For Our Beyond
When: October 30, 2025 | Berlin, Germany
NOVA University takes part on Stage Two, the first pan-European competition for the best start-ups spinning out of leading European universities.
A network of Europe leading university-affiliated entrepreneurship centres gathered to support students and researchers to turn their ideas into businesses.
Years of experience, a close link to business and research helps to support Europe’s next start up generation. The Stage Two network strives to connect founders across national borders and provide them with access to international markets.
In the Stage Two competition, early stage start-ups pre-selected by NOVA STARTUP Competition, will compete at an international level, in front of European top investors & industry leaders.
Who can apply?
Start-ups at the early stage level of any kind of industry, with no industry limitation: B2B/B2C, Software/Hardware, Deep Tech/ Health & Consumer/ etc..
Teams must be multidisciplinary (maximum 5 members) with at least 1 Master/Ph.D. /Bachelor Student from NOVA and have Business plan written & ready to receive investment.
The three eligibility criteria are:
- Innovativeness;
- Scalability;
- Impact for the world of tomorrow.
Eligibility Criteria
In order to participate in Stage Two, your team must be an early-stage startup with a multidisciplinary team (maximum of 5 members), including at least one individual connected to the NOVA University ecosystem (e.g., alumni, students, researchers, faculty, staff), or a startup incubated in one of NOVA’s accelerators. The startup must have a business plan ready for investment and must win the NOVA Start-up Competition.
The team will gain direct access to the Stage Two Program, with flights and accommodation covered, and a unique opportunity to compete at an international level — pitching to top European investors and industry leaders to secure funding for the continuation of the project.
The pre-selected NOVA Teams will have the chance to participate in an international community of mentorship and coaching to develop and fine-tune the projects before the final competition and these sessions will be held virtually.
Selected participants will be physically present in Berlin for the grand pitch finale to pitch to investors and will be assigned to streams of:
- Digital/Business Innovation
- Tech Innovation
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.
There will be money prizes and individual awards.
More details can be found in the program regulation.
Calendar
1) Pre-selection of the national NOVA Team | Winners of the NOVA Start-up Competition
July 30, 2025
2) Mentorship and project refinement
From August to October (held virtually with the international community from the Stage Two program)
3) Final competition in Berlin
In-person event to be held on October 30, 2025
Contacts
For more information, please write us to novaimpact@unl.pt with reference: StageTwo2025