedback and exposure -and for some the winning prize! The competition is open to ventures from all sectors, though, on occasion special editions of The Squeeze have focused on specific themes (Female Entrepreneurship, Agriculture, etc).
Orange Grove’s thrilling pitching competition “The Squeeze” was back on Tuesday 1st of November, celebrating innovation and impact-driven entrepreneurship! And this edition of “The Squeeze” was even more exciting as it was honoured with the presence of H.M. King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander and H.M. Queen Máxima, along with members of the Netherlands Government, as part of their State Visit to Greece taking place between the 31st October and 2nd November 2022.
Orange Grove’s thrilling pitching competition “The Squeeze” was back on Tuesday 14th of May, at 18:00, co-organized by the Netherlands Embassy and the U.S. Embassy in Greece! This edition of “The Squeeze” was even more exciting as it featured innovative startups from the Food and Agri-tech sector and was titled #FarmingtheFuture.
The most exciting pitching competition for startups, “The Squeeze” by Orange Grove, was back for its twelfth edition, on March 8th, International Women’s Day (18:00-22:00)!
Orange Grove’s “The Squeeze” competition was back the 23rd of November 2017 and was even more exciting for its 11th edition! “The Squeeze” is the fast-paced and full of energy pitching competition awarding €15,000 and €10,000 in prize money to two lucky startups!
New pitches, new opportunities! Eight ambitious Orange Grove entrepreneurs took the stage on the 27th of June 2017 to present their innovative business ideas to an international panel of experts!
The exciting pitching competition was back on the 30th of March 2017 for its 9th edition with eight ambitious Orange Grove startuppers stepping up and giving their best pitch ever, to win €15,000 and €10,000 in prize money: the ultimate kickstart!
The international pitching competition was back at Orange Grove on September 22nd 2016, from 18:00 until 21:00. Selected Orange Grove entrepreneurs battled to the bitter end, for a chance to win €15,000 and €10,000 in prize money.
The 7th edition of “The Squeeze” pitching competition was back at Orange Grove on 23th of June 2016, offering the opportunity to eight high-potential startuppers to present their ambitious ideas to a distinguished panel of international judges and select audience of investors, journalists and members of the startup ecosystem.
One more “The Squeeze” competition took place 10th of March 2016 with eight aspiring entrepreneurs of Orange Grove taking to the stage to pitch their innovative ideas, answer tough questions and make their startups known to the local and international ecosystem!
“The Squeeze” was back on the 10th of December 2015 for its 5th edition! The thrilling pitching competition invited eight Orange Grove entrepreneurs to go on stage and pitch their startup ideas to an international jury panel of established professionals and a wide audience startup founders, executives, embassies’ representatives, journalists, investors and much more.
On the 26th of September 2015 the 4th edition of “The Squeeze” took place offering the opportunity once more to eight Orange Grove entrepreneurs to claim a total of €25,000 in monetary prizes and present their ideas to a unique audience of journalists, investors, startup founders and much more!
“The Squeeze” pitching competition was back for its #3 edition, on 11th of June 2015. Presenter for the eventing was Peter Economides (Brand strategist Apple’s “Think Different” campaign). Peter was accompanied by an amazing line up of judges squeezing the eight ambitious founders who went on stage to present their unique ideas.
On the 26th of March 2015 Orange Grove welcomed once its innovative entrepreneurs on stage to pitch their ideas and claim the competitions incredible prizes.
The 1st edition of “The Squeeze” took place on 13th of December 2014! Presenter of this inaugural edition of what would become the most thrilling pitching competition and one of the longest running competitions in Greece was Peter Economides (Brand strategist Apple’s “Think Different” campaign). Together with Alexis Pantazis, Jeremy Downward and Costas Maroulis they “squeezed” eight innovative startups of the Orange Grove incubation programme competing for one of the two amazing monetary prizes of the event.
The evening before the Squeeze, traditionally a fireside chat is organised, with the panel of judges taking to the stage themselves in order to share their stories with the audience, which usually consists of aspiring entrepreneurs. Through an open discussion and Q&A session, the judges openly share their insights, challenges and successes in a vivid and interactive conversation with the community. After the discussion, participants have the opportunity to network, socialize and expand their connections.
