The fifth edition of Building Global Innovators (BGI) challenge is now open. If you’re working on the next generation of breakthrough technology, this is the right challenge for you.
Prepare your gear and embark on this entrepreneurship adventure with the Univeristy Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) MIT Portugal Venture Competition. This year you can compete in the following tracks:
- Ocean Economy
- Smart Cities & Industrial Tech
- Medical Technologies & Health IT
- Enterprise IT & Smart Data
Key dates for the BGI fifth edition:
- Submission of proposals — May 20, 2014
- Five-day e-teams and speed dating event — July 21-25, 2014
- Track finals event and poster session — November 20, 2014
- E-teams II boot camp — November 21-22, 2014
- Fifth edition Grand Finale event — February 26, 2015
The BGI competition is part of a cooperation protocol established in 2010 between the ISCTE- IUL and the MIT Portugal Program. Caixa Capital later joined as a hands-on financial partner. The partnership was formed in order to create a competence center for technology-based entrepreneurship, and to celebrate and reward tech-based projects that have international potential, and a strong innovative capacity and management team.
Since the first edition:
- 384 submissions, 46.1 percent from startups/spin-offs, from 22 countries, involving 1,498 participants
- More than 20 million euro has been raised by semifinalists (about 50 percent from angel investors and venture capital firms)
- 55 active startups among 80 semifinalists identified, coached and mentored for more than 3,000 hours
- More than 160 new jobs created, amounting to 300 jobs
