Regulation

Context

As part of the Entrepreneurship Awards, an initiative of Unicorn Factory Lisboa, whose main objective is to bring the ecosystem together to recognize the work, success and achievements of entrepreneurs and startups operating in Portugal, the Youth Startup Award is the second edition this year.

Article 1 – Scope

The Youth Startup Award aims to reward the most innovative startup operating in Portugal with university founders.

Article 2 – Goals

In addition to the above, this initiative also has the following objectives:

1. Promote young and university entrepreneurship;
2. Support and foster innovation among young people and university students;
3. Foster and promote an entrepreneurial spirit.

Article 3 – Eligible

1. All startups with relevant operations in Portugal can apply or be nominated for the Youth Startup Award, as long as they have university founders and stand out for their innovation and way of solving the problem/need they have identified in the market.
2. University founder means young people who meet the following conditions:
3. young people up to the age of 30;
4. who are currently attending university or who will have attended university at least in the academic year 2023 / 2024 or who will have attended university in the academic year 2022 / 2023 – university attendance is considered to be a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree (including the preparation of theses) and a doctorate;

Article 4 – Application process

1. Applications and nominations must be submitted using the appropriate forms available on the Entrepreneurship Awards page.
2. The nomination period runs from August 5 until 23:59 on September 5, 2024, and the application period runs from August 5until 23:59 on September 8, 2024.
3. The organization is not responsible for any loss or non-receipt of applications, even if this is the result of network interruptions or failures or the website created for the purpose of sending applications.
4. The organization reserves the right to unilaterally extend the deadline for nominations and/or submission of applications by means of a notice published on the Unicorn Factory Lisboa website or social networks.
5. The nominated startups will be contacted by the organization to confirm their intention to apply for the Youth Startup Award.
6. If the nominated startups wish to proceed with their applications, they must fill in the application form available on the Entrepreneurship Awards website by the deadline for submitting applications (September 8).
7. All applications must include an interlocutor who will represent the startup before the organization and serve as a point of contact and spokesperson throughout the process. This interlocutor must be one of the founders / CEO of the applicant startup.
8. The contact details on the application form must be active and up-to-date throughout the duration of the Initiative.

Article 5 – Application Evaluation

1. The applications will be subject to a prior analysis to verify the formal eligibility conditions of the startups applying. 
2. Eligible applications will be subject to one or more pre-selection phases, with the aim of selecting the startups that will go through to the final phase.
3. This evaluation is based on the information provided in the application form and will be carried out by members of Unicorn Factory Lisboa.
4. Applications that do not meet the conditions set out in Article 3, or that do not provide sufficient information to allow them to be analysed, will be informed by e-mail that they will not proceed to evaluation.
5. The shortlisted startups will be invited to take part in an evaluation session to choose the three finalists for the prize.
6. Once these preliminary stages have been completed, the finalist entrepreneurs will be subject to a public jury session, held as part of the Entrepreneurship Awards, on October 21st, with a view to determining the winning startup and awarding the prize.
7. This jury session will consist of a presentation, which should be supported by digital or other means that the entrepreneurs consider relevant.
8. This session will take into account the following criteria:

1. Innovation/differentiation of the response to the problem identified;
2. Feasibility of the solution presented;
3. Quality of the team;
4. Degree of development of the idea/project.

9. The jury referred to in the previous point will be made up of members of Unicorn Factory Lisboa, and external elements invited by them for this purpose.

Article 6 – Awards

1. The Youth Startup Award takes the form of a cash prize of €2,500.00 (two thousand five hundred euros).
2. The prize money to be paid to the winning startup will have to be supported by a tax document, in accordance with Portuguese legislation.
3. To pay for the prizes indicated, please send the IBAN to which the bank transfer should be made.

Article 7 – Confidentiality

The parties undertake to keep confidential the content of all information to which they have access under this initiative, including intellectual property and industrial property, even after the end of this initiative, except to the extent strictly necessary for the implementation of this initiative and what is strictly necessary for the dissemination and promotion of the program.

Article 8 – Data protection

1. The protection of candidates’ privacy and personal data is of great importance to Unicorn Factory Lisboa
2. Entities that register for this initiative by filling in the application form are accepting Unicorn Factory’s Privacy Policy, which can be found on our website at www.startuplisboa.com/privacypolicy.

Article 9 – Final provisions

1. The organization reserves the right to amend these regulations, informing the candidates of the changes.
2. Situations not covered by these regulations will be duly analysed and defined by the organization.
3. Participation in this initiative implies express acceptance by applicants of the terms and conditions of these regulations.