Registration for the 10th edition of the country's largest entrepreneurship competition is open through March 28, 2020
New Opportunity to Apply for the 10th Edition of the Montepio Acredita Portugal Contest
The 2nd edition runs through March 28 call to apply for the Montepio Acredita Portugal competition. The initiative’s special 10th-anniversary edition is open to the entrepreneurial community and features an innovative acceleration program and an extended mentoring period.
Lisbon, March 2020 - Acredita Portugal is launching a new call for candidates in the Montepio Acredita Portugal Entrepreneurship Competition, organized by the association and Banco Montepio. This is a second chance for entrepreneurs who, for whatever reason, did not register for the first round call of the initiative, helping to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem by bringing in even more ideas. Applications can be submitted free of charge through March 28, 2020, on the Acredita Portugal website – www.acreditaportugal.pt.
To celebrate the 10th edition of the Montepio Acredita Portugal competition, the initiative is opening its doors to the community, allowing all Portuguese entrepreneurs—even those not competing—to attend various lectures and conferences that will take place on the day the semifinalists are evaluated. The topics range from “Difficulties in Raising Investment in Portugal“, “How to Make a Startup Successful” and “New Challenges for Entrepreneurship in Portugal“.
This edition also introduces another new feature and includes an innovative acceleration program: an extended mentoring period to help entrepreneurs make the most of their projects. And, in addition to the usual awards, there will also be specific awards to recognize key 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, “We consider the Montepio Acredita Portugal competition an excellent vehicle for fostering entrepreneurship. In the year it celebrates its 10th anniversary, and after having already supported thousands of ideas, the initiative is expanding to the national entrepreneurial community and promoting the sharing of information and experiences. For our part, we look forward with enthusiasm to the impact of this competition, joining forces with Acredita Portugal in a committed effort 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 landscape. The entrepreneurial spirit that led us to launch this project has not only endured but has also evolved and taken root. In light of this reality, we aim to respond even more effectively to the current needs of Portuguese entrepreneurs by providing processes and networking opportunities to strengthen our efforts in this area and empower entrepreneurs as they develop an original idea and identify opportunities to bring their project to the public.”he concludes.
The Montepio Acredita Portugal competition’s acceleration program aims to equip entrepreneurs with the essential skills to continue their projects independently and efficiently. This year’s acceleration program will be co-organized with CRON.STUDIO, a company that specializes in working with startups, helping them progress from an idea to a 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.
In addition to Banco Montepio, other partners in the initiative include Brisa (2020 Brisa Mobility Award), KCS IT (K.Tech Award), and Águas de Gaia (H2O Innovation Award by Águas de Gaia), in the areas of mobility, technology, and water-related innovation, respectively.
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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