1. International Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition
3rd Edition of Building Global Innovators goes international in 2012
 132 applications, involving nearly 500 professionals, researchers and students
 Strong international participation (>40%) from 13 nations including Brazil (13%), Russia (7%), Italy (5%)
 Increase of incorporated start-ups & spin-outs, to 50%
 Semi-finalists to be announced on July 2nd 2012.
Lisbon, June11, 2012 - Registration for the 3rd edition of one of the largest international competition of technology-
based entrepreneurship - Building Global Innovators, ended on 31st of May. 132 applications were registered and
include 483 professionals, researchers and students from 14 countries: Portugal (58%), Brazil (13%), Russia (7%), Italy
(5%), Colombia (4%), Spain (3%), Germany (2%), USA (2%), Belarus (1%), Chile (1%), Czech Republic (1%), Estonia
(1%), India (1%), Mexico (1%). 50% of the applications for the 3rd edition of the Building Global Innovators Venture
Competition come from tech-based start-ups and spin-outs, already incorporated.
20 semi-finalists from the talented pool of 132 teams will be selected by an international judging panel, and will be
announced on July, 2nd.
The semi-finalists will vie for €1,000,000 in awards, Catalyst mentors, and be eligible to participate in an intensive 3-
part accelerator to hone their entrepreneurial skills: a Crash Course on value proposition (eTeams I: ISCTE-IUL
Lisbon/July), a Go-to-Market boot camp (eTeams II: MIT Lisbon/December) and an Entrepreneurial Marketing, Sales &
Networking 2-week launch (eTeams III: MIT Kendall Square/May) organized by MIT Portugal with the cooperation of
The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation.
The e-Teams I Crash Course will be held at ISCTE-IUL from July 16 through July 19, 2012.
The Track Finals, or the “Finals”, is scheduled for November 13th and the Grand Finale for February 28th.

2. Semi-finalists will compete for awards underwritten by Caixa Capital, the risk management arm of Caixa Geral de
Depósitos (CGD): four (4) €100,000 Finalist awards to be announced at the Finals in Lisbon, and an opportunity to
compete for an additional €100,000 award at the Grand Finale.
The ultimate goal of this international venture competition is to support the launch of innovative, global product or
services early stage companies.
The competition is sponsored by ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute and the MIT Portugal Program, in cooperation with
the MIT Deshpande Center for Innovation, The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and Caixa Capital (Caixa
Geral de Depósitos).
Gonçalo Amorim, ISCTE-IUL program director for the initiative in Portugal, stated that "our initial review of the
submissions indicates a noticeable high quality of both competing start-ups and entrepreneurial projects. It is very
gratifying to recognize that this Portugal-based initiative has now nearly half of its submissions internationally, from 14
countries. Our goal is to sustain this international participation, making Portugal a major international, high-tech hub
which will become a “must stop” location for international investors. We are thrilled with the results achieved in a little
over two years of activity on the ground".
For additional information, please contact:
Portugal, ISCTE-IUL USA, MIT
Catarina Madeira, Operations Coordinator Luís Barros, Program Manager
catarina.madeira@iscte.pt lbarros@mit.edu
Telephone: +351 217 903 951 Telephone: +1.617.324.8207
For Media inquiries, Lift Consulting (Portugal)
Inês Saraiva
ines.saraiva@lift.com.pt
Telephone: +351 214 666 500
Mobile.: +351 91 865 52 06

3. 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 Technology-based 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.
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.