REGULATION

for the pre-incubation programme “Green HExagon” implemented within the Erasmus+ project “Entrepreneurial teaching partnerships for fostering innovation and green startup development in higher education”. The regulation along with its respective appendices can be accessed in pdf format here.

1. General terms and conditions

1.1 This regulation governs the pre-incubation programme “Green HExagon” (hereinafter the Programme) organised within the Erasmus+ project “Entrepreneurial teaching partnerships for fostering innovation and green startup development in higher education” No. 2022-1-LV01-KA220-HED-000090176 (hereinafter – the Project) led by the University of Latvia (hereinafter – the UL).

1.2 The following universities and their structural units (hereinafter – the Partners) participate in the implementation of the Programme:
– University of Latvia (UL), Student Business Incubator;
– University of Tartu (UT), incubator “Startup Lab”;
– Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU), incubator “Point One”;
– The University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt (FHWN), Startup Center.

1.3 The Programme duration is 17 weeks (4 months), from February to June 2024.

1.4 The Programme includes the following activities: an online ideation afternoon, online workshops, mentoring sessions, individual consultations, an on-site bootcamp in Riga, Latvia (the Bootcamp), and an online business idea contest (the Demo Day).

1.5 The teams and individuals participating in the programme must comply with this regulation.

1.6 The Programme is implemented online, except for the bootcamp referred to in Paragraph 1.4above.

2. Applying for the Programme

2.1 In order to implement the Programme, the Partners announce an open call for support of business ideas.

2.2 The open call is announced on the Project website (www.greenhexagon.eu), on the Partners’ websites (www.biznesainkubators.lu.lv, www.startuplab.ut.ee, www.pointone.czu.cz, and www.fhwnstartupcenter.at). The Partners use their social media channels as well to market the Programme. When applying for the Programme, the applicants must fill out and submit to the Partners an electronic form “Application for participation in the pre-incubation programme “Green HExagon”” (Appendix 1 to the Regulation).

2.3 Applicants who apply for the Programme can apply both individually and as a team. A team must consist of 2 (two) to 5 (five) members. Other participants may also join the team during the Programme; however, the number of the team members may not exceed 5 (five) participants in total.

2.4 The individuals applying to the Programme must be students, researchers, employees or graduates of UL, UT, CZU or FHWN.

2.5 If a team applies to the Programme, at least 50 % of its members must meet the criteria mentioned in Paragraph 2.4 above.

2.6 Only teams are allowed to participate in the Demo Day at the end of the Programme and compete for the award.

2.7 The individuals participating in the Programme must find team members or join a team by 29 May 2024 to jointly develop a business idea. If they do not find team members or do not join a team by that time, they are allowed to participate in the Programme activities; however, to participate in the Demo Day, they have to be part of a team. Remote team members who help implement a business idea, but do not participate in the Programme, are also treated as team members. The Partners may request submission of a proof of involvement of a remote member, such as description of his/ her role, duties, contribution to the idea implementation etc.

3. Evaluation of the Applications

3.1 The received applications are evaluated by the Green Hexagon Project Management group, consisting of the appointed representatives of each Partner (hereinafter referred to as the Project Management Group). The Project Management Group conducts the evaluation in accordance with Appendix 2 of this regulation “Evaluation of applications for participation in the “Green HExagon” pre-incubation programme”.

3.2 The meeting of the Project Management Group is convened by the Project Manager (UL). The Project Administrative Manager takes minutes of the Project Management Group meeting. The Project Management Group takes decisions by voting. If the votes are equally divided, the vote of the Project Manager (UL) is decisive.

3.3 In case an application needs further clarifications, the Project Management Group can, at its discretion, give the Applicant a possibility to submit the clarifications within one week.

3.4 The Project Management Group can also decide on admission of extra Applicants (team or individuals) into the Programme after the application deadline, but not later than by 5 of March.

4. Completion of the Programme

4.1 Certificates confirming successful completion of the Programme are given to individuals. To receive the certificate, a Programme participant must attend at least 60% of the Programme activities, i.e., workshops, mentoring sessions, and individual consultations.

4.2 A team is considered to have completed the Programme if it meets the following criteria:
4.2.1 at least 50% of the team members meet the attendance criterion referred to in Paragraph 4.1 above;
4.2.2 it has presented its business idea at the Demo Day.

4.3 Only the individuals and the teams that have successfully completed the Programme are included in the Project reports.

4.4. The UL prepares the certificates referred to in Paragraph 4.1 above, while the Partners send them to the participants affiliated with their respective universities.

5. The Bootcamp

5.1 The Bootcamp takes place in Riga, Latvia, on 10 -12 April 2024. It is organised as a face-to-face activity to ensure networking, interaction and mutual learning among the Bootcamp participants, as well as to provide opportunities to learn from international mentors.

5.2 Both the individuals and the teams admitted to the Programme may participate in the Bootcamp. The Partners may decide on the number of the Bootcamp participants depending on the available project funds; however, the number of the participants representing each Partner university should not be less than 10. The Partners may reject applications for participation in the Bootcamp if the available project funds are insufficient to accommodate all the potential participants who have applied for the Bootcamp. In such a case, the Partners may consider such criteria as the attendance or the progress during the Programme of the applicants to decide on their rejection.

5.3 The Project funds are used to cover the following expenses of the Bootcamp participants:
5.3.1 travel costs;
5.3.2 accommodation costs;
5.3.3 local transportation, catering and social activities during the Bootcamp.

5.4. To participate in the Bootcamp, a Programme participant must fill in an electronic application form (Appendix 3 to this regulation) and submit it to the Partners by 10 March at latest.

5.5 The Partners may request the accepted Bootcamp participants to submit their re-confirmation that they will participate in the Bootcamp before arranging the participants’ tickets and accommodation to ensure efficient use of the Project funds.

5.6 If an accepted Participant may not participate in the Bootcamp due to unforeseen objective reasons beyond his/her control, he/she must inform the Partners as soon as possible.

5.7 After the Bootcamp, each participant must submit a report on the participation outlining the tasks they have accomplished during the Bootcamp. The report must be submitted by 26 April 2024 at latest.

6. The Demo Day

6.1 The Demo Day is organised at the end of the Programme to give the best teams a possibility to present their ideas to an international jury (the Jury) and to compete for a prize of up to 5000 (five thousand) EUR.

6.2 Each Partner nominates one representative from the start-up ecosystem or industry to act as a Jury member. The Jury evaluates the teams according to Appendix 4 of this regulation “Team Evaluation Criteria at the Demo Day”.

6.3 Each Partner evaluates the progress of their teams applying for the participation in the Demo Day according to the criteria indicated in Appendix 4 to this regulation. The Jury has to consider the Partner evaluation when deciding on the winners of the Demo Day.

6.4 The Jury decides on the winners of the Demo Day and the amount of the prize in a special meeting after the Demo Day. The Project Administrative Manager (UL) takes the minutes of the Jury meeting but does not affect the Jury discussions. The Jury takes decision by a majority of votes. If the votes are divided equally and the Jury cannot agree on the winners and the amount of the prize, the decision is referred to the Project Management Group who make the final decision. If the Project Management Group’s votes are also equally divided, the Project Manager (UL) has the decisive vote.

6.5 The Jury may decide to give the prize to one or two winners at their discretion. If the Jury decides to announce two teams as the winners, the Jury also determines the distribution of the 5000 EUR prize between the teams.

6.6 To apply for participation in the Demo Day, the teams must meet the criterion referred to in Paragraph 4.2.1 above and must submit their one-pagers within the deadline indicated by the Partners. The team should include the following information in their Demo Day presentations:
6.6.1 the business model;
6.6.2 the business idea and the problem it solves;
6.6.3 the innovation aspects of the idea;
6.6.4 market size, including comparison with the closest competitors;
6.6.5 a description of the team members and their competencies;
6.6.6 long-term business development scenario.

6.7 The Partners announce the winning teams on the Green HExagon website and through other communication channels, such as social media and Slack.

7. Use of the Green HExagon prize

7.1 The team which has won the prize signs a contract on the use of the grant with the Partner to which it is affiliated. Based on the signed contract, the respective Partner will request the University of Latvia as the Lead Partner of the project to transfer the respective prize amount to the Partner’s account. The Partner will ensure efficient use of the prize amount by ensuring that the team follows the procurement rules of the Partner’s country and university and will submit the procurement documents to the University of Latvia to justify the use of the prize. The University of Latvia may request submission of additional information or documents from the respective team or Partner if it is necessary for justifying the costs.

7.2 The prize received during the Demo Day may be used for the following purposes:
7.2.1 development of the prototype;
7.2.2 production of the trial batch necessary for the test campaign;
7.2.3 marketing costs;
7.2.4 equipment rental;
7.2.5 other justified needs upon prior approval by the Partners.

7.3 The prize received during the Demo Day may not be used for covering the following expense:
7.3.1 purchase of equipment;
7.3.2 salaries;
7.3.3 expense incurred before signing of the contract on the use of the grant.

7.4 The prize must be used by 30 September 2024.

8. Processing of personal data

8.1 The following personal data are processed within the programme: participant’s name, surname, represented university, represented field of work/studies, e-mail address, telephone number.

8.2. Personal data are processed to identify the participants, as well as to enable the Partners to contact the participants. Additional data may be requested from the participants travelling to the bootcamp in Riga if necessary for purchasing their tickets, arranging their accommodation or ensuring the event logistics or from the team(s) winning the prize if necessary for the contract on the use of the grant.

8.3 Personal data will be stored on the Project Partners’ IT systems in accordance with the data protection rules of each Partner University until submission of the final reports of the project.

8.4 By applying for participation in the Programme, the participant confirms his/her consent to the processing of his/her personal data within the Programme.

8.5 Information on processing of personal data at the Partner universities is available here:
8.5.1 for UL: https://www.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/LU.LV/www.lu.lv/Dokumenti/Dokumenti_LV/2._POLITIKAS/lu-privatuma-politika-_aktual.21-04-2021_.pdf.
8.5.2 for UT: https://ut.ee/en/content/data-protection-policy
8.5.3 for FHWN: https://www.fhwn.ac.at/en/privacy-policy
8.5.4 for CZU: https://gdpr.czu.cz/en

8.6. The person responsible for data processing is the Project manager (UL), e-mail address: biznesainkubators@lu.lv . In case of additional questions, please contact the UL personal data experts at datu.specialisti@lu.lv.