25-02-2022
On the morning of February 25th, were announced the winners of the 2022 Entrepreneurship Program, which allowed students to accelerate and materialize an idea into a market solution.
The program's participants, coming from areas as diverse as chemical and civil engineering, biomedicine, information technology or nanotechnology, developed projects from scratch, from idea to business model, market analysis and financial study. 200 teams were formed, but only 14 presented the final pitch in an official session, which took place in virtual format, and only three won the podium places.
The first prize went to Gest-O, an innovative pregnancy test that consists of an entirely biodegradable tablet. This tablet, in contact with urine, reacts to the pregnancy hormone – just throw the tablet into the toilet and the change in color will indicate if there is a pregnancy.
The second prize went to LEPT, a technology that facilitates medical care for myocardial infarction, with the coordination of all those involved – including emergency technicians and doctors – to reduce triage time and facilitate assistance.
Finally, VACCJET seized third place on the podium with a vaccination gun that allows you to store multiple doses at the ideal temperature, using a piston instead of a needle – a solution to reduce waste and improve the effectiveness of the vaccination process.
“It was ten years ago that we started this Entrepreneurship program, focusing on transversal skills such as team management or public speaking and other fundamental skills such as creativity”, explained Virgílio Machado, Dean of the Nova School of Science and Technology. “Currently, I usually say that we are a technology company, despite being a university. We have entrepreneurial perspectives on everything.”
The three highlighted projects received monetary prizes in the amount of €1500, €1000 and €500. In addition to the main prizes, the companies present on the jury also highlighted their favorite ideas, distributing corporate prizes worth €2,500. Asseco awarded Waterfull Life, a bath water saving solution; EY awarded Crash&Go, a technology that connects everyone involved in an accident (including repair shops and insurers); and Glintt chose LEPT as the best idea, technology for assisting infarction patients (double-awarded). Introsys highlighted Green Therm, a new type of insulation for construction made up of invasive plants and wasted masks; and Jerónimo Martins awarded Eggshellent, a solution for using eggshells. Finally, Santander highlighted RECAP, a creative sustainable alternative, in bamboo, to replace traditional PVC cards.
In addition to these prizes, a fund of €10,000 was also established to help teams put good ideas into practice and move towards the development of prototypes, for example.
The FCT NOVA Entrepreneurship Program is the main academic program of entrepreneurship in Portugal, and the largest in Europe, with the participation of more than a thousand students who, over three weeks of work, were accompanied by 18 professors, coordinated by the professors António Grilo, Aneesh Zutshi and Fernanda Llussá. The 2022 program jury was made up of Daniel Araújo, CEO of Asseco, João Pires, Senior Manager Technology of EY, Nuno Flores, CEO of Introsys, Rui Tomás, Consumer Innovation Director of Jerónimo Martins, Hugo Maia, Innovation Director of Glintt Inov , Luís Taniça, CTO of Santander and Elvira Fortunato, vice-rector of R&D at Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
