11 countries
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, Spain, the UK, Uruguay, and the USA.
Open until 21/03/2024
Santander X Global Challenge | Education, Employability, and Entrepreneurship
Open until 21/03/2024
A global competition supporting startups and scaleups seeking to innovate in education, employability and entrepreneurship.
Banco Santander and Oxentia Foundation launch a global challenge to seek solutions that boost access to education and lifelong learning; help improve employability and enable companies to identify and attract the best talent; and strengthen entrepreneurship through the creation of new companies and access to key resources for startups.
This initiative aims to help companies working to change the world where technological advances and work dynamics make support for education, employability, and entrepreneurship essential.
2 categories
For technology-based startups and scaleups, with innovative solutions in education, employability, and entrepreneurship.
6 winners
€120.000 among the winners, access to Santander X 100 and other additional advantages and benefits.
What are we looking for?
With this global challenge, we are looking for the best companies with innovative solutions in the fields of education, employability, and entrepreneurship that help society tackle some of the biggest challenges it faces.
All you need to do is register your startup or scaleup before March 21, 2024. And remember, you don't need to be a customer of the bank to participate.
Apply now
Education
Startups and scaleups that help improve access to education and promote lifelong learning.
We are looking for, companies related to online learning, competence development platforms, educational tools that promote inclusive education, AI-powered personalised learning systems, or virtual reality for immersive educational experiences.
Employability
Companies that facilitate better job search and talent attraction.
This could include solutions such as augmented reality simulators for recruitment interviews, AI platforms that offer personalised job opportunities, or AI solutions to help companies identify key skills that do not show up in traditional recruitment processes.
Entrepreneurship
Solutions that promote the creation of new businesses or accelerate growth and access to key resources throughout their life cycle.
Some of the highlighted solutions could be disruptive incubation programs to generate new start-ups and access to resources to scale such as crowdfunding/financing solutions, mentoring platforms, key perks & benefits to grow and community generation.
Prizes
The winning startups and scaleups of the Santander X Global Challenge | Education, Employability and Entrepreneurship will receive the following benefits:
Cash prize
€ 120.000 for winners:
3 startups: €10.000 each
3 scaleups: €30.000 each
Santander X 100
The community where Santander X's most highlighted startups and scaleups have the opportunity to access the ecosystem of entrepreneurs and necesarry resources to grow.
Connection with Fintech Station
The winning startups and scaleups will be connected to the bank's open innovation team to explore collaboration opportunities.
Visibility
Promotion on Banco Santander's social media and official channels.
Categories
Technology-based startups and scaleups, with innovative solutions in education, employability and entrepreneurship.
Startup category
Legally incorporated in one of the participating countries, meeting at least one of the following criteria: annual income that does not exceed $300.000, with capital raised between $100.000 to $1 million, or between 2 and 25 full-time employees.
Scaleup category
Legally incorporated for at least two years in one of the participating countries, meeting at least one of the following criteria: annual income over $300.000, more than $1 million capital raised, or over 25 full-time employees.
Key dates
From
23
Jan
2024
To
21
Mar
2024
Open applications
Applications are open for startups and scaleups.
22
Apr
2024
Finalist announcement
The 20 finalists announcements, 10 startups and 10 scaleups.
30
Apr
2024
Pitch day
The 20 finalists will be supported by interantional mentors to prepare their pitch to the judging panel.
16
May
2024
Awards ceremony
Announcement of the 6 winners, 3 startups and 3 scaleups.
Our commitment
Banco Santander
Banco Santander is firmly committed to progress with a pioneering and consolidated commitment to education, employability, and entrepreneurship, which it has been developing for more than 27 years and which distinguishes it from other financial institutions across the world.
Banco Santander has been recognised as one of the companies that are contributing the most to changing the world for the better, according to the ‘Change the World’ 2023 list from Fortune. To date, the bank has donated more than €2.2 billion and supported more than one million people and companies through agreements with over 1.300 universities globally.
Oxentia Foundation
Oxentia grew out of Oxford University's technology transfer company, Oxford University Innovation, with the aim of providing specialised innovation management services to public and private sector customers throughout the world.
Oxentia's approach builds on Oxford's strong tradition of globally supporting early-stage innovators and entrepreneurs to promote innovative projects that impact the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.