Inscrições para o Desafio Intel 2014 vão até dia 14 de abril

Five LA startups will be selected for the Intel Global Challenge

Registration is now open for the Intel Challenge, a competition aimed at university-level entrepreneurs and recent graduates from across Latin America. The winning team from the Brazil stage will win a scholarship to participate in YouNoodle Camp, a business acceleration program in Silicon Valley, in July, along with the region's finalists. Five qualifiers will represent Latin America in the 2014 Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, competing for up to US$ 100K in prizes. Applications are open until April 14th and can be done through the website. www.desafiointel.com.

“The culture of entrepreneurship has grown a lot in Brazil and Intel has participated in this history with programs that help form a culture and an attractive market for the creation of technology-based startups”, says Fernanda Sato, education manager at Intel Brazil. “We want to encourage an entrepreneurial attitude within the university, training leaders and developers of new solutions. A new generation of local businesses and technologies will bring enormous benefits to the country.”

To participate in the competition, the team must be composed of at least one student still in course (bachelor's, master's or doctorate) or recent graduate (up to four years of bachelor's or master's degree as of June 30, 2010) from a college or recognized university. This will be the startup representative throughout the process.

Projects submitted to the Intel Challenge must submit solutions for one of the following categories:

Internet, Mobile Service and Computing Software: scalable businesses that leverage innovative technologies such as cloud technology, big data, high-speed mobile connectivity, virtual learning, artificial intelligence, mobile platforms, or advanced sensors.

Computing for Social Innovation: scalable businesses that combine financial results with a social impact in sectors such as agriculture, education, energy, finance, environment, healthcare, housing, life sciences or water.

Hardware and Computing: scalable businesses that utilize hardware, including wireless, embedded, or perceptual computing.

The semi-finalists of the local stage, selected by a panel of expert judges in the venture capital and technology markets, will present their projects in June. The judges will evaluate the projects based on several criteria, such as innovation in the concept or product offered, competitiveness and differentiation in the market, ability to execute the strategic plan and qualification and experience of the team.

The winning project of the Brazil stage will receive a scholarship for YouNoodle Camp, a business acceleration program in Silicon Valley, which takes place in July. At YouNoodle Camp, participants will attend courses with Stanford professors, receive expert advice, participate in expert panels, visit different companies and connect with the most successful entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world.

The project will also compete with other Latin American winners for a spot in the Intel Global Challenge, a global entrepreneurship competition held in conjunction with the University of Berkeley.

Check all the conditions for participation:

The team must have a member who is or has been a university student for the last four years, focused on obtaining one of these degrees: bachelor's, master's or doctorate.

Availability of a team member to travel to California and participate in the YouNoodle Entrepreneurship Camp for 30 days in the month of July.

Projects must be submitted in English.
Projects must be related to one of the following areas:
– Internet, Mobile Service and Computing Software
– Computing for Social Innovation
– Hardware and Computing

Teams must not have received more than US$ 250,000 in sponsorship sources or investment funds including – but not limited to – venture capital, investors or private investment funds.