Regulation
Most Impactful Startup Award
Within the scope of the Entrepreneurship Awards, an initiative by Unicorn Factory Lisboa, whose main objective is to gather the ecosystem around the recognition of the work, success, and achievements of entrepreneurs and startups operating in Portugal, we will have the second edition of: “Most Impactful Startup Award”, in a partnership with Casa do Impacto from Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML).
Article 1 – Scope
Most Impactful Startup Award aims to reward the impactful startup operating in Portugal, that demonstrates differentiation and innovation in the way it addresses the social, environmental, or other challenges present in the market and which it aims to solve.
Article 2 – Objetives
In addition to what has been identified above, this initiative also aims to:
- Reward innovation within the scope of impact entrepreneurship;
- Foster and promote an entrepreneurial spirit;
- Foster and promote impactful innovation;
- Promote impact entrepreneurship.
Article 3 – Recipients
1. All impactful startups that have their headquarters and/or significant operations in Portugal and stand out in how they address the social, environmental, or other challenges present in the market and that they aim to solve, can apply for or be nominated for Most Impactful Startup Award.
2. By startup, it’s meant an innovative entity that incorporates technology, with a scalable business model, and has been formally established for less than ten years.
Article 4 – Application process
1. Applications and nominations must be submitted through dedicated forms available on the Entrepreneurship Awards or Casa do Impacto websites.
2. The nomination period runs from August 5th until 11:59 pm on September 5th, 2024, and the application period is from August 5th until 11:59 pm on September 8th, 2024.
3. The organization is not responsible for any potential loss or non-receipt of applications, even if caused by network interruptions or failures of the website designated for application submissions.
4. The organization reserves the right to unilaterally extend the nomination and/or application submission period, with notice posted on the website or on the social media channels of Unicorn Factory Lisboa and Casa do Impacto.
5. All nominated startups that fulfil the requirements will be contacted by the organization to confirm their intention to apply for Most Impactful Startup Award.
6. If the nominated startups wish to proceed with their applications, they must complete the application form available on the Entrepreneurship Awards or Casa do Impacto websites by the submission deadline (September 8th).
7. Each application must indicate a representative who will act on behalf of the startup in dealings with the organization, serving as the point of contact and spokesperson throughout the process. This representative must be one of the founders/CEOs of the applying startup.
8. The contact details provided in the application form must remain active and up-to-date throughout the entire duration of the Initiative.
Article 5 – Application Evaluation
1. The applications will undergo a preliminary review to verify the formal eligibility conditions of the candidate startups.
2. Eligible applications will undergo one or more phases of pre-selection with the aim of choosing the startups that will advance to the final phase.
3. This evaluation is based on the information provided in the application form and will be conducted by representatives from Casa do Impacto and Unicorn Factory Lisboa.
4. Applications that do not meet the conditions outlined in Article 3, or that do not provide sufficient information for evaluation, will be notified by email that they will not proceed for assessment.
5. Pre-selected startups will be invited to participate in an evaluation session to determine the three finalists for the award.
6. Following these preliminary stages, the finalist entrepreneurs will undergo a public jury session held as part of the Entrepreneurship Awards on October 1st, aimed at determining the winning startup and presenting the award.
7. This jury session will consist of a presentation, supported by digital or other materials deemed relevant by the entrepreneurs
8. This session will consider the following criteria:
- Startup with an innovative, distinctive, and scalable solution to a social and/or environmental market challenge, aiming to provide economic returns;
- Team quality and their capacity for project implementation;
- Feasibility of the presented idea;
- Potential impact of the proposed solution and expectation to answer to a market need;
- Potential for growth and/or scalability of the solution
9. The jury mentioned in the preceding point will be composed of members from Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Casa do Impacto, and external individuals invited for this purpose.
Article 6 – Awards
1. Most Impactful Startup Award is realized through a monetary prize in the amount of €2,500.00 (two thousand five hundred euros), awarded by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.
2. The aforementioned prize will be paid directly to the winning startup through a bank transfer to the respective IBAN previously identified for this purpose, upon issuance of the beneficiary’s receipt of settlement for this transaction.
3. The prize to be awarded within the scope of this competition does not involve any provision of services or transfer of goods by the startup, nor does it establish any contractual relationship between Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Casa do Impacto / Santa Casa da Misericórdia, the sponsors, and the entrepreneurs.
Article 7 – Confidentiality
The parties undertake to maintain confidentiality regarding the content of all information they have access to under this initiative, including intellectual and industrial property, even after its conclusion, except to the extent strictly necessary for the execution of this initiative and for the purposes of disclosure and promotion of the program
Article 8 – Data protection
1. The protection of the privacy and personal data of the applicants is of great importance to Unicorn Factory Lisboa and Casa do Impacto.
2. Entities that register for this initiative by completing the application form will be accepting the Privacy Policy of Unicorn Factory Lisboa, which can be reviewed on our website at www.startuplisboa.com/privacypolicy, as well as the Privacy Policy of Casa do Impacto / SCML, which can be reviewed at https://scml.pt/politica-de-privacidade/ .
Article 9 – Final provisions
1. The organization reserves the right to amend this Regulation, informing the candidates of the modifications.
2. Situations not covered by this Regulation shall be duly examined and defined by the organization.
3. Participation in this initiative implies the explicit acceptance, by the candidates, of the terms and conditions of this regulation.