Who are eligible to apply and participate in the competition?

• The competition is only open to preseed startup companies (if you have incorporated your company) or a team of co-founders who are in the preseed founding phase:

  • Companies that are not more than 3 years old (from the date of incorporation).

  • Companies that have received not more than USD $100,000 (in total funding amount) in dilutive capital funding.

  • Companies with not more than 30 employees.

  • Companies that are pre-revenue or earning less than USD $500,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

  • Companies with at least 50% ownership must be owned by the founder(s).

    • Companies that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital firms, private equity firms, hedge funds, family office, and large corporations are not eligible to participate.

  • Companies that are pre-product or pre-launch or launched but pre-revenue or launched but with very-early customers (2-10 who can serve as references).

  • Companies that are raising capital to get product to market for early market validation (feedback).

  • Companies with evidence of problem-market fit and strong indication of a large market opportunity, based on customer validation or user interviews.

• We’re primarily looking for software startups + scalable with global potential + purposeful impact + technological innovation + product-market pull

  • We invite companies and encourage founders who are solving problems with innovative software solutions in the following areas to register and participate:

    • Fintech, insurtech, financial inclusion, digital payment infrastructure, cybersecurity, etc.

    • Consumer and marketplaces (B2C), digital inclusion, education, healthcare, etc.

    • Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), small-to-medium enterprise/business (SME/SMB) software, enterprise software, industrial software, property tech, etc.

    • Gaming, e-Sports infrastructure, social networks, media tech, entertainment, productivity tools, etc.

    • Food security, agritech, climate tech, clean/green tech, waste management, circular economy, etc.

• Due to our current limited resources, we’re not looking for hardware startups or companies solving problems in the following areas:

  • Semiconductor, medical devices, hardware tech, networking devices, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, etc.

• The competition is open to anyone or team around the world as we’re virtual and geo-agnostic.

  • We believe talented founders come from all corners of the earth.

• Founders should have English proficiency to communicate business affairs of the company at the global context.

note

Learn more about the attributes and requirements of startup companies in different funding round (or stage of development), such as preseed, seed, series A, and beyond.

Quick links

Registration: how to register?

Important dates: what's happening next?

Prizes and benefits: how founders benefit?

AWS Activate Program: register and apply

Rules: play by the rules

Sponsorship prospectus: how sponsors benefit?

Media partnership prospectus: how media benefit?

Collaborative partnership prospectus: how collaborators benefit?

Organized and powered by roiquant: why it matters?

Frequently asked questions

Proud partnership with: sponsors, partners, collaborators