About the Program

  • The Future Innovators Program is Unicorn Factory Lisboa’s flagship innovation program for university students, divided into three phases: academy, hackathon, and acceleration. The end goal is for students to learn more about innovation and ultimately create their own ventures.

  • All young entrepreneurs that are curious to learn more about innovation (no matter where they are from).

  • For the academy phase, everyone is welcome to join at any time (start now). For the hackathons and acceleration, you must go through an application stage, from which the best ideas will be selected. Participants from the academy phase will be given extra credits, so their chance of being selected is higher.

  • The first phase, the Academy, is now live — make the most of it! The other two phases will be coming soon.

  • During the academy, you will go through the ideation process, in the hackathon you’ll build your MVP, and in the acceleration phase, with proper validation, you'll launch in the market.

  • Not at all. You can choose whichever phase (academia, hackathon, acceleration) makes the most sense to you, although the academia is always a great place whether you're defining, refining, or growing your idea.

  • Mostly not, but it depends on each stage - The academy is completely online, the hackathon will be in person and the acceleration will have a hybrid format.

Academia

    1. Complete the learning modules, by watching the videos: expert-led sessions by top universities and/or real stories from founders who’ve been through the journey themselves.

    2. Develop your ideas, either on your own or with the help of our partner challenges.

    3. Submit a pitch deck with the help of step-by-step guides.

    Your academy participation will only be complete once you submit your pitch deck. In doing so, you get the change to win an amazing prizes.

  • We accept pitch decks in both English (preferred) and Portuguese.

  • All you need to do is click the "start" button on the website. After that, you will be redirected to the academy page, where you'll need to create a profile with your basic information, and then you'll be ready to go!

  • No. You need to watch at least 3 videos from each module to complete it. However you are free to choose the three videos you choose inside each module.  If it’s your first time exploring these topics, we recommend going through them in order, as they build on each other. But if you already have a project, you can focus on the areas that need improvement, for instance.


  • Both options are possible! If you want to submit the pitch deck as a team, one of the team members must submit the deck and indicate the names of the rest of the team member s (maximum 6 participants per pitch deck).

    In doing so the “Submit Pitch Deck” deliverable will be checked in all participants profiles.

  • During your time in the Academia, you can either:

    • Refine an idea of your own

    • Identify a problem and develop that idea from scratch

    • Get inspired by one of our partners' challenges

  • By completing the Academia, your pitch deck will be evaluated by our team to get a chance to win the prize. The best pitch deck will win €2,000, a ticket to Web Summit, and direct entry to our Lisbon or Porto hackathons. Additionally, the top decks will be shared with key players in the ecosystem. The deadline for pitch decks submissions is May 11th.

  • You can start the Academia at any time and submit a pitch deck until May 17th.

Hackathon

  • If you want to create your idea's MVP, this is the place to be! For 24 hours, you'll have access to entrepreneurs in residence, innovation workshops, and mentoring to help you design and implement an initial version for market validation. The event ends with a demo day where you'll present your idea to investors and have the chance to win up to €5,000.

  • The program will be conducted exclusively in English to ensure everyone is fully integrated.

  • The event will take place on 10th-11th in Porto and 17th-18th in Lisbon. You can join the edition that suits you best!

  • At this stage, to apply for the Hackathons you must submit your pitch deck in the Academia. Once that is done, you’ll be given the chance to sign up for the Hackathon.

  • It's not mandatory, but it's highly recommended. And if you don’t have a team yet, don't worry – in the academy, you'll have the chance to find your perfect co-founders.

Acceleration

  • Want to accelerate your idea like in the real world? This is the place to be! You'll have 2 months of highly hands-on sessions, with mentoring, so you can finally present your pitch and qualify for the Unicorn Factory Lisboa incubation program.

  • The program will be conducted exclusively in English to ensure everyone is fully integrated.

  • It will take place from September until November (to be confirmed) in a hybrid setting.

  • The applications for the acceleration phase will be closed until the end of the hackathon phase. Once open, the applications will be done through a form that will become available on the website.

  • It's not mandatory, but it's highly recommended. One way to find a team is to participate in the academy phase, and you'll have the chance to find your perfect co-founders.