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NOVA Startup Competition

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NOVA STARTUP COMPETITION

When: July 30st, 2025 | 2.30 – 5 PM | @Rectorate – Campus of Campolide

The NOVA START-UP 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 Start-ups, pitch the project to Investors, raise money, network and talk to industrial business leaders across Europe.

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

Applications open until July 24th, 2025

Objective

To promote the efforts of Innovative projects and to win a spot in the STAGE two international competition, the finals will be held on October the 30th, 2025, in Berlin. The competition has two verticals: 

The Digital / Business Innovation stream comprises teams with innovative business models, new products as well as new approaches to problems in industries while making use of existing and emerging technologies. Mainly these challenge the dominant logic in their industry and are therefore innovative businesses.  

 The Tech Innovation stream comprises startups where an in-house developed technology, often originating from cutting-edge research, serves as the main driver of value creation. Here, materials or technologies are developed which are new to the market and enable customers to achieve what was not possible before. 

The winner of the NOVA Startup Competition will pitch their project to an international Venture Capital Jury, it is a unique opportunity to raise funding, to connect with an international ecosystem of entrepreneurs and industry stakeholders, and take their project to the next level!!

Eligibility

This initiative is open to teams that include at least one member affiliated with NOVA University—such as a student, alumnus, professor, or researcher. The technology or scientific innovation underlying the project must have been developed, at least in part, at NOVA University.

Applicants must meet the following conditions:

  • A minimum viable product (MVP) and a business plan must be available. In specific cases, the business plan may serve as the MVP
  • Startups from all fields of knowledge are eligible to participate.
  • The startup must not have raised more than €500,000 in equity capital and €1,500,000 in grants prior to the first pre-event.
  • The team is currently seeking funding or expects to do so within the next 12 months.
  • The startup must represent a potentially viable investment opportunity.

You can find the regulation of the competition here: NOVA STARTUP competition 2025_regulamento_EN

Application & Selection Process

To apply to the NOVA Startup competition, teams must:

– apply here, until the July 24th, 2025;

– send their Business Plan/Pitch Deck to NOVA Impact office (novaimpact@unl.pt) with reference: NovaStartupCompetition2025, by the same dedaline.

Make sure you read the regulation of the competitionhere: NOVA STARTUP competition 2025_regulamento_EN

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.
Prizes

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.

Calendar

Deadline for Registration and Business plan/Pitch deck submission: July 24th, 2025;

Communication of selected Ideas: July 28th, 2025;

Final Pitch – at the Rectorate NOVA University Lisbon: July 30st, 2025 | 2.30 – 5 pm.

Contacts

For more information send us an e-mail to novaimpact@unl.pt with reference NovaStartupCompetition2025.