START-UP CHALLENGE 2017 COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS Article 1 General provisions 1. These Terms and Conditions set out the terms of conditions for participation in the START-UP CHALLENGE 2017 Competition, hereinafter referred to as the Competition. 2. The main objective of the Competition is to popularise in Poland the idea of entrepreneurship as well as business and creative thinking focused on creation and action instead of passivity and the reviewing of others. 3. The specific objectives include: a) selecting the most innovative Polish start-ups; b) popularising the most interesting business ideas in Poland; c) connecting start-ups with investors and industry corporations. 4. The Competition forms part of the European Start-up Days 2017, an event that will take place in Katowice on 11 12 May 2017, hereinafter referred to as the Event (home page of the Event: http://www.estartupdays.eu). The Event accompanies the European Economic Congress 2017 that will take place in Katowice on 10 12 May 2017 (Congress website: http://www.eecpoland.eu). 5. Information on the Competition, along with the application form, are available on the Event website (http://www.estartupdays.eu) in the START-UP CHALLENGE tab, hereinafter referred to as the Competition website. 6. The Organiser of the Competition is Fundacja Polska Przedsiębiorcza (Entrepreneurial Poland Foundation) with its registered office at ul. Piękna 68 in Warsaw, hereinafter referred to as the Organiser. 7. The Substantive Partners of the Competition are: a) PTWP SA Group with its registered office at the International Conference Centre, Plac Sławika i Antalla 1, 40-163 Katowice; b) THINKTANK Sp. z o.o. Centre with its registered office at Al. Ks. J. Poniatowskiego 1, 03-901 Warsaw; c) BValue.vc Fund with its registered office at the Business Link PGE Narodowy, Al. Ks. J. Poniatowskiego 1, 03-901 Warsaw; d) Fundacja Akademickie Inkubatory Przedsiębiorczości (Academic Entrepreneurship Incubators Foundation AIP), owner of the Business Link brand; hereinafter collectively referred to as Substantive Partners. 8. Participation in the Competition is free. 9. The Competition is intended for start-up owners, hereinafter referred to as Participants. 10. A Start-up shall be understood as: a) a natural person or a group of natural persons with an idea for an innovative undertaking; b) an innovative enterprise at the early stage of its development, meeting one of the two following criteria at the moment of signing up to the project: it does not conduct business activity in any market, it has conducted business activity in any market for less than five (5) years since the first commercial sale of its product(s).
11. Innovation shall be understood as implementation of a new or significantly enhanced product (or service), process, new marketing method or new organisational method in economic practice, workplace organisation or relations with the surroundings / the Oslo Manual. 12. The correct course of the Competition shall be ensured by the Team of Experts and the Jury. 13. The Team of Experts shall be composed of representatives of the Organiser and the Substantive Partners. The main task of the Team of Experts shall be to assess the applications for the Competition as regards their formal and substantive content. 14. The Jury shall assess the speeches of the Semi-Finalists during the Event, thus selecting the Finalists of the Competition. The Jury shall be composed of both permanent and rotating members, the latter being representatives of start-up industry groups (the Competition s Categories Article 3, paragraph 1(c) herein), who shall carry out the assessment and, in connection therewith, they shall change along with the change of the Competition s Category being assessed at a given time. 15. The Competition shall be carried out in the territory of the Republic of Poland. The Participants in the Competition can be entities registered or operating both in Poland and abroad. Article 2 Rules of the Competition 1. The Competition consists of four (4) stages: a) The 1st stage of the Competition Recruitment The Participants fill in their applications for the Competition by completing the boxes of the application form available on the Competition website; for more details, refer to the Instructions on completing the application, which are available on the Competition website; b) The 2nd stage of the Competition Formal and Substantive Assessment, Ranking, and Selection of Quarter-Finalists For more details on the formal and substantive assessment, refer to Article 5 herein and the Formal Assessment Form and Substantive Assessment Form available on the Competition website; c) The 3rd stage of the Competition Semi-Final, Presentations and Assessment of speeches delivered by the Semi-Finalists Presentations by the Semi-Finalists (lasting a maximum of five (5) minutes each), assessment by the Jury and the audience during the Event, and selection of the Finalists; d) The 4th stage of the Competition Presentation the Finalists with awards during the Gala of presenting the Start-up Challenge awards. 2. Important dates for the Competition: a) 8 March 2017 26 April 2017 (until midnight): the period of receiving applications for the Competition submitted by way of completing the application form available on the www.estartupdays.eu website; b) 17 27 April 2017: the period of formal and substantive assessment of the applications, selection of Quarter-Finalists and Semi-Finalists in each Category, and
publishing the ranking of Start-ups (according to the number of points scored during the substantive assessment) on the Event website; c) 28 April 2017 to 5 May 2017: the period of noticing the Quarter-Finalists and Semi-Finalists of winning by email/phone, as well as through the www.estartupdays.eu website, and confirming their participation in the Event; d) 11 May 2017: presentation of the Semi-Finalists, selection of the Finalists, and the Gala of presenting the Start-up Challenge awards. Article 3 Participants and conditions for participation in the Competition 1. Participants in the Competition can be persons who: a) own a start-up established in accordance with a formula that conforms to the definition of a start-up, as specified in Article 1, paragraph 10 herein; b) are developing / have developed an innovative product/service as part of the operations of the start-up, pursuant to the definition of innovation, as specified in Article 1, paragraph 11 herein; c) specify their belonging to one of the following industry categories of the Competition: i. Industry 4.0. Robotics, automation, IT, and new materials ii. Business & ICT. Management, business intelligence and decision-making processes, and HR iii. Tradition & modernity. Industry, energy, telecommunications, and logistics iv. For humans. Biotechnology, medicine, and ecology v. Client & business. Trade, customer experience, and FinTech vi. Lifestyle, the leisure industry, and other industries hereinafter collectively referred to as the Competition s Categories; d) fill in (in Polish or English) all the boxes of the application form available on the Competition website and send it through that website in the recruitment period, having previously accepted all the statements therein; e) have full capacity to perform acts in law. 2. Persons who cannot participate in the Competition include the employees of the Organiser and the Partners, including persons employed on the basis of civil-law contracts, as well as their immediate family members. 3. Each Start-up can apply for the Competition only once. The acceptance of an application is attested to by way of receiving an email that confirms the submission date of the application within five (5) working days of the date of sending the application using the form available on the Competition website. Article 4 Rights of the Organiser The Organiser reserves the right to remove applications for the Competition that: 1. do not meet the conditions specified in Article 3 herein; 2. contain a description of a concept, the implementation of which would be incompatible with the law of the Republic of Poland (including regulations that protect the privacy of third parties).
Article 5 Application assessment method 1. Each application shall, first and foremost, be subject to formal assessment carried out by the Team of Experts, which shall result in rejection of those of the applications that do not meet the formal requirements. 2. The applications that have passed through the formal assessment shall be subject to substantive assessment carried out by the Team of Experts, which shall result in: a) rejecting the applications that fail to meet the criterion of innovation; b) granting points that classify each Start-up in the ranking. 3. While carrying out the assessment, the members of the Team of Experts shall use the Formal Assessment Form and the Substantive Assessment Form, both of which are available on the Competition website. 4. During the substantive assessment stage, each application for the Competition shall be assessed by a minimum of two (2) members of the Team of Experts. 5. Based on the number of points granted at the substantive assessment stage, a ranking of the applying Start-ups shall be created, thus selecting 100 of the best Start-ups for the Quarter-Final, and among them, 18 of the best Start-ups for the Semi-Final (three per each Category, as specified in Article 3, paragraph 1(c) herein). 6. In the event of a considerable disproportion between the number of applications for particular Categories, the Team of Experts shall be entitled to qualify a greater number of Start-ups in the Categories with a significantly greater number of applications by way of granting them Wild Cards that shall entitle them to participate in the Semi-Final. 7. During the Semi-Final, the assessment of particular Start-ups shall be carried out by the Jury, where each Semi-Finalist shall be assessed by all members of the Jury that judge in a given Competition s Category. 8. The final number of points granted at each stage of the assessment shall be an arithmetic mean of the assessments by the Team of Experts (the 2nd stage, substantive assessment), and further on by the Jury (the 3rd stage, speeches by the Semi-Finalists and answers to the Jury s questions). 9. The minutes prepared by the Team of Experts and the Jury concerning the ranking they have developed and the awards they have granted shall be archived at the registered office of the Organiser. Article 6 Awards 1. The awards for the Quarter-Finalists and Semi-Finalists are granted on the basis of a ranking of points they have gained at the stage of substantive assessment of the applications. The Participants who are be awarded as a result of the substantive assessment shall be informed of this fact by way of an email sent to the address they have specified in their application for the Competition and/or by phone and through the Competition website (where the names of the Start-ups shall be published). 2. The awards for the Finalists shall be granted by the Jury and the audience during the Event on the basis of the assessments of the speeches by the Finalists and their answers to questions.
3. Awards in the Competition: a) Distinction for the Quarter-Finalists: Free use of a stand in the Scale-up Alley zone, in the place where the Event is organised and during the Event, which makes it possible to present the Start-up to the guests of the European Start-up Days and the European Economic Congress 2017, and thus, to: o gain an investor and/or financial partner from among the representatives of big business who take part in the European Economic Congress, o attract the attention of the members of the accredited media (500 accredited journalists), o meet people similar to the Participant and exchange his or her experiences with other representatives of Start-ups; b) Awards for the Semi-Finalists (18 Start-ups + possible Awardees of the Wild Cards ): All of the above, and additionally: Diplomas of Semi-Finalists of the Start-up Challenge, The possibility of presenting the Participant s ideas on the Open Stage of the European Economic Congress in the form of speeches (maximum 5 minutes each), and thus, standing even a greater chance of: o gaining an investor and/or business partner, o attracting the attention of the media; c) Awards for the Finalists (6 Start-ups) All of the above, and additionally: Statuettes and Diplomas of Finalists of the Start-up Challenge, Six (6) THINKTANK Society Silver Cards (an annual extended package); for more information on the package, refer to the website (one card per team), Six (6) Business Link Cards that entitle their holders to work in a co-working space for 12 months (one card per team), Promotion of the Finalist Start-ups in the industry-specific media owned by the PTWP SA Group for up to three months following the end of the Event, 3-minute self-presentation of each of the Finalists during the Gala of presenting the Start-up Challenge awards. 4. The income tax on awards and prizes for the Finalists shall be borne by the sponsors of the awards. For the purposes of settling the tax due, the Finalists shall be asked to provide the data necessary to perform this task. 5. The Participants shall not be entitled to exchange their awards for any other of the awards granted in the Competition, nor for cash. 6. The Participants cannot resell the awards they have won in the Competition, nor can they transfer their awards to any third parties. 7. The Participants can submit a written statement of refusal of the award. 8. Absent Participants shall not take part in the Competition. In the event that a Finalist is unable to show up in person at the Gala of presenting the Start-up Challenge awards in order to receive his or her award, then someone else should represent the Start-up in question instead.
9. Should the winner of an award be a person who does not meet the conditions specified herein, he or she shall lose their right to the award. The Organiser shall be entitled to grant such an award to the next ranked Participant in the Competition. Article 7 Processing of personal data 1. The administrator of the personal data submitted by the Participants in the Competition, in particular in the application form, is the Organiser. The submitted data shall be processed for the purposes of organising and carrying out the Competition, including the formal and substantive assessment of the applications for the Competition, contacting the Awardees, granting the awards, informing the Participants of subsequent editions of the Competition or inviting them to the subsequent editions of the Competition in the years to follow, and transferring the data to the Substantive Partners in order to make it possible for them to assess the applications or contact the Participants. The scope of data processing is specified in Attachment No. 1 to these Terms and Conditions. 2. The Organiser and the members of the Team of Experts who assess the applications hereby undertake to keep secret and not disclose any Information concerning the projects submitted by the creators, as described in the application for the Start-up Challenge Competition, as well as to protect and safeguard such Information against theft, damage, loss or unauthorised access. Access to the information of this type shall only be granted to duly authorised persons. 3. The Organiser, the members of the Team of Experts and the Jurors hereby undertake to keep confidential the details of their assessments and not disclose them to any third parties except the persons duly authorised by the Organiser for organisational purposes. 4. Submission of personal data is voluntary and necessary for the Participants to join the Competition. Persons who submit their data shall be entitled to access this data and correct it. Unless stated otherwise by the Participant, it shall be assumed that the act of sending his or her application form to the Organiser is tantamount to expressing his or her consent for their personal data contained in the application for the Competition to be processed as well as recorded as part of the recording of the audio-video event. In the event of completing the application form using the personal data of persons other than the person filling in the form and sending the application for the Competition, it shall be assumed that the person filling in and sending the application form acts on behalf of the aforementioned other persons, with their awareness and consent. 5. The data of the Participants in the Competition can be disclosed to the competent authorities of public administration in the cases specified by applicable laws. 6. The data administrator reserves the right to refuse deletion of a Participant s data should keeping it prove necessary in order to process claims or if required by applicable laws. 7. Participants agree to unpaid registration of their image in whole or in part by the Organizer and the indicated sponsors of the conference for film and photographic documentation of the event for the purposes of promotion and information activities of the Organizer and sponsors of the event. Article 8 Complaints
1. Any and all complaints related to the course of the Competition should be sent to the following email address: promocja@estartupdays.eu. A complaint shall be processed by the Organiser within seven (7) working days of the date of receiving it. The Participant in the Competition shall be informed of the results of the complaint procedure by email within fourteen (14) working days of the date on which the complaint has been received by the Organiser. 2. The complaints should contain the first name and surname of the Participant, their phone number and email address, and a description of the complaint. 3. The complaint procedure shall not exclude the possibility of pursuing claims under general rules. Article 9 Final provisions 1. The Competition shall last from 8 March 2017 to 11 May 2017. 2. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Civil Code and the Personal Income Tax Act as of 26 July 1991 (Journal of Laws 2000 No. 14, item 176, as amended) and other applicable laws shall apply. 3. These Terms and Conditions are available for the Participants on the www.estartupdays.eu website in the Start-up Challenge tab (the Competition website), as well as at the registered office of the Organiser. 4. These Terms and Conditions can be amended in the course of the Competition for serious organisational and legal reasons. However, such changes shall not affect the rights already acquired by the Participants in the Competition. Attachment No. 1. Privacy Policy 1. What data concerning the Participants in the Competition shall the Organiser collect and in what way shall this data be used? a. The data concerning the Participants is collected during the process of completing the application form for the Competition. The Organiser shall process the data entered in the application form and as part of the correspondence with the Participants. b. The data submitted by the Participants shall be processed for the purposes of organising and carrying out the Competition, including the formal and substantive assessment of the applications for the Competition, contacting the Awardees, granting the awards, informing the Participants of the results of particular stages of the Competition and subsequent editions of the Competition or inviting them to the subsequent editions of the Competition in the years to follow, and transferring the data to the Substantive Partners of the Competition in order to make it possible for them to assess the applications or contact the Participants, as well as to contact the persons who become Awardees at particular stages of the Competition. Completing the application form is an essential prerequisite for participation in the Competition. Names of the Start-ups awarded during the Final shall be published on the Event website and fan page, as well as on the Organiser s website, and possibly on the websites of the Substantive Partners as well. Personal data shall be transferred to the Partners of the Competition within the scope specified above.
c. The Organiser shall entrust the processing of personal data within the scope specified above to Polskie Towarzystwo Wspierania Przedsiębiorczości S.A. seated in Katowice (collection of the data, including by email or online application forms, its storage as part of the company s IT infrastructure, its compilation for the purposes of execution of tasks arising from the contract, and the disclosure of the data to the Partners specified by the Organiser). d. The data submitted by the Participants shall be used for the purposes of contacting the persons who become Awardees at particular stages of the Competition. Completing the application form is an essential prerequisite for participation in the Competition. Names of the Start-ups awarded during the Final shall be published on the Event website and fan page, as well as on the Organiser s website, and possibly on the websites of the Substantive Partners as well. e. In order to collect the awards, the representatives of the Start-ups awarded during the Final shall be required to submit the following data: first name, surname, address of residence, Personal Identification Number (PESEL) and the data of the competent Tax Office for the purposes of tax settlement in relation to the fact of collecting the awards. f. The data collected during correspondence between the Participants in the Competition and the Organiser shall be used solely for the purpose of answering queries. g. In the event of an inspection by the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection (GIODO) or other competent authority of public administration, the data of the persons participating in the Competition can be disclosed to the employees of the competent authority in question, pursuant to the Personal Data Protection Act as of 29 August 1997. h. In the event of any breach of these Competition Terms and Conditions or any infringement of the law, or if so required by the law, the Organiser can disclose the data of the Participants to the competent judicial authorities. 2. In what way shall the Organiser and/or the members of the Team of Experts contact the Participants in the Competition? The Organiser shall contact the Participants by way of publishing information on the Competition website and fan page, as well as by email and, in exceptional cases, by phone. 3. In what way can a Participant in the Competition inform the Organiser of a change in their personal data? Information on changes in personal data can be submitted by email to the contact address specified on the Competition website: promocja@estartupdays.eu. 4. Changes to the Privacy Policy. The Organiser and Partners of the Competition reserve the right to change the above Privacy Policy by way of publishing a new Privacy Policy on the Competition website, with the reservation that the Participants who have declared their participation in the Competition prior to the date of publishing the change to the Privacy Policy shall be bound by the provisions of the Privacy Policy in force at the time of declaring their participation in the Competition.