Building Global Innovators (BGI) will organize, in Portugal, the Get In The Ring, the largest startup competition worldwide. This is the first time Portugal enters the competition that involves, in all, more than 200 cities.

This competition offers the opportunity for entrepreneurs to present their disruptive solutions, responding to the challenges proposed by the cities of Braga, Abrantes, Angra do Heroísmo and Fundão, while working with leading partners in the sector and having exclusive meetings with investors. The competition will lead to the implementation of pilot projects in the four cities.

Focused on urban mobility and designed to promote innovation and sustainability of mobility, improving the carbon footprint and living standards of citizens, the Municipality of Braga launched the challenge to all who promote technological solutions that enhance greater road safety and explore solutions to make roads and routes more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly, without congesting daily traffic.

For Miguel Bandeira, councilman of Braga City Council, responsible for mobility and the relationship with universities, "this is an initiative to stimulate young entrepreneurship and that will contribute to the affirmation of Braga as a Living Lab, as far as knowledge is territorialized and applied. It will also allow to affirm Braga as a City of knowledge".

The BGI initiative counts with the support of the Municipality of Braga, through the council for the relationship with universities, and Startup Braga, the innovation hub of InvestBraga, in the mapping and identification of innovative solutions that correspond to the previously identified goals.

Award will be worth a place in the global final

BGI will select 12 proposals that meet each challenge, which will go through a preparation program with mentors from BGI and Vodafone Power Lab. Afterwards, the municipalities will choose the projects with the greatest potential and the public will help identify the winner. The four finalists will then compete against each other for the title of national winner, representing Portugal in the Get In The Ring Global Final.

The 2021 edition will be supported by the Vodafone Power Lab team, focused on creating an innovation ecosystem between technology startups, universities, Vodafone and its partners. The Vodafone Portugal incubator will be present with its executives to support companies in preparing a proposal for the challenges, as well as sharing experiences and best practices when negotiating with public entities.

Applications for the program run until May 16 and can be made through the Get in the Ring platform, and the official event 'Get in the Ring Urban Mobility 2021' is scheduled for June 9.

This event is sponsored by EIT Urban Mobility, the European Commission's largest public-private partnership for supporting and financing innovation in cities.

More information about the competition HERE