CATÓLICA-LISBON organizes a pre-acceleration program for students and alumni for the 3rd consecutive year

The Center for Technological Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CTIE), Universidade Católica, organizes Forward, a pre-acceleration program for students and alumni of CATÓLICA-LISBON, for the 3rd consecutive year. 

Forward is a pre-acceleration program to help participants not to give up on their projects, so that these entrepreneurs, at an early stage of launching their start-up, begin to master the dynamics surrounding the incubation process, as well as the path to attracting investment.

The program consists of a set of lectures and workshops given by experts/mentors in the field, as well as intense pitch practice by the participants. Some sessions will take place at CATÓLICA-LISBON and others will be held online, through Zoom. The CTIE will ensure the connection between entrepreneurs and students and promote the building of a networking community.

This programme lasts four months, from February to May, during which working and mentoring sessions are held, with topics such as 'Customer Validation' or 'Product Market Fit' and with the participation of the entrepreneurship community of the Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics. In addition, representatives of CTIE's partner entities, such as Startup Lisboa, BET, and Buildup Labs, will also participate in the program.

After the application process, 4 teams were selected based on their business idea; stage of development, and potential market impact. The program was kicked off with a face-to-face pitch session, which took place on March 11, 2023, where the 4 teams presented their idea to the other participants. An online session was also held on March 25, with the presence of 6 mentors and an unprecedented session on Apple and Google Store, to better understand how to prepare the business launch into a strategic digital solution.

During the month of April, from the four teams initially selected, the best three will be chosen, which will move on to other activities and learning sessions about their businesses, ending with the award ceremony, which will take place during the Lisbon Entrepreneurship Week, from May 15 to 19, where the jury will select the winning team that will win a cash prize of 1000€ and a free incubation with one of the program's partners.

The first team in the competition, Paladar, focuses on trying to solve the problem of over-tourism and wants to revolutionize the restaurant world by creating a platform that allows people to eat inside 'local homes' rather than restaurants while on their travels. The group has already done market research and identifies as their target audience Generation Y and X, with a passion for adventure and travel, who aim to have more authentic experiences during their journeys - something they consider really different to find.

The second team, Secondlife, aims to solve the problem of unsold clothes ending up in the trash or being burned by companies. Without a fully defined strategy yet, the group knows that they want to develop an effective response for companies, offering a solution to this problem that will be profitable and sustainable.

The penultimate group, Mala, with the help of Artificial Intelligence, wishes to use scientific information to find the perfect partner, based on our tastes and the characteristics of people we already know we like, such as friends or family. The app, Mala, will have artificial intelligence based on psychological knowledge and will use information from our friends and family, through a questionnaire, to understand what kind of person might fit better with each person.

GiftImpact, the last group, aims to reduce the negative effects of unnecessary donations. To do so, the team is developing a solution that offers the ability for these charities to list the specific goods they need. This company with its online store, called GiftImpact, creates a list of donations (such as schoolbooks, clothes, and hygiene products) that charities have identified as needed and where each person can buy that same gift as a donation, tracking its process until it reaches the final recipient. This platform can also be used to give meaningful gifts to loved ones.

These four groups, each with their impact project, will have access to several sessions and workshops with mentors who will guide them in the creation or improvement of their business, and then three teams will be chosen to go to the competition and, in the end, the team that presents the best pitch, at the Lisbon Entrepreneurship Week, from May 15 to 19, will be selected as the winner by the jury.