Red Bull Basement 2020 Invites Students to Innovate at University Today and Disrupt the World Tomorrow

Calling all student entrepreneur and tech innovators! Red Bull Basement 2020 is now open for entries, inviting students in all areas of study to collaborate and innovate, with the aim of improving student life, making an impact on their campus and potentially the world.

Red Bull Basement, expanding to more countries than ever in its third year, aims to tear down one of the great barriers to innovation: the passive acceptance of “it’s that way because it’s always been that way.” By taking action now and tapping into Red Bull Basement’s worldwide network of resources and connections, young tech innovators can bring about positive social change locally and, quite possibly, in the world at large.

To help the next generation of students develop their ideas, the Red Bull Basement program provides resources such as mentors, workshops, networking events and more, culminating with the Red Bull Basement 2020 Global Workshop, where thought leaders, entrepreneurs and visionaries from around the world will support students from more than 35 countries to bring their ideas to life.

To enter, currently enrolled university students aged 18 and older simply need to visit the Red Bull Basement website and upload a max 60-second video that clearly outlines their idea. Public voting will take place online during the week of 26th October. The top-voted ideas from each country will make it to the judges’ round.

The local Irish judging panel in 2020 includes Jess Kelly (TV & radio broadcaster and host of Newstalk’s Tech Talk), Jonathan McCrea (Creator of “Futureproof” and founder of science communications conference SCI:COM) and Dr Karl Thomas (Founder of Creatovation Ireland and Academic lead in Innovation and Creativity for Trinity College Dublin).

The judging panel will select the best single idea to represent Ireland, based on creativity, feasibility and impact. Each country’s Finalist team will then further develop their idea with the help of the Red Bull Basement network, including an international mentor programme, access to workspace and micro-funding prior to the Global Workshop.

Previous Global Workshops were held in Berlin (2018) and Toronto (2019). This year, the immersive, hands-on, three-day event will feature workshops, additional mentorship programs, and various surprise activities. It all leads up to a Final Pitch to the judges. The Global Workshop that the successful entrepreneurs will be attending in 2020 is scheduled for 10-13 December; the format will be unveiled soon.