DEEP TECH START–UP COMPETITION 2022

1. INTRODUCTION

The Deep Tech Startup Competition (hereinafter – Startup Competition) is established as a possibility to foster innovations of early stage deep tech startups, organized by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia and the Commercialization Reactor platform where scientists and entrepreneurs are brought together to meet and to create meaningful deep tech start-ups.

The aim of Startup Competition is to display an entrepreneurial talent to the international investment and acceleration community, as well as to corporations seeking innovation, encouraging contact between both of them for potential investment, commercial or strategic agreements, as well as promoting startups participating in the event.

Startup Competition is a professional tool that encourages interaction and the creation of business opportunities: visibility, access to finance and strategic agreements for startups, innovation for corporations, and deal flow for investors.

Startup Competition is part of the Conference Deep Tech Atelier (hereinafter DTA) to be held on 19^h– 20^th of May.

The Venue: Hanzas perons, 16a Hanzas Street Riga, LV-1045, Latvia.

Mode of the event – a hybrid of in-person and online event

Startup Competition is organized at the terms and conditions outlined in this document.

 

2. PURPOSE

2.1. The purpose of the Startup Competition is to select 5 best projects out of the projects applied and pre-selected for the competition.

2.2. Projects will be selected based on various criteria such as

2.2.1. Team capabilities

2.2.2. Project scalability

2.2.3. Business model and marketing approach

2.2.4. Uniqueness of the technology

2.2.5. Attractiveness for investors.

 

3. PARTICIPANTS AND REQUIREMENTS

3.1. Startup Competition, is aimed at all those projects that are at an early stage of development (hereinafter Early Stage).

3.1.1. Deep tech, meaning that there is intellectual property-rich science or engineering behind the project;

3.1.2. Early stage (before sales or sales have just started)

3.1.3. The team contains both scientist/-s and entrepreneur/-s

3.1.4. Lab-scale prototype (science finished, TRL at least 4)

3.1.5. The business idea has potential for scaling

3.1.6. A legal entity is not compulsory.

The Startup Competition is open to all entrepreneurs, of legal age, whether they be natural or legal persons, and whatever their nationality is. There is no territorial limitation to participate – local and international participants are welcome.

3.2. The selected startups for the Startup Competition will prepare pre-recorded video presentation, which should contain the following:

3.2.1. Intro page

3.2.2. Description of a problem

3.2.3. Technical and business solution of the problem

3.2.4. Market & Competitors

3.2.5. Revenue model

3.2.6. Team

3.2.7. Investment and other needs.

 

4. APPLICATIONS AND DEADLINES:

4.1. Online registration form available at the CR website (commercializationreactor.com/deep-tech-startup-competition). Applicants must complete all sections in the form required as obligatory in English.

4.2. Applications contain the following information and answers:

4.2.1. Name of a start-up, website (if any)

4.2.2. Name of representative: first name, surname

4.2.3. Position

4.2.4. Contacts: email, phone

4.2.5. City, Country

4.2.6. Description of your start-up

4.2.7. What defines you as a Deep Tech start-up?

4.2.8. What is the industry of your start-up?

4.2.9. Who are your possible target clients? (specify the market segment)

4.2.10. What is the problem you are trying to solve? What is your solution?

4.2.11. Who are your competitors? What competitive advantages your start-up has over current players? 4.2.12. What is the status of your product or prototype?

4.2.13. How will you sell your product/service? (what is your (expected) revenue model) 4.2.14. Start-up team: please describe your team, relevant skill set, roles

4.2.15. How much investor capital have you raised, if any?

4.2.16. Video pitch uploaded in https://www.youtube.com/ and/or http://drive.google.com/

4.3. Deadlines:

14.03.2022 – competition is open for applications
30.04.2022 – applications registration deadline

03.05.2022 – participants are defined and announced

10.05.2022 – participants submit the pre-recorded video presentations

19.05.2022 – -finalists 4-minute pitch to the Startup Competition jury, followed with 3 minute Q&A session
20.05.2022 – Award ceremony. Top 5 winners are announced.

4.4. All applicants to the Startup Competition must be registered for the DTA 2022 conference in addition to registration to the Startup Competition (https://www.mitto.me/deep-tech-atelier/).

 

5. COMPETITION AND SELECTION PROCESS

5.1. The Selection Committee will be appointed by the organizers. It will comprise an international network of investors, accelerators, entrepreneurs, and experts in various industries. This Committee will evaluate all the projects and will select the best graded ones – up to 20 teams. The pre-selected Startups will be announced within 3 days after 1st of May, 2022 via e-mail and on the website of Commercialization Reactor and DTA, as well as their social media channels.

5.2. The selection criteria to be used are as follows:

5.2.1.Team capabilities

5.2.2. Project scalability

5.2.3. Business model and marketing approach

5.2.4. Uniqueness of the technology

5.2.5. Attractiveness for investors.

5.3. The selected Startups (participants) will have the opportunity to be presented to international and national investors, accelerators, media and corporations, and have a Q&A session with the jury.

5.4. The projects selected are to participate in the Startup Competition on 19th of May, 2022 in-person (or ONLINE if not possible) as part of the DTA.

All participants must be present in-person during the Startup Competition (or via the organizers’  indicated platform). Each participant presents their pitch for 4 minutes, followed by 3 minutes of Q&A session with the Jury.

If a participant can’t be presented in-person, they must contact the organizers till 17th May 2022 (info@commercializationreactor.com).

Participants’ pre-recorded video pitch will be streamed for those teams, who will only be able to join ONLINE. Participants should be present online during their pre-recorded presentations and during the Q&A session.

The participants submit their pre-recorded presentations compliant to the regulations to be shared within 3 days after the announcement of the finalists will be done. All 20 participants selected for the competition should submit their pre-recorded presentations.

Failure to comply with the deadlines and requirements could mean withdrawal from the competition.

5.5. The criteria for the Jury selection stay the same as during the pre-selection.

5.6. The organizers may grant 5 winners with awards. Information about awards will be available on the organizers’ websites before the Startup Competition.

The decision regarding the winners in the Startup Competition will be announced on 20th of May 2022.

 

6. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The organizers reserve the right, unilaterally and without prior notice, to exclude any participant from the Startup Competition, especially in those cases where it has suspicions or detects attempts to defraud, alter and/or disable, directly or indirectly, the smooth running and ordinary, proper course of this Competition.

Both the initial Selection Committee and the Jury appointed for the Startup Competition will have the ability to interpret and complete the Terms and Conditions of this competition and their decisions will be final.

Non-acceptance of any of the terms and conditions of the legal rules of this Startup Competition will also involve the loss by participants of the right to participate in Startup Competition, obtain any prize that could arise from their participation.

Participation in the Startup Competition involves acceptance of the whole contents of these Terms and Conditions.

The participant certifies/states that all data/information submitted to Commercialization Reactor is their own and not of a third party, as well as it is true, correct and accurate to the best of their knowledge.

 

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

All participants taking part in the Startup Competition declare that they have sufficient ownership of intellectual property rights (trademarks, etc), programs and/or content included in their proposals, declaring through the acceptance of this Legal Notice that they do not infringe on any intellectual property right or any other rights that any third party may hold in Latvia or abroad regarding the contents and exempting Commercialization Reactor from any liability regarding the use of the above-mentioned programs and/or content.

Specifically, and in relation to the content and images that participants may make public during the Startup Competition, the latter guarantee and are liable to Commercialization Reactor and third parties for the following aspects:

• They are legitimate owners or holders of rights, granting Commercialization Reactor the license for their publication and, where appropriate, have obtained the necessary consent from third parties to do so.
• They do not violate applicable laws such as those relating to the right to privacy, image and/or honor, intellectual, industrial or similar property rights, or any right of a third party, either a person or an entity.
• In the unlikely event that they publish personal details about another person during the course of the competition, they should have previously obtained their consent for the publication.

The participant will therefore be liable to Commercialization Reactor for the accuracy of the details reported, ensuring that they do actually correspond to them and not to a third party, holding Commercialization Reactor harmless from any demand or claim that, if applicable, could be made by third parties in relation to the above statements, and any legitimate right to the content that is published and/or provided to Commercialization Reactor as part of the Competition.

The participants are in any event solely liable for the consequences of damages or actions arising from use of the content and/or programs included in their proposals, as well as their reproduction and diffusion.

Intellectual and/or industrial property for initiatives and projects submitted in the “Startup Competition” will – where appropriate in each case – belong exclusively to participants who submitted them.

 

8. CONFIDENTIALITY

Throughout the Startup Competition, confidentiality will be ensured with respect to the ideas and/or projects submitted by the participants; organizers only being able to diffuse, at any time and through any means, the general characteristics of these, as well as the names of these ideas and/or projects and those of participants and, especially, the winners.

 

9. ADVERTISING

9.1. Startup Competition participants, and especially the winners, expressly authorize Commercialization Reactor and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia through the acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, without any territorial or time limit, to establish, reproduce, disseminate and use by any printed, spoken and signed media, in any form, by any means and through any medium, their name, image and voice, as well as the general characteristics and names of the ideas or projects submitted, always respecting the provisions of the Intellectual Property and Confidentiality sections of this document, provided they are for advertising, information and/or promotional purposes relating to Startup Competition or the Deep Tech Atelier, without any right to compensation.

9.2. Information about Startup Competition will be distributed through several channels: media, websites of the organizers and partners, social networks, partners’ channels.

 

10. PRIVACY AND DATA PROTECTION POLICY

Commercialization Reactor informs participants in the Startup Competition that it respects current legislation regarding the protection of personal data, pursuant to the provisions of General Data Protection Regulation, approving the regulations implementing it. Commercialization Reactor informs you that the data collected through any data collection forms on the website www.commercializationreactor.com will be included in a file of personal data for which Commercialization reactor is responsible, and users can at any time exercise their rights of access, rectification, cancellation and opposition regarding their personal data, communicating via email to info@commercializationreactor.com .

In these communications, please specify the name of the participant – attaching a photocopy of ID -your email address and, if applicable, the name of the company on behalf of which you completed the forms on the website.

The main legitimating base that enables those responsible for the processing of personal data of the participants is the execution of the participation in the Startup Competition, because without the processing of their personal data their participation could not be carried out. Likewise, the participants authorize the responsible parties and potential assignees, to send content (newsletter) by means of their own consent through the forms established for this, without in any case the withdrawal of this consent conditioning the participation in the Startup Competition.

In the use of the data included in the file, Commercialization Reactor undertakes to respect its confidentiality and use it in accordance with the purpose of the file, i.e. to manage data regarding contact details and participants in the Startup Competition, in the Deep Tech Atelier, and to perform content delivery management (newsletters) and any others that might be indicated at the time of data collection, as well as complying with its obligation to store it and adopt all measures to prevent alteration, loss, treatment or unauthorized access in accordance with the provisions of General Data Protection Regulation.

The participant agrees and expressly authorizes Commercialization Reactor to transfer data to bodies promoting, organizing, sponsoring and participating in the Deep Tech Atelier 2022.

The website provides participants who so desire, and as they have expressly agreed in advance, with the possibility of receiving notification from Commercialization Reactor about content (newsletters) and marketing communications from the latter and third parties that may be of interest.

Personal data provided by participants must always be truthful and complete. If they are false, and if the prize corresponds to the participant, Commercialization Reactor reserves the possibility of refusing the right to compete for the prize at any time.

Participants in the Startup Competition know and expressly accept that to manage and enable their participation and management of the prize, Commercialization Reactor may use both their image and personal contact data and, in particular, their email address in order to communicate with the participants and the winners and to inform them of the steps to take to ensure their presentations during the Deep Tech Atelier and to be awarded the prizes.

Startup Competition will be audio and video recorded and/or live broadcasted through web streaming. When attending this Startup Competition participants agree on the collection and on the processing of their personal data and on the publication of the audio and video recordings and/or web streaming. Publication of the recordings might be on a publicly available website or on an access restricted site.

Winners agree that their name will be published on the Commercialization Reactor’s site and Deep Tech Atelier 2022 site as part of the management for their participation.

 

11. MODIFICATIONS AND CANCELLATIONS

Commercialization Reactor reserves the right to modify these Terms and Conditions at any time, including the prize and/or its possible cancellation before the expected date of resolution, provided there is a justified cause, undertaking to publish these modifications through the website www.commercializationreactor.com.

Furthermore, if participants wish to make any modifications or cancellations related to the information provided, they must do so to the email address info@commercializationreactor.com

 

12.LAW AND JURISDICTION

These Terms and Conditions are governed by Latvian law and the participants and the organizer, expressly waiving any other jurisdiction, are subject to the Courts of Republic of Latvia for any dispute arising between the parties.