[ MacauBusiness ] 929 Challenge seeks to attract Lusophone startups with “stronger projects” to Macau

The fourth edition of the 929 Challenge competition aims to attract startups from China and Portuguese-speaking countries with higher quality and better-prepared projects for launching businesses in Macau, the organisers said on Friday.

José Alves, co-founder of the 929 Challenge, said that the “success” of the competition, launched in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, should increasingly be measured by the number of projects that reach the market.

The last edition set a new record with over 1,500 participants in more than 280 teams from all nine Portuguese-speaking countries and China. However, the other co-founder of the 929 Challenge refused to set a goal for this year.

“We are more concerned with quality than quantity. We want projects that can then be commercially applied,” emphasised Marco Duarte Rizzolio, one of the initiative’s co-founders, at a press conference.

Rizzolio noted that the competition has new partners, including Angola’s National Institute for Supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises and the Macau Youth Entrepreneur Incubation Centre.

“These partners have brought us better startups and projects,” added José Alves.

The organisation also believes that it can attract “stronger projects” thanks to increased monetary prizes for the top three: 300,000 patacas (34,300 euros) and 4,000 dollars in services and tools from Chinese tech giant Alibaba.

Applications are open until September 29, for both companies and teams of university students.

Teams will participate in an online bootcamp with a network of over 60 mentors during the first two weeks of October, where they will need to create business plans focused on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, said Rizzolio.

The best 16 plans – eight from companies and eight from students – will have 10 minutes to convince the 929 Challenge jury and potential investors in the final on November 9.

Afterwards, there will be “a support program for companies that wish to establish themselves here in Macau and the Greater Bay,” including two weeks of visits to incubators and meetings with venture capital funds, said Rizzolio.

This year, for the first time, there will also be a “soft landing” program of up to three months for projects that genuinely want to start a business in Macau, added José Alves.

For startups needing capital, Marco Duarte Rizzolio mentioned that the competition has agreements with potential investors, including China’s Da Heng Qin Macao Corp and Portugal Ventures, the venture capital arm of the state-owned Banco Português de Fomento.

The competition is co-organised by the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macau) and various institutions in the SAR, including universities.

Source: https://www.macaubusiness.com/929-challenge-seeks-to-attract-lusophone-startups-with-stronger-projects-to-macau/