Eligibility

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.

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

Open

Who are eligible?