Participation

Timeline:

• Competition Launch and 1^st Call for Applications: July 8^th 2022

• Submission of Executive Summaries: Friday September 16^th 2022 @ 10:00

• Announcement of Stage 1 Results: Monday September 26^th 2022

• Appointment of Mentors: Thursday September 29^th 2022

• Acceleration Program: October 1^st - November 14^th 2022

• Submission of DRAFT Business Plans: October 24^th 2022

• One 2 one Consultation on DRAFT Business Plans: October 31^st - November 4^th 2022 *

• Video Pitch Submission: November 1^st 2022 **

• Submission of Business Plans (Stage 2): November 14^th 2022

• Pitching Day (closed session): Monday November 28^th 2022 at 18:00

• Final Conference and Award Ceremony: Wednesday November 30^th 2022

Note: Applicants and participants are strongly encouraged to regularly visit the Competition website for any updates/changes.

THE PROCESS

CyEC is open to teams with a start-up business idea which technology plays a key role. Participants will be requested to develop their business plan in 3 incremental stages, with guidance and feedback. Please check Terms & Conditions for participation and eligibility criteria.

Stage 1 LINK:

Participants submit an Executive Summary of a pitch deck up to 4-7 pages long, where they outline:

i) The Business Idea

ii) The Competitive Advantages

iii) The Target Market

iv) Technology

v) The Market Potential

vi) The Qualities of the Team

Application screening: The Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) Board of Admissions will screen applications and interview teams to determine which business ideas will be sent to the judges for review. Applications that are incomplete, do not adequately provide the required information, or answer the application questions, will be ultimately disqualified.

All selected submissions are then evaluated by the CyEC Jury on their merits in developing successful businesses in the marketplace. The Cyec Jury will decide which applications will proceed to the next stage on their merits in developing successful businesses in the marketplace.

Stage 2 ACTIVATE:

The purpose of Activate is to enable teams to validate their idea and further develop their business plan. Successful applicants entering Stage 2, undergo a high quality, zero equity intensive Acceleration Program (6 weeks) with 4-5 tailored workshops and one private business plan consultation session. The teams have the unique opportunity to develop their ideas, refine their value proposition, grow their business skills and network through a series of carefully designed workshops and events with local and international partners. All teams will be assigned mentor(s) with suitable expertise according to the content of each business idea, will have access to the C4E Network of corporate partners and investors, as well as access to the valuable network of other entrepreneurs in the Cyprus and regional ecosystem.

Teams who enter stage 2 are required to submit a short video pitch which communicates their business idea*. At the end of this program, teams are required to submit a well-developed Business Plan.

Stage 3 PITCH:

The finalists are expected to present their Business Plans in a closed meeting with the CyEC Jury and the CyEC Mentors Network. All finalists are also required to present a 3-minute long pitch of their business at the CyEC 2022 Finalists Pitching presentation part of the 2022 Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum in the University of Cyprus. The winning team(s) will be announced after the presentation together with he selected team(s) entering Stage 4 GROW.