competition
929 Challenge Competition
The primary purpose of the competition is to raise awareness about sustainability and international business opportunities connecting China and Portuguese-Speaking countries.
The successful business ideas will meet three minimum requirements.
- First, the business ideas need to build bridges between China and at least one Portuguese Speaking country.
- Second, the business ideas need to address at least one of the Sustainability Development Goals of the United Nations.
- Third, the teams must participate in the Bootcamp.
Yes, the 929 Challenge is looking for ventures in six sectors: agribusiness and food, blue economy, energy and resources, fintech, healthcare, and tourism.
Yes, the competition has two distinct categories, one for students from colleges and universities, and another category for startups.
Before 23h59 on 15th October 2023 (Macau, Hong Kong, Beijing Time Zone), the teams will have to submit by email (info@929challenge.org):
- Pitch deck slides.
- Video with the presentation of the pitch deck (maximum 10 minutes).
bootcamp
Bootcamp & Mentor
The Bootcamp is a 2-week training program to prepare students to identify and develop a business idea. It gives students the tools necessary to build their Pitching deck presentation.
In the first week of the Bootcamp, from 3rd to 7th October, the students will learn about Portuguese-speaking countries and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The second week of Bootcamp is a hands-on practice where students learn about building a business idea.
On the 10th, 11th, and 12th of October, students learn about the tools for identifying a new business opportunity and creating a pitch deck about it.
On the 12th and 13th of October, students will have meetings with the Mentors to discuss their business idea and receive feedback to help to improve the Pitching Deck presentation.
The Bootcamp has eight content sessions of 2 hours from 19h00 to 21h00 (Macao, Hong-Kong, Beijing Time Zone GMT +08:00) and two mentorship sessions with flexible time to meet the mentors.
The Bootcamp starts on Monday 2nd October 2023 and finishes on Friday 13th October 2023.
Yes, after each session of the Bootcamp, we will upload the recording of the session and the presentation in a shared drive online.
We will provide meeting links after the closing of registration on September 30.
The Bootcamp uses the Tencent Meeting platform.
Western version for teams from Portuguese-speaking countries: https://voovmeeting.com/
Chinese version for teams based in China: https://meeting.tencent.com/
Please install this software on your PC.
The teams will interact freely with mentors during 10th and 13th October. We will arrange the time of the mentorship according to the convenience of the students and the mentors.
The mentorship can be done in English, Chinese, or Portuguese. It depends on the mentor’s ability to speak that language. All mentors can speak English, but only some can speak Chinese or Portuguese.
The teams will ask questions and receive feedback to improve their business idea.
We will have many mentors that will be available to respond to your questions in separate breakout
rooms.
The teams can ask to meet more than one mentor as needed, and the organization can also assign mentors to the teams.
We will send the Mentoring Links before 14 of October
The Tencent Meeting and VooV will be open the whole day.
Please, make an appointment in advance for us to know your preferred time and language.
The appointment can be done through chat box of the Tencent or Voov, email info@929challenge.org, WeChat message, or WhatsApp message.
presentation
Pitch Deck & Presentation
A pitch deck is a presentation that provides a brief but informative overview of a business.
The Bootcamp has a session focused on the structure and content of a pitch deck.
Please, read the Toolkit, which includes details about the pitch deck (desktop website www.929challenge.org).
All presentations must be written and presented in English.
The presentation will have a maximum of 8 minutes.
We recommend one or two students to do the presentation. (Members of your team that feel more comfortable to present in English.)
The presentation must be in PowerPoint (PPT). The pitch deck should have about ten slides as indicated in the toolkit.
The pitch deck and video must use English.
The video is necessary for two purposes:
- First, to select the teams for the final.
- Second, to play in the finals in case the internet connection of that team has poor quality.
We will ask all teams to make a video of the presentation and save it in MP4 format. Teams will have to upload the video in one of the following platforms: Bilibili, Youtube, Youku, Vimeo.
A panel composed of several professors will evaluate all pitch decks submitted. The panel will meet on the 17th and 18th to shortlist 16 teams to join the finals. We will announce the finalist teams on the website and teams informed by email.
We will evaluate the business idea and pitch deck according to:
- Demonstrated engagement between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
- Demonstrated impact on sustainability.
- Structure and content of the Pitch Deck.
The successful business ventures will include evidence of a significant problem and data supporting the various elements of the pitch deck.
The final will be held on Saturday 28th October 2023.
Depending on Visa acceptance Portuguese teams will do online Hong Kong Teams can come to Macau.
Yes, teams from Mainland China that can enter Macau will need a Group Visa and invitation from the organizing committee.
The 929 organizing committee will provide one-night hotel accommodation for the finalist teams from Mainland China entering Macau.
Yes, we will broadcast the final event on Livestream through online media channels. The links of the Livestream will appear on the website and social media of the 929 Challenge.
Yes, all students will get a certificate of participation in the 929 Challenge. The certificates will be send to all participants in digital format.
FIRST PRIZE
Startups: 50,000 MOP + 15,000 MOP in-kind of Alibaba Cloud
Universities: 50,000 MOP + 15,000 MOP in-kind of Alibaba Cloud
SECOND PRIZE
Startups: 30,000 MOP
Universities: 20,000 MOP
THIRD PRIZE
Startups: 20,000 MOP
Universities: 10,000 MOP