With total financial support of up to 1M Euros available for the Caixa Empreender+ awards, four projects have been selected as track finalists and four others as honorable mentions in the ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Venture Competition, hosted by ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, in partnership with MIT, the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT, the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, and Caixa Capital (the risk capital arm of Caixa Geral de Depósitos). The winners were announced on September 30, 2010, by the Portuguese Secretary of State, for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, during the official ceremony which took place at ISCTE-IUL. The track winners were as follows: Life Sciences track: PLUX PLUX aims at bringing the future of physiotherapy to people’s homes and daily lives. Sustainable Energy and Transportation systems track: Wayenergy Wayenergy systems convert the linear deflection of surfaces through an electromagnetic technology to generate renewable electricity. IT & Web track: Around Knowledge Around Knowledge’s BIPS system provides a tagless method to track and measure consumer behavior to help businesses improve their operational efficiency and rovide a better consumer experience.  Members of the Around Knowledge track finalist team with officials and dignitaries Products and Services track: WeAdapt Weadapt develops and sells inclusive products –garments, aesthetical prosthetics, and rehabilitation devices—for the 600 million people with some type of disability to improve their self-esteem, comfort, autonomy and quality of life. At this stage, the winning teams will receive half of the available financial support, totaling 100,000 Euros, which will support "Go to Market" strategies that were developed over the past two months, in cooperation with the organizing team. The allocation of the remaining total support available will be dependent on how well the teams execute the goals set and agreed between the organizers and promoters for the next three years. Apart from financial support, the four finalists will receive or have already received other in kind support, such as specific training and coaching through business catalysts, including one from the MIT entrepreneurial ecosystem and at least one from Portuguese industry. They will also have the opportunity to present their projects at the major MIT entrepreneurship showcase of the year, Ideastream, at its next edition in April 2011, where the finalists will have an ideal opportunity to network and solicit potential international investors. The projects selected in each area will now compete for the ultimate prize of up to 400,000 euros in financial support. The grand final is scheduled for October 27th, 2010, at 17h00 at ISCTE-IUL. The jury also awarded four honorable mention projects to Accelera (Lifesciences), PV Solutions (Sustainable energy & Transportation systems), Aires (IT&Web) and Aromase (Products & Services), by their novelty and potential value creation from a novel technological platform. These teams will benefit from direct access to the competition’s venture capital partner, Caixa Empreender+, gaining a privileged channel to present and discuss their projects. The audience at the track finalist event also had the opportunity to choose the most innovative projects in each track and to vote on the spot. WeAdapt & TreatU received the greatest number of votes from the audience of nearly 400. An unprecedented stimulus of innovation and entrepreneurship in Portugal This first edition of ISCTE-IUL MIT-Portugal Venture Competition received a total of 95 applications and enrolled over 360 participants. The application period ran from March to June 2010 and was open to the community of students, researchers and technologists from any area, polytechnics, universities and other institutions, public or private. Amongst competing projects were entrepreneurs with start-ups dedicated exclusively to developing technology-based business projects, or products or services, provided they have been created for this purpose no more than five years ago. Created to reward projects of a technological nature, originating in any country, and driven by a team that demonstrates innovative management and promotion skills with an eye to potential global markets, this competition is part of the ISCTE- IUL MIT Portugal cooperation protocol signed in 2010 with a clear goal of fostering technology-based entrepreneurship. Luis Reto, Dean of ISCTE-IUL, stated, "This award is designed in an innovative way in order to put a great emphasis on the post-award, i.e. the venture phase, including the creation of conditions conducive to global projection of the selected companies. With this, we intend to open new frontiers to the competition’s candidate projects, enhance the internationalization of the winning projects from their inception, through the contribution of members of the international jury and global information networks. Thus, the projects will be geared to truly global markets via networks of collaboration between MIT and Portugal. Because of this internationalized stance these projects are already attracting interest from foreign investors in capital projects carried out in Portugal ". You may access the Technology Venture Competition Rules & Regulations.  ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Technology Venture Competition: Track Finalist Presentations, September 2010
For additional information, please contact:
ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal VC Catarina Madeira This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel.: +351 217 903 951
For press & media enquiries please contact: Lift Consulting Miguel Jerónimo This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Tel: +351 214 666 500 Mob.: +351 93 401 35 49 | 
