The 2013/14 edition of the Acredita Portugal competition saw a record number of entries, with over 14,000 ideas for business projects received from entrepreneurs. This number more than doubled the previous edition and makes the national competition the largest in the world by country in the field of Entrepreneurship. The 150 semi-finalists of this initiative are currently being selected.

Lisbon, April 22nd, 2014 - This year's Acredita Portugal Entrepreneurship Competition received 14,238 business ideas, more than doubling the participation achieved in its previous edition (6,492). The participation figures achieved make Acredita Portugal's initiative the largest competition by country. The ideas submitted online are currently in the final evaluation phase, with the aim of identifying the 150 semi-finalists.

For João Gonçalo Cunha, CEO of Acredita Portugal, "The participation figures achieved in this year's edition of the Acredita Portugal competition are the most unequivocal example of the relevance of this initiative. We saw the existence of ideas for creating truly differentiating projects and the will to put them into practice. What we perceived during our contact with the participants has been reinforced by the fact that it is essential to provide the tools to implement an entrepreneurial and innovative spirit. This exists and is the fundamental element for a transformative effect on Portuguese society, enabling the commitment and ingenuity to create projects with a huge potential impact.".

This moment was marked by the launch of the Acredita Portugal Community, an online space for bringing together the initiative's players and streamlining the responses made available to participants. The competition has already provided tools for developing the business ideas submitted, with 45,000 hours of training for participants and access to interactive educational platforms for transforming ideas into implementable business plans.

There are two competitions run by Acredita Portugal, the BES Make Your Dream Come True and InovPortugalThese work in parallel and are aimed at different types of projects.

The competition BES Make Your Dream Come True aims to ensure that anyone can implement their own entrepreneurial project. It consists of two award categories, Start Now (support for commercial projects) and Social Entrepreneurship (non-profit initiatives).

On the other hand, the competition InovPortugal is aimed at innovative entrepreneurs and aims to be the largest competition in the area of entrepreneurship in Portugal linked to disruption and technological innovation. It should result in businesses with internationalization potential.

The finalists of the competitions promoted by Acredita Portugal are offered partnerships with organizations of various kinds, in the hope that they will provide the essential tools for a given idea to make the transition from theoretical business plan to actual project.