SUPERNOVA CHALLENGE

Overview

The Supernova Challenge returns in partnership with GITEX Future Stars to give global startups a chance to grand-stand their ideas, grab the world’s attention and win a bulk of cash from the prize-pool of USD100,000.

The most exciting startup pitch competition, Supernova Challenge has now partnered with Tim Draper – Silicon Valley’s legendary venture capitalist who ‘early invested’ in over 30 unicorns including Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, Baidu, SpaceX & Bitcoin.

Through this partnership, our Supernova Challenge will now have a new Draper-Aladdin Supernova prize, , where one of our 12 Supernova Challenge finalists will get up to USD 500,000 from Tim Draper and Draper Associates. Winner of the Draper-Aladdin prize also gets featured on the popular Tim Draper show in USA - ‘Meet The Drapers’. Also startups will win from USD 100,000 across 12 categories of the Supernova Challenge.

Draper - Aladdin Supernova Prize
Upto USD500,000 investment from Tim Draper
Winner will have the change to be featured on ‘Meet the Drapers’ show

GFS Supernova Rewards
Total USD100,000 (USD55,000 for Supernova Champion and USD4000 per category)

The categories:
Best Emirati Startup – USD 4,000
Best GCC Startup – USD 4,000
Best International Startup – USD 4,000
Best Social & Environmental Impact – USD 4,000
NEW! Best Youth/University Startup – USD 4,000
NEW! Best SportsTech – USD 4,000
Best AI Startup – USD 4,000
Best Fintech Startup – USD 4,000
Best Martech (Marketing Technology) – USD 4,000
NEW! Best Blockchain Startup – USD 4,000
NEW! Best Creativity Economy – USD 4,000
Overall Champion – USD55,000

Evaluation Criteria

Appointed judges will evaluate all submitted pitches based on the following criteria from a scale of 1 to 5:

Level of Innovation: Originality of the idea
Potential: Longevity, actualization and profitability
Team: Teams’ credentials and how they will make the company a success
Functionality: Usability
Goodness: What is the impact of the product on social, cultural, and / or environmental issues

Eligibility Requirements

All startups entering the competition must be

An exhibitor of Fintech Surge, Future Blockchain Summit, GITEX Future Stars, AI Everything, and Marketing Ma
At most 5 years in operation
Must use technology in their products or services
Must have scalable business solutions

Video Entry

All applicants must submit a URL to their video application. Below are the guidelines:

Video must be a maximum of 3 minutes
Video must be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo
Video files are not accepted, only share URLs to videos hosted on a YouTube or Vimeo channel
Video does not need to be animated nor require any significant production value – a good-quality camera on a mobile phone is sufficient: it can be a ‘selfie-style’ video with one or several team member(s) addressing the guiding questions.