- Start-up awarded with the 200.000 Euros in financial support;
- The founders will now have the opportunity to double the financial support through the execution of the business plan;
- Announcement of ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Venture Competition 3rd edition.
Musikki is the winner of the major Portuguese Venture Competition
1. Results of the ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Venture Competition Grand Finale
Musikki is the winner of the major Portuguese Venture Competition
Start-up awarded with the 200.000 Euros in financial support
The founders will now have the opportunity to double the financial support through the execution of the
business plan.
Announcement of ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Venture Competition
Lisbon, February 28th 2012- Musikki wins the 2nd edition of ICTE-IUL MIT Portugal Venture Competition. The
specialized motor search founded by João Afonso, Juliana Teixeira e Pedro Almeida, provides users with all the
information related to an artist/band, and all is just a click away. The competition is promoted by ISCTE – University
Institute of Lisbon- and Caixa Capital, in partnership with MIT-Portugal and MIT entities - Deshpande Center for
Technological Innovation and the Sloan Business School.
The winner was announced at today’ at a ceremony held at ISCTE-IUL by Walter Palma, Managing Director Caixa
Empreender+ Fund, representing the Caixa Geral de Depósitos Group. The Grand Finale also counted with the
participation of Carlos Nuno Oliveira, Deputy Minister for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Competitiveness at
Portuguese Government; and Graça Fonseca, Deputy Mayor of Lisbon for Economy, Innovation, Modernization and
Decentralization. Both representatives were supportive of the competing startups and of this initiative, recognizing it as
part of the strategic plan for the development of the entrepreneurship in Portugal.
Musikki will benefit from an extra financial support of 100.00 euros in addition to the previous award received last
September, when it was selected as finalist at “Other services and Products” track. This amount can be doubled during
the next 3 to 5 years, according to the agreed milestones. The promoters of the winning team will also have the
opportunity to pitch for a restricted international investor groups at one of the main entrepreneurship events at MIT –
the Ideastream - at May4th, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The four finalist start-ups already received 400.000 euros, destined to the implementation of “Go to Market” strategies
developed in collaboration with the organization during the six months of the competition. Furthermore, these teams will
be granted direct access to Caixa Capital - the venture capital partner- to whom they will present and discuss their
projects in a privilege way .
2. Besides the financial support of up to 1 million euros from the Caixa Empreender+ Awards of the Venture Competition,
the promoters of the four finalist startups received over 500+ hours of training and coaching with seasoned
entrepreneurs in Portugal and the US (Catalysts), were provided with opportunities to pitch to Angels and VCs in
Portugal and at MIT’s IdeaStream, support by specialized Portuguese and MIIT mentors and catalyst, and further
support at incubators in Portugal (Startup Lisboa) and at the US (Cambridge Innovation Center e Plug & Play Tech
Center).
Musikki, together with the other track finalists– MediaOmics, IS Green e All Desk – are, form now onwards, entering a
new intensive stage, comprising 1 to 3 years and not more than 5, with a ultimate goal to validate their value proposals
with global clients (B2B) and will be provided with tools to raiser their value at international round of investments
(series A and B).
The organization hopes that during the first 5 post-award years, the promoters will be able to successful complete
investment rounds in the order of 2-5 million euros. By this time they will still be in a position to benefit from the option
right of the financial partner Caixa Capital, which can subscribe up to 20% of the added capital value of the companies.
The audience was also able to participate and vote through an application developed by Around Knowledge, one of the
last year’s finalists. Musikki was the startup elected by the public.
The Ceremony was closed by Gonçalo Amorim, Director of the MPP -IEI, with the commitment to continue the
competition and the beginning of the 3rd Edition by March 15, 2012. Until May 1st, several information sessions will be
occurring trough out the country and internationally, the calendar for these events will be announced soon at
www.mitportugal-iei.org
The competition promotes entrepreneurship and innovation in Portugal
So far the 155 start ups submitted their projects to the ISCTE-IUL MIT-Portugal Venture Competition during the past
two editions. The applications came from young start-ups, less than five years, that are exclusively dedicate to the
development of international technology based projects, either of products or services. Students, researchers and
profession of any area, Polytechnics institutes, Universities and other public and private institutions, can apply.
3. For Luís Reto, ISCTE-IUL's Dean, “we believe that ISCTE-IUL, Caixa Capital and MIT-Portugal can be pioneers,
creating the foundations of an international technological hub in Portugal, from this major entrepreneurship & innovation
competition, international in scope. Through the first edition in 2010, we validated the model. Since then we met highly
entrepreneurial, qualified people, with the right ambition, as showed by the results attained thus far. In the current
scenario of tough financial and economic constraints that we are facing, this initiative unleashes knowledge-driven
innovation that converts into economic value such as highly qualified jobs, welfare and competitiveness for our nations.
We now have the challenge of scaling even more this initiative beyond our horizons that was only possible due to the
combined work of all stakeholders involved”.
The competition is part of the ongoing cooperation established in 2010 between the ISCTE- IUL, Caixa Capital and the
MIT-Portugal Program, in cooperation with MIT’s Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation and the Trust
Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
For further information please contact:
ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Lift Consulting
Catarina Madeira Inês Saraiva
catarina.madeira@iscte.pt ines.saraiva@lift.com.pt
Telefone: +351 217 903 951 Telefone: +351 91 865 52 06
www.mitportugal-iei.org
About ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute is an institution of public higher education, established in 1972. ISCTE-IUL develops programs in: Education /
Training, Research and Services to the Community.
Located in the University Campus of Lisbon, ISCTE-IUL currently offers 15 degrees in three major areas: Management Sciences, Social Sciences
and Technological Sciences.
With approximately 8,400 students, 400 faculty and 200 non-teaching staff, ISCTE-IUL is proud of its impact over the past 40 years. The institute's
priorities are innovation, quality and diversity, both in education and in academic research.
With great recognition in the labor market, ISCTE-IUL has a high rate of employability of its graduates, in some areas reaching 100% results. This
confirms not only the prestige of the institution as the quality of their teaching.
4. About MIT Portugal Program
The MIT Portugal Program (MPP) is a large-scale international collaboration involving MIT and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology
and Higher Education, and aims strengthen the knowledge base of Portugal’s national and international competitiveness through strategic
investment in people, knowledge and ideas.
The program is a high-profile effort to demonstrate that investment in science, technology and higher education can have a positive and lasting
impact on the economy, addressing major social issues through quality education and research in the emerging field of systems engineering.
MPP uses as a basis systems engineering, integrated management sciences, economics and politics in order to better understand, design and
implement the complexity of technology-based systems on which society is increasingly dependent. The particular focus of the MIT Portugal
Program is systems thinking and the emerging field of engineering systems. We believe an understanding of systems thinking to be fundamental
to the future of scientific and technological education and practice.
MPP is supported by a national initiative that involves seven Portuguese universities and 14 research centers that target sustainable energy
systems, transportation systems, bioengineering and advanced production methods as key areas for economic development.
About Caixa Capital
Caixa Capital is the Venture Capital and Private Equity arm of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, the state owned and largest Portuguese banking
group, with a strong tradition in the country’s financial system and a solid financial performance, stemming from its €120B in assets and presence
over 20 countries.
The close relationship with all market players in Portugal is evidence of its strong commitment to quality in services provided and innovation,
within a successful model of corporate governance. Caixa Capital benefits from the synergies emerging from CGD and is the VC industry leader
with a portfolio of €660M and 75 companies.
With a generalist investment policy, it covers a broad array of sectors, across early stage, organic and M&A growth, and internationalization
initiatives, through a variety of financing structures, including Mezzanine and Renewable Energy Funds. As a Fund of Funds, it is present in areas
such as Tech Transfer Accelerators, Business Angels, Side Cars and Corporate Venturing.
O Centro Deshpande desempenha a sua missão através das seguintes abordagens: Programa de bolsas, Programa catalisadores e de Inovação
de Equipas e outros Eventos relacionados. Desde o lançamento em 2002, foram analisadas mais de 500 propostas de mais de 250 professores;
Financiados mais de 80 projectos com mais de USD $10 milhões em bolsas; Apoiados mais de 200 Docentes e seus alunos; Angariados mais de
100 voluntários de empresas e da comunidade empresarial; Participou na criação de 12 empresas (1 licenciamento de tecnologia), capitalizadas
em mais de USD $80 milhões empregando mais de 200 colaboradores