Entries for the 10th edition of the Biggest Entrepreneurship Contest until March 1, 2020

The Montepio Acredita Portugal competition (the largest entrepreneurship competition) is celebrating its 10th anniversary and will have a special anniversary edition with an innovative acceleration program and an extended mentoring period.

 Lisbon, December 12, 2019 - Entries are now open for the 10th edition of the Montepio Acredita Portugal Entrepreneurship Competition, promoted by the Acredita Portugal association and Banco Montepio. The largest entrepreneurship competition in Portugal and the second largest worldwide - it has supported more than 90,000 projects in its 10 years of activity - aims to identify, develop, reward and promote the launch of ideas and projects from different sectors and in various categories, such as social entrepreneurship, mobility (Brisa Mobilidade 2020 Award), technology (K.Tech Award) and water-related innovation (H2O Innovation by Águas de Gaia Award). Entries can be submitted, free of charge, until March 1, 2020, on the Acredita Portugal website - www.acreditaportugal.pt.

To commemorate the 10th edition of the Montepio Acredita Portugal competition, this year's initiative features an innovative acceleration program: an extended mentoring period for entrepreneurs to best leverage their project. And, in addition to the usual prizes, there will also be specific awards to distinguish essential characteristics in the context of entrepreneurship such as the "idea with the most potential", the "best team" and the "greatest scalability".

For Fernando Amaro, Director of the Social Economy and Public Sector segment at Banco Montepio, "The Montepio Acredita Portugal competition is an excellent vehicle for boosting entrepreneurship. Proof of the validity of this initiative is the fact that this year marks its 10th anniversary, having already supported thousands of ideas over time. For our part, we are enthusiastic about this impact and are committed to working with Acredita Portugal to respond to the entrepreneurial spirit of the Portuguese people and their capacity for transformation."

An idea shared by Fernando Fraga, Director of Innovation at Acredita Portugal, who affirms the relevance of the initiative in the face of "an increasingly mature and complex entrepreneurial dynamic. On this 10th anniversary, it is inevitable that we look back on the work we have done so far and assess the context of entrepreneurship in Portugal. The entrepreneurial spirit that led us to start this project not only remains, but has evolved and consolidated. Faced with this reality, we too have had to evolve and adapt to meet the current needs of entrepreneurs. We believe that the goal we set ourselves continues to make sense and that we will continue to make a difference to projects looking for an opportunity to reach the public."he concludes.

This evolution is evident in the new features introduced in this edition of the initiative, with Fernando Fraga pointing out that "In this special anniversary edition of the accelerator program, entrepreneurs will push their ideas to the limit. It's never been harder to reach the end, but entrepreneurs have never been better supported or had access to more training than in this edition. It will be very interesting to find out which companies are the winners of this edition of the Montepio Acredita Portugal competition".

The acceleration program of the Montepio Acredita Portugal competition (the largest entrepreneurship competition) aims to provide entrepreneurs with essential skills to continue their projects autonomously and efficiently: how to attract the attention of an investor, business model development, legal framework, accounting, digital marketing, among others. This year's acceleration programme will be co-organized with CRON.STUDIO, a company specializing in working with startups, accelerating their journey from idea to product ready-to-market. This partnership will allow us to further support the growth of the finalist projects and increase the likelihood of them reaching the market in a more solid and successful way.

Throughout the acceleration program, participants will also have the unique opportunity to be accompanied by an extended mentoring program, an innovation in this edition. During this period the entrepreneur will receive personalized mentoring, in which they can apply the value transmitted during the acceleration program sessions and leverage the development of the project before it is presented to the final jury.

The Montepio Acredita Portugal competition (the largest entrepreneurship competition) is aimed at anyone with a business idea, regardless of age, level of education or location in Portugal, supporting promising projects with specialized know-how for their development and evaluation.

There have been several success stories in previous editions of the biggest entrepreneurship competition, such as Recibos Online, Heptasense, Meia Dúzia, DoctorGummy and Dreamshaper, among others.

Additional information at www.acreditaportugal.pt

About Acredita Portugal:

Acredita Portugal is a non-profit organization focused on the development and promotion of national entrepreneurship, which was born in 2008 by José Miguel Queimado. Since then, Acredita Portugal has worked by and for all Portuguese people, regardless of their background or culture, allowing any citizen the opportunity to pursue their entrepreneurial dream. Each idea in the competition is submitted free of charge, undergoes an evaluation and sees its business plan developed. Winning projects are given the opportunity to develop strategic partnerships with a view to implementing them on the market.

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