NOVA STARTUP COMPETITION

When: 28th July 2022 | Hybrid Event

The NOVA STARTUP COMPETITION is an initiative of the NOVA Impact Office that aims to award participants with the opportunity to participate in an International competition, along the best European Startups, pitch the project to Investors, raise money, network and talk to industrial business leaders across Europe.

If you have an early stage startup and want to raise money for your project, this is the spot!

To promote the efforts of Innovative projects and to win a spot in the STAGE two international competition.

The winners of the NOVA Startup Competition will have the chance to participate in the STAGE two competition, in October 20th and 21st, pitch the project to an international Venture Capital Jury to raise funding to develop the project further and to connect with an international ecosystem of entrepreneurs and industry stakeholders.

This initiative is open to teams, with at least one element from NOVA University Schools (student, Alumni, Professor, Researcher, etc.).

The team should be preferably composed of students (Bachelor/Master/Ph.D.) or management but can also include Alumni, Researchers or Professors has long as the technology or scientific breakthrough behind the project has been developed (at least in part) at NOVA University.

There should be an already available minimum viable product (MVP) and a business plan. In some specific projects, the business plan can be the MVP.

All areas of knowledge are eligible to participate and:

• The startup has not raised more than € 500,000 in equity capital prior to the first pre-event
• The team is seeking funding or capital (or will be in the next 12 months)
• The startup is a potentially viable investment opportunity

You can find the regulation of the competition here.

NEXT EDITION

To apply to the NOVA Startup competition, teams must apply here, until the 20th July, send their Business Plan/Pitch Deck to NOVA Impact office (novaimpact@unl.pt) with reference: NovaStartupCompetition2022.

Make sure you read the regulation of the competition here.

The Jury will evaluate the Business Plans and select a maximum of 10 ideas to pitch in the NOVA Startup Competition. The pitch will be held in hybrid format, so we will have both physically and online pitches.

The Business plans/pitch deck should have a maximum of 15 pages with the following content:

• Executive Summary;
• The problem;
• Solution;
• Value proposition;
• Target market;
• Competitors;
• Intellectual property Analysis;
• Financial projections;
• The team.

The evaluation criteria are the following:

• Size of the potential market defined in the Business Plan as well as its impact in the society (should be aligned with the SDGs);
• Quality of the team, measured by qualifications, diversity and complementarity of its members;;
• Quality of the idea, measured by the explanation of the problem/need identified and the product/service/technology capabilities to solve the problem/need;
• Innovation of the idea;
• Capacity of quantification of the key business elements;
• Quality of the business strategy;
• Suitability of the funding structure presented.

The best team will have access to STAGE Two program with travel and accommodation expenses covered. The presence in STAGE two will give international visibility but also the chance to raise money from VC investors.

Deadline for Registration and Business plan/Pitch deck submission: 20th July;

Communication of selected Ideas: 22nd July;

Final Pitch – HYBRID EVENT at the Rectorate NOVA University Lisbon: 28th July | 5pm.

For more information send us an e-mail to novaimpact@unl.pt with reference NovaStartupCompetition2022.

IMPROVING SOCIETY TODAY AND BEYOND

When: 24th June - 15th July 2022

The NOVA impact! Challenges competition is a program created by the NOVA impact office together with Santander Universities to give teams the opportunity to take their innovative projects out of paper. If you have a project that solves a social and/or environmental problem, apply to the program now! During 3 weeks, together with a team of experts and mentors we will help you accelerate your project and develop a prototype in a virtual mode. In the end you will have a chance to pitch it live (at Nova Rectorate Building) to a jury and win more prizes. Are you going to miss this chance?

Support the development of 10 impactful solutions placing knowledge and innovation at the service of society.

The solutions can be very varied – including apps, websites, physical devices or a business plan – and must be in line with at least one of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.

This initiative is open to all academic community of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Portugal.

The regulation of the program can be found here.

The program – In a Nutshell

Ideas can be submitted by Teams with 2 to 5 members.

The top 10 ideas will be selected by a jury of experts, with a short selection interview, if considered necessary.

During 3 weeks, selected teams will develop a prototype or a proof of concept, using video, photos, diagrams, apps, 3D printing, etc.. In certain specific cases, the solution can be the business plan.

Each team will be eligible to receive up to 500€ to implement the proof of concept and develop the prototypes.

In the beginning of each week, participants will have access to virtual workshops, with a focus on deliverables to be fulfilled throughout that week and will have a virtual meeting with the mentor/facilitator. In addition, other resources will be made available, including access to the NOVA Mentor Network, fablab facilities, among others. Teams can get together in face to face mode if they wish to, but can also work remotely.

In the checkpoint meetings (once a week | virtually) each team will have to present the work developed during that week to the organizing committee.

The program will culminate with the Demo Day with the final pitch presentations, face-to-face, of the solutions developed, to a panel of experts.

The winning idea will be announced on the Demo Day and will be eligible for an additional prize up tp €2,000.

The future development of the winning ideas will be closely monitored by the NOVA impact Office.

The regulation of the program can be found here.

2022 EDITION

Next edition will be held in June 2022. Learn more below and stay tuned!

Ideas (max. 300 words), must be submitted through the Santander X platform.

The jury members will review and evaluate all ideas submitted.

The 10 best candidate ideas will be selected for the proof of concept phase.

Participants must demonstrate their willingness and commitment to develop the proof of concept throughout the 3 weeks of the program.

Deadline for applications: 15th June

Communication of selected ideas: 20th June

Kick-off of the Program (Welcome and Program presentation): 24th June | VIRTUAL

Proof of Concept phase: 27th June - 14th July | VIRTUAL

Demo day and announcement of the winners: 15th July | 5-7.30 pm | FACE-to-FACE (Auditorium B, campus de Campolide)

On the final event day, the 15th July, we will have a moment for networking and celebrating the winning projects. All invited.

NOVA Mentor Network

FCT FabLAb

NOVA Impact Office support

GDG Lisbon

 June 7th, 2022 | NOVA Rectorate (Campolide)

In order to raise awareness amongst the NOVA community regarding the potentialities of IP and IP rights, ImPact @ NOVA arises. Its purpose is to gather scientists, researchers and other academic and non-academic staff together to learn about the importance of IP in their works and projects, as well as to provide them with some basic knowledge on some technicalities regarding the protection of their inventions. It is also a purpose of this event to elucidate NOVA’s academic community on its policies and internal procedures, whilst providing some insights on best practices and other useful tips.

There has been an increasing awareness on the role that intellectual property (IP) rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity. Inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs are stepping up to innovation challenges, using their energy and ingenuity, curiosity and creativity to steer a course towards a better future. Innovative, energetic and creative minds are helping to drive the changes we need to move to a more sustainable future. IP rights can support the creation of a better future.

NOVA’s ecosystem is no exception to this paradigm. That is why NOVA’s entrepreneurial and creative spirit ought to be celebrated whilst building the foundations of a culture that fosters and inspires other to pursue their aspirations, ingenuity, creativity, vision and courage.

To do this, the event is structured following a parallel technical workshop (WS) approach, according to the participants’ field of knowledge and preference. Each workshop ought to entail introductory remarks on the importance of IP on research projects. It should also stimulate fruitful discussions regarding the actual challenges that scientists, researchers and other academic and non-academic staff face when managing their projects, IP portfolio and knowledge transfer strategies. This is a great opportunity to stimulate faculty in engaging with experts on this field, namely patent attorneys.

Participants are invited to bring their own use cases to be discussed.

June 7th, 2022 @ NOVA Rectorate (Campolide Campus), from 14h00 to 18h00.

NEXT EVENT: 28th APRIL, 2022 | NOVA SBE

This is the perfect opportunity to meet students from all other schools from NOVA who share the energy and passion for entrepreneurial projects and hold different backgrounds, skills and knowledge.

Find your dream team!

If you're looking for a team for your own project or you'd like to join a young-spirited project, this is definitely the event for you!

28th April, 2022 @ NOVA SBE Campus from 18h00 to 19h30

Check out what happened in previous events!