Contest Play Your Idea 2025 | 2nd Phase

Universidade Lusófona, through the PLAY – Creative and Technological Incubator, proudly announces a new edition of Play Your Idea, its annual competition designed to promote entrepreneurship and innovation. The initiative seeks to highlight innovative, competitive and sustainable business projects, supporting the transformation of promising ideas into viable ventures.

Play Your Idea 2025 will reward the most outstanding business and creative-based projects, with a focus on two areas: Arts, Communication and Creative Industries (Category A) and Digital and Technology (Category B). Winners will receive monetary prizes, incubation at PLAY, and executive training at the Lusófona Executive School (LES).

Competition Phases

The competition will take place in three stages:

• Phase 1 – Generate Ideas – Submission deadline: 31 March 2025.
• Phase 2 – Structure Ideas – Development of the top 30 selected ideas until 16 May 2025.
• Phase 3 – Pitch Ideas – Final presentations by the top 10 finalists on 25 June 2025.

Programme | Final Pitch

• 14h30 – 18h00 | Pitching session with the 12 PLAY 2025 Finalists
• 18h00 – 19:00 | Pitching of Master’s Student Projects (non-competitive)
• 19h00 – 19h30 | Announcement of PLAY Competition Winners

Prizes

Winners will receive a range of exclusive benefits:

1st Place:

• Monetary prize of €1,250;
• 1 year of incubation at PLAY;
• 100% tuition discount for a Postgraduate Programme at LES;
• Category A: Project development in partnership with a FilmEU-affiliated company;
• Category B: 1 year of access to the CGI Unicorn Academy programme.

2nd Place:

• Monetary prize of €500;
• 6 months of incubation at PLAY;
• 80% tuition discount for a Postgraduate Programme at LES;
• Category A: Project development in partnership with a FilmEU-affiliated company;
• Category B: 6 months of access to the CGI Unicorn Academy programme.

3rd Place:

• Monetary prize of €250;
• 3 months of incubation at PLAY;
• 40% tuition discount for a Postgraduate Programme at LES;
• Category A: Project development in partnership with a FilmEU-affiliated company;
• Category B: 3 months of access to the CGI Unicorn Academy programme.

Honourable Mentions:

• The jury may award additional distinctions to outstanding projects.

Support and Partners

This initiative is supported by Caixa Geral de Depósitos, CGI Portugal, and FilmEU – European University, along with various companies affiliated with Universidade Lusófona and PLAY. Participants will have access to mentoring, networking opportunities, and business acceleration programmes.

About PLAY – Creative and Technological Incubator

PLAY – Creative and Technological Incubator at Universidade Lusófona is an innovation ecosystem dedicated to supporting the development of startups and business projects. The incubator fosters strong links between academia and industry, promoting creative and technological ideas and empowering entrepreneurship across the Lusophone world.

For further information, please contact the organisers at: play@ulusofona.pt