Santander X Global Challenge | The AI Revolution
Is your company ready to take its place in shaping the AI Revolution?
Banco Santander, Microsoft and the Oxentia Foundation are seeking innovative start up and scaleup businesses to support in a new global entrepreneurship challenge, Santander X Global Challenge | The AI Revolution.
This exciting initiative aims to support and promote the growth of the AI ecosystem, providing a platform for businesses to showcase their innovative AI solutions and connect with industry experts, investors, and world-class resources.
We are looking for entrepreneurs who have scalable transformative AI technologies; AI applications which are transforming products, services, processes and industries whilst making an impact on society. Applicants should have AI-powered solutions which are either changing products and services or creating entirely new ones. Whilst applicants can come from any sector, specific vertical markets of particular interest include healthcare, finance and IoT (Internet of Things).
Selected winners will share a cash prize fund of 120,000 Euro, access to Santander X 100, and the opportunity to pitch to Microsoft’s Venture Capital Fund (M12). Additionally, the winning teams will travel to Silicon Valley for the Awards Ceremony on June 29, where they will gain promotion and visibility, network with industry experts and investors.
Applicants can come from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the US, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, the UK and Uruguay. Startups must be legally incorporated and have a maximum annual income of $300,000, with $100,000 to $1 million capital raised and 25 employees maximum. Scaleups must have been legally incorporated for at least two years, with an annual income over $300,000, more than $1 million capital raised and over 25 employees.
Applications close on 27th April 2023.
Oxentia Foundation CEO Steve Cleverley observed “exploring exciting new technologies and helping entrepreneurs tackle global challenges in innovative ways is at the heart of our work. We are delighted to collaborate with Banco Santander and Microsoft to launch this new challenge. Artificial Intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in our lives, and we look forward to learning more about the best cutting-edge technology and transformative solutions from the candidates”.
According to Diego Calascibetta, global director of Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation at Santander Universities, “artificial intelligence is a technological revolution that is growing in leaps and bounds. As in any cutting-edge sector, innovation is key to ensuring development that supports sustainable progress in society. With this challenge, we want to support companies that share our vision on AI as a technology that is destined to be ever-present in our lives much sooner than we thought”.
Jens Hansen, General Manager EMEA – Data & AI at Microsoft, says, “At Microsoft, we have always viewed technology as a catalyst for progress, and we believe that AI will have a positive and transformational impact on our lives if used responsibly. We are committed to democratizing the use of AI, which is why we are delighted to join Banco Santander in the Santander X Global Challenge | The AI Revolution”.
About the Oxentia Foundation
The Oxentia Foundation was created to support Oxentia’s goal to address global inequalities through innovation and entrepreneurship activities. Globally, Oxentia has designed, developed, and run awards, competitions and programmes supporting early-stage innovators and entrepreneurs to promote commercialisation of science and technology based-innovation projects impacting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Oxentia developed out of the University of Oxford’s technology transfer company, Oxford University Innovation, with the aim to deliver specialist innovation management services to clients in the public and private sector all over the world. Its approach is grounded in a strong Oxford heritage based on over 30 years’ experience in supporting academic innovation and entrepreneurship in Oxford, and globally in over 70 countries
About Banco Santander and its support for higher education
Banco Santander is firmly committed to progress and inclusive, sustainable growth. Through Santander Universities, the bank has stood out among the world’s financial institutions as a pioneering stalwart of education, entrepreneurship and employability for 26 years. Since the launch of Santander Universities, the bank has deployed more than €2.2 billion and has supported more than a million students, professionals and entrepreneurial projects through agreements with more than 1300 universities across 25 countries.
Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is driving digital transformation for the era of the intelligent cloud and the Intelligent Edge. Its mission is to help every person and every organization on the planet do more in their everyday lives.
