Press Release

5th June 2017

Building Global Innovators-IUL MIT Portugal Accelerator The BGI 8th Edition Acceleration Program Call is officially open! Since 2010, Building Global Innovators has accelerated 117 startups from all over the globe. With over €110M raised, 73% startup survival rate and 727 jobs created, BGI has become a reference in the global startup ecosystem. BGI is today recognized as one of the most influential accelerators globally (Hot Topics, 2015) as well as one of the top 20 Accelerators in Europe (Fundacity, 2016). It is also the Portuguese representative in the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) Digital and Climate_KIC’s Networks. BGI call for applications is competitive and opens once every year. BGI provides acceleration expert mentoring accelerating a batch of up to 20 global startups per edition. Applications to the 8th Edition BGI Acceleration Program can be done via the F6S platform: https://www.f6s.com/bgi8/apply The Acceleration Program The program is divided in:

• Phase I: 2 Bootcamps in Lisbon (e-Teams I and II) and Weekly Meetings with Mentors Each bootcamp typically runs from 1 to 2 weeks and involves experts in the 4 market-application verticals. One-to-one weekly expert mentoring meetings, online. During 3 months each team works with the assigned mentor on the Go-to-Market strategy (one hour meeting per week). • Phase II: Demo Day (Pitch for Investment) and Catalyst Program Demo Day in Lisbon (webcasted worldwide). All teams publicly present their value propositions to a selected group of entrepreneurs, industry leaders, investors, and community members. The Catalysts Program, after the Demo Day, matches startups with catalysts (one attorney and one venture capitalist or business angel) to accelerate the Go to market strategies.

• Phase III: The Boston Global Immersion Program (e-Teams III) Last Bootcamp of the Program, where start ups pitch for potential investors, clients or partners in Boston, Massachusetts. • Venture Phase: Investment Sessions (Up to 5 Years Duration) BGI keeps looking for investment or other growth strategies for each of its alumni, inviting for events scouting for great opportunities.

Acceleration Program Timeline:

Applications for the 8th Edition of the Acceleration Program start today, 4th April 2017, and run until 15th June 2017. Who is BGI looking for? We are looking for hungry and ambitious founders, incorporated start-ups and spin-outs (under 5 years old), with revenue lower than €2.5M, and working on any of the four market-application verticals:

- Medical devices & Health IT - Smart Cities & Industrial 4.0 - Enterprise IT & Smart Data - Water Economy.

The ventures can be located in any part of the world and don´t need to relocate to Lisbon. What is in it for candidates? Over 1,150 hours of expert mentoring (per team) provided, as well as exclusive participation in invitation-only investment sessions. The program counts with uniquely designed bootcamps in Lisbon and Cambridge/Boston. The selected teams will also benefit from continued support for up to 5 years after graduation. “Technology-based ventures (as opposed to market-based or technology-enabled) require far more than just a viable business opportunity and funding in order to take off the ground (…) Ventures that are selected to join the BGI accelerator have access to significant resources in BGI and the

opportunities it provides for mentoring by sector experts (over 200), training and entrepreneurial development.”- Gonçalo Amorim, BGI Executive Director. What does BGI ask in return? Entry, participation and mentoring is free. No seed funding per founder is requested. However, in the very likely event that participants raise venture financing with a post-money valuation of at least €2 Million or are indeed successful as a business, they are expected to give back 3% post money shareholding to support the organization of the accelerator. Testimonials “It was a lot of information to absorb and we had a lot of feedback on our Go to market strategy which was very positive. A fantastic initiative because it doesn’t stop here. Its very seldom that you find experts willing to listen to you and share all the experience that they have in a generous and genuinely devoted way. BGI is very different from the similar cases I know. I am also extremely surprised how friendly the atmosphere is among all of the teams.” - João Barros, Veniam (3rd Edition) “BGI was crucial for us to connect and be accepted to TechStars Boston. Its support and networking keeps leveraging all the value we created since then.” - Carlos Boto, DoDOC (5th Edition) “In the US there is a virtuous cycle of entrepreneurs helping each other and giving back to the institutions that helped them out to start their ventures [e.g. MIT], as a sort of philanthropy which is not developed here [in Portugal]. BGI and the close connections to the MIT entrepreneurial ecosystem were paramount to our success. Today we are a multimillion euro company that would not exist if it was not BGI and our US and Portuguese angel investors. We look forward to giving back one day soon.” - Roberto Uggo, Movvo (1st Edition)

BGI in Numbers: • 7 Editions • 2 489 Globalpreneurs applied • 918 Applications received • 54 Origin Countries • 60% of Applications from already incorporated ventures • 117 Accelerated ventures - selected candidates • 1 150 Hours of Coaching and Mentoring per Edition / team • 18 Bootcamps held to date (Lisbon-Portugal and Boston-USA) • Over €110 Million secured financing by alumni • 73.3% of Financing from Venture Capital and Business Angels • 727 Highly Qualified Jobs Created • 85 Active Ventures • 73% Survival Rate to date

For more information visit BGI’s website www.bgi.pt or please contact: Sofia Fernandes, Head of Marketing and Communications at BGI sofia.fernandes@bgi.pt +351 918 702 311