The Vice-President of the Government announced today that the Regional Entrepreneurship Competition, whose application phase ran from May 1 to June 15, registered "34 business ideas presented by young people aged 18 and over, individually or in groups.
According to Sérgio Ávila, the competition aims to stimulate the power of initiative, "creativity and entrepreneurial behaviour, being primarily intended to create companies in the Azores from the projects to the competition." This initiative is promoted by the Vice-Presidency and developed by the Society for Business Development of the Azores (SDEA).
"In addition to increasing participation over the years, the evolution of the quality of applications submitted in terms of innovation and value is quite evident," said the government official.
The 34 applications presented in this year's edition cover areas as diverse as agriculture and agri-food industry, biotechnology, information and communication technologies, software development, tourism and creative industries.
The applications, now submitted, will be evaluated by a jury that will select, for a second phase, the best business ideas.
"In this second phase, which runs from September 1 to October 15, participants will receive specific training and consulting so that they may transform their business ideas into effective business plans," said the Vice-President of the Government.
Hence, business plans will be submitted to an evaluation in the period between October 16 and 30, after which the jury will "select the three wining projects."
The first place will receive a cash prize of 25 thousand Euros, while the second place will receive a cash prize of 20 thousand Euros. In turn, the third place will be awarded a cash prize of 15 thousand Euros.
"These amounts will only be granted on the condition that they will be added to the share capital of the companies to be established for the development of the award-winning business," stressed Sérgio Ávila.