REGULATIONS
on the Competition of Innovative Startup Projects "Sikorsky Challenge 2024"
1. GENERALITIES
1.1. The Regulations on the Competition of Innovative Startup Projects Sikorsky Challenge 2024 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations) determine the procedure and terms of the Innovative Startup Projects Competition “Sikorsky Challenge 2024” (hereinafter referred to as the Competition), the functions, rights, duties and responsibilities of the Organizers and Competition Participants.
1.2. The Competition is one of the events of the International Festival of Innovation Projects “Sikorsky Challenge 2024”.
1.3. Basic terms used in the Regulations:
Applicant is an individual or a group of individuals (project team) who has submitted an application for participation in the Competition.
Participant is an individual or a group of individuals (project team), whose application for participation in the Competition has been accepted by the Organizing Committee.
Competition organizers are National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" (hereinafter referred to as "KPI"), Science Park "Kyivskyi Polytechnic" Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the Science Park), Innovation Holding “Sikorsky Challenge” (hereinafter referred to as the Innovation Holding), Startup School “Sikorsky Challenge“ (hereinafter referred to as the Startup School).
Competition Organizing Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Organizing Committee) is the leading body of the Competition, which provides organizational support for the Competition and events, determines the selection methodology and ensures the selection of competitive innovation projects for the Competition.
Expert Council of the Competition (hereinafter referred to as the Expert Council) is a group of Ukrainian and foreign experts who carries out professional evaluation of the Applications and determines the Participants whom it recommends for participation in the Final of the Competition. The procedure for the creation and work of the Expert Council is available at the link >>> www.sikorskychallenge.com/appendix-2
International Jury of the Competition is a group of people, which includes Ukrainian and foreign scientists, experts, investors and mentors that carries out the final evaluation of the projects previously selected by the Expert Council and determines the winners of the Competition in the predetermined nominations.
Format of the Competition is mixed – in-person and synchronous on-line mode. The format of the competition may be changed depending on the epidemiological and military situation in Ukraine.
Awards are prizes awarded to the winners and prize-winners of the Competition.
Sponsors and partners (of different status) are Ukrainian and foreign state and public organizations, institutions and enterprises of all forms of ownership, mass media that provide material, informational or organizational support to the Competition.
1.4. The purpose and tasks of the Competition correspond to the purpose and tasks of the International Festival of Innovation Projects “Sikorsky Challenge 2024”, namely: identifying the best innovation projects of Ukrainian and foreign youth (hereinafter referred to as youth), scientific and business community. Stimulation of innovative entrepreneurship for the rapid and effective implementation of advanced technologies and developments in all areas of security, defense and economy of the country, which contributes to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and its integration into the global high-tech space.
1.5. Applications for participation in the Competition can be submitted by students, post-graduate students, aspirants, scientists and employees of higher educational institutions and research institutions, as well as other natural persons from different regions of Ukraine and foreign countries.
1.6. The Regulations are available to all interested persons applying for participation in the Competition. The Regulations are openly published on the website of the Competition. The participants have the right to demand from the Organizing Committee an explanation of the points of the Regulations.
1.7. The general management of the preparation and holding of the Competition is carried out by the Organizing Committee.
The procedure for the creation and work of the Organizing Committee is available at the link www.sikorskychallenge.com/appindix-1
1.8. Review and selection of Applications are carried out by the Expert Council in accordance with the procedure and the requirements stipulated in these Regulations. The procedure for creation and work of the Expert Council is available at the link www.sikorskychallenge.com/appendix-2
1.9. The Applicants have the right to:
- receive information about the rules and procedure of the Competition;
- apply to the Organizing Committee for clarification of the clauses of this Regulation;
- send their applications for registration of participation in the Competition in the manner prescribed by these Regulations;
- withdraw their previously submitted application for participation in the Competition by submitting an official notice to the Organizing Committee at least 10 calendar days before the deadline for submission;
- participate in all events organized for Applicants in the framework of preparation for the Competition and in the Finals of the Competition.
1.10. The Applicants are obliged to:
- before submitting an application for participation in the Competition, familiarize themselves with these Regulations, the requirements for applications and the procedure for conducting the Competition;
- timely submit applications in accordance with the requirements of these Regulations;
- comply with the requirements of these Regulations.
1.11. The Participants have the right to:
- receive information about the rules and procedure of the Competition;
- apply to the Organizing Committee for clarification of the clauses of this Regulation;
- withdraw their previously submitted application for participation in the Competition by submitting an official notice to the Organizing Committee at least 10 calendar days before the deadline for submission;
- participate in all events organized for Participants in the framework of preparation for the Competition and in the Finals of the Competition.
1.12. Participants are obliged to:
- comply with the requirements of these Regulations;
- timely answer the questions of the members of the Jury regarding their project on the online platform of the competition;
- make a presentation of their project (in offline or online format) before the International Jury of the Competition and potential investors during the Final of the Competition;
- if a pandemic or war situation allows to hold the Competition offline and to present projects in the poster format, the Participant have to prepare at his own expense and to present during the finals of the Competition a full-color A0-size poster with brief information about the Participant's project, and a prototype/ layout of the project results (optional).
1.13. Applicants and Participants are responsible for:
- violation of requirements for the reliability of information provided in their application and/or project presentation;
- non-compliance with the requirements, procedures and terms established by these Regulations;
- copyright infringement by them, including when preparing materials for the Competition.
- For the specified violations, the Organizing Committee may deprive the Participant of the right to participate in the Competition.
The Organizing Committee sends a notification to the Participant about the deprivation of his right to participate in the Competition by e-mail.
1.14. Domestic and foreign individuals and legal entities may be involved in the preparation and conduct of the Competition, they may act as sponsors or partners of the Competition.
1.15. The Partners and Sponsors of the Competition can be as follows:
General Partner of the Startup School and the Festival of Innovation Projects “Sikorsky Challenge 2024” is an individual or legal entity that made the largest contribution to financing the preparation and holding of the Competition ($15,000).
Sponsor of the Innovation Ecosystem “Sikorsky Challenge Ukraine” is a natural or legal entity that contributed to the financing of the preparation and holding of the Competition ($5,000).
Sponsor of the Festival of Innovation Projects “Sikorsky Challenge 2024” is a natural or legal entity that provided prizes or rewards for Competition Participants ($3,000).
Information partner of the Innovative Startup Projects Competition “Sikorsky Challenge 2024” is a natural or legal entity that provides information coverage of the preparation and conduct of the Competition.
Partner of the Innovative Startup Projects Competition “Sikorsky Challenge 2024” is a natural or legal entity that took a significant part in the organization and holding of the Competition.
2. COMPETITION PROCEDURE
2.1. The competition is open to the wide public. Individuals aged 16 to 75 or groups of individuals (project teams) are invited to participate. When considering projects, preference is given to startups with teams.
2.2. For participation in the Competition the projects that have applied value and can be implemented in production or applied in economic activity are accepted. Preference is given to the projects with technological readiness level 4 and above.
2.3. When considering applications, preference is given to engineering projects in the following areas:
- Information technologies, cyber security.
- Industrial Hi-Tech. Aviation and space.
- Civil and military infrastructure.
- Environmental and energy security.
- Biomedical engineering and human health.
- Agricultural engineering and food security.
- Transport and logistics.
- Blue Economy (Maritime Transport, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Costal and Maritime Tourism)
2.4. Projects that were submitted to the Competitions in previous years (2012-2023) are allowed to participate in the Competition if the startup team submits its project for the next round of investment or the startup is at the next stage of implementation, compared to the application submitted in previous years.
2.5. The Competition takes place in three stages:
Stage 1. Submission and acceptance of applications for participation in the Competition (November 1, 2023 - September 10, 2024).
Stage 2. Review of applications by the Expert Council and selection of finalists for participation in the Competition (July 20, 2024 - September 30, 2024).
Stage 3. Final of the Competition (October 2024).
2.6. Submission deadline
Applicants submit their applications for participation in the Competition by filling out the appropriate application form on the website of the All-Ukrainian Innovation Ecosystem “Sikorsky Challenge Ukraine”
at the link >>> until 23:59 on September 10, 2024 inclusive.
Applications received after the specified deadline will not be accepted for consideration and participation in the Competition.
2.7. The application submitted for the Competition must contain the following information:
- details of the applicant and information about the project team;
- name of the project and its general description;
- level of readiness of the product (technology) according to TRLs;
- information about innovative solutions of the project;
- information about the availability of a production base;
- information about how the business is conducted or how it is planned;
- information on the state of protection of intellectual property rights for the project product;
- project presentation and pitch video;
- marketing milestones;
- information about the purpose of the participation in the competition.
2.8. At the Applicant's discretion, additional information explaining or illustrating the essence of the project may be added to the Application (business plan, screenshots, demo version of the developed program, project budget, description of the current stage of project implementation and the obtained result, audio and video recordings, etc.).
2.9. Applications that are received by the specified deadline and meet the terms and conditions of the Competition are submitted by the Organizing Committee to the Expert Council of the Competition for consideration. The Expert Council carries out a preliminary selection of the submitted applications and determines the Participants recommended for participation in the final of the Competition by September 15, 2023. The Expert Council pays a special attention to the evaluation of the innovative component of the application.
2.10. The Organizing Committee informs the Applicant about the consideration of submitted application for participation in the Competition by e-mail specified in the application.
2.11. The submitted application is not a guarantee that the Applicant's project will get to the finals.
2.12. Projects that did not get to the finals or the competition catalog are not evaluated or reviewed. The reason for the refusal is not explained.
2.13. The projects selected to the finals are posted on the online platform of the Competition, for evaluation by the members of the Jury and communication with the finalist teams trough the online chat.
2.14. As part of preparation for participation in the Final of the Competition in the period from September 16, 2023 until September 25, 2023 the Participants can, if needed, have a series of individual meetings with Startup School consultants to finalize their presentations (the schedule of consultations will be agreed with the participants).
2.15. Depending on the war situation in Ukraine and the possibilities of the Participants, the Organizing Committee determines the format of the presentation of the project by the Participant in the Final of the Competition:
- in-person pitch
- online pitch or video presentation
2.16. The final of the Competition will be held in October 2023 in the premises of the Center for Innovation Entrepreneurship of NTUU " Igor Sikorsky KPI" at the address: Kyiv, Beresteiskyi avenue, 37, building 6
The final of the Competition includes the following events:
- presentations by the Participants of their projects in a mixed format (offline and online) to Jury members, sponsors and potential investors;
- meetings of selected Participants with potential investors in the "Business Breakfast" format.
The investors participating in the Competition Finals determine the list of the Participants invited to the meetings independently. Based on the results of the meetings, the potential investors may offer the Participants to sign documents certifying their intentions for further cooperation.
The Organizing Committee organizes the holding of such meetings and the signing of relevant documents.
2.17. For the final evaluation of the projects previously selected by the Expert Council and determination of the winners of the Competition in predefined nominations, the Organizing Committee approves the composition of the International Jury of the Competition (hereinafter - the Jury). The Jury includes members of the SCU Supervisory Board, Ukrainian and foreign scientists, experts, investors and mentors.
2.18. Two weeks before the start of the finals of the Competition, the members of the Jury get access to the online evaluation platform, where they can familiarize themselves with the materials of the projects and communicate with the project teams in the online chat mode.
2.19. The project evaluation procedure involves filling out an online evaluation questionnaire by the Jury members. The winners are selected based on the results of counting the points received from the Jury members.
2.20. According to the results of the final of the Competition, the Jury determines the winners in each of the areas and awards diplomas. The winners of the Competition are determined in the following nominations:
- The best project idea.
- The best technological solution.
- The best solution to the consumer's problem.
- The best business model.
Any project, regardless of the decision of the Jury, may be selected by one or several venture capitals, investment funds or other legal or natural persons to sign documents certifying the intention for further cooperation.
If the project was developed with the assistance of Igor Sikorsky KPI, the Science Park, the Innovation Holding or the Startup School, one of the signatories of such documents must be the Science Park or the Innovation Holding.
The Partners and Sponsors of the Competition can award individual projects or Participants with valuable prizes, diplomas or other awards.
2.21. The Organizing Committee is not responsible for the content of the agreements between the Participants and potential investors, which arose as a result of participation in the Competition, and further steps regarding the cooperation of the Participants and potential investors, as well as for the results of such cooperation.
3. USING OF INFORMATION ABOUT PARTICIPANTS FOR ADVERTISING PURPOSES
3.1. The Organizing Committee reserves the right to use for advertising purposes the names, logos and brief descriptions of the projects participating in the Competition (according to the data specified in the Application), as well as the presentations of the Participants and the feedback of the Participants.
3.2. The Participant agrees to give promotional interviews about participation in the Competition, including radio and television, as well as other mass media, or to be filmed for promotional materials of the Competition without receiving any remuneration for this, and agrees to receive information letters from the Organizing Committee regarding this Competition. All rights to such materials belong to the Competition Organizers. Exceptions to this clause are the participants presenting projects in the field of defense and security.
3.3. During the Final of the Competition, photo and video shooting of the event will be held. The organizers reserve the right to use the photo and video materials at their own discretion. Exceptions to this clause are the participants presenting projects in the field of defense and security.
After reading these Regulations, the Participants agree to the terms of the Regulations and undertake to comply with them.
In case of violation of the terms of the Regulations by the Participants, the Organizing Committee has the right to terminate cooperation with such Participants at any time.