Rules & Terms of Participation

1. There is no fee for entry.

2. The startup must focus on technology entrepreneurship.

3. Submissions must be entered as a team.

4. Each Participating Team must consist of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6 individuals (founders).

5. Each Participating Team may only submit one entry in the competition.

6. Participating Teams may be (i) Greek companies, established no more than 4 years ago, (ii) companies established outside Greece but having either a founding members team comprised 50% of Greeks or having more than 50% of its current activity (research, development, etc) taking place in Greece, (iii) other entities, whose founding members team is have comprised 50% of Greeks or have more than 50% of their current activity (research, development, etc.) taking place in Greece.

7. Participating Team Members must legally reside in the geographic area of the local Competition as stated by the Local MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Chapter.

8. All Participating Team Members must be over 18 years of age

9. Submissions must be the original work solely of the Participating Team. By entering the Competition, each Participating Team Member represents and warrants to the Local MITEF Chapter that she or he has all right, title and/or interest in the ideas submitted, the startup, and business plan, and that by submitting an entry to the competition she or he is not and will not be violating any contract or third party rights, including but not limited to any patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, publicity or privacy right; or disclosing any proprietary or confidential information of another person or entity.

10. Participating Teams must disclose any funding already received at the time of submission.

11. Participating Teams must not have accepted any Institutional Funding for the idea or startup being presented (i.e. the team cannot have sold equity to anyone outside the team – including non-managing founders).

12. Participating Teams must not have accepted any Non-Institutional Funding in excess of $150,000 where no equity ownership is associated with the funding. Non-Institutional Funding, in this case, includes contests, grants, friends and family, bank loans, etc.

13. Participating Companies must not have accepted any Non-Institutional Funding in excess of 1,000,000€ or the equivalent of $1,200,000, where equity ownership was associated with the funding.

14. There are forms of funding that may fall into a gray area. In these cases, the Local MITEF Chapter will deliberate on the eligibility of a Participating Team and communicate the decision to the Participating Team.

15. The awards of the wining Participating Teams are in the full discretion of the MITEF Chapter and will be announced promptly to the Participating Teams within the course of the Competition.

16. The Submission must be submitted online within the stipulated dates. No late entries will be accepted.

17. If selected as one of the semifinalists, at least one member of the Participating Team must attend all workshops.  

18. If selected as one of the top startups, at least one member of the Participating Team must be present at all required sessions as well as the final awards ceremony.

19. The Local MITEF Chapter reserves the right to disqualify at any time any Submission that in its judgment violates the letter or the spirit of the Competition guidelines, terms, processes or rules. The decisions of the Local MITEF Chapter are final. Any violation of these rules will disqualify a Participating Team from the Competition and result in forfeiture of any prize or competition benefit awarded to the Participating Team.

20. Any Participating Team or Participating Team Member engaging in immoral activities, including lying, cheating or any activity that may adversely affect the image of the Local MITEF Chapter or Competition, will be disqualified at the discretion of the Local MITEF Chapter.

21. Participating Teams will comply with all applicable laws related to their Submission and their participation in the Competition.

22. Prior to submitting an entry, Participating Teams are urged to take all necessary steps to ensure adequate protection of any intellectual property described in their Submission (i.e. appropriate intellectual property filings, patent and copyright notices, etc.)

23. Any content included in the Submission (including the identities of the participating team members, the short written description of the idea/startup, and the video) as well as any work conducted during any portion of the Competition may be shared by the Local MITEF Chapter for any Competition or publicity related purpose, and will not be considered confidential.

24. Participating Teams agree that pitch videos may be uploaded to the MIT Enterprise Forum Global Video Portal and the Local MITEF Chapter.

25. Participating Teams can create startups using only technologies that they have permission to use. This could mean that they created the technology, or that they have the explicit (i.e. written) permission of the person or entity that owns the intellectual property to use it as set forth in the entry.

26. For any doubt about the legal status of a Participating Team, Team Member, third party intellectual property, or any other aspect of the team’s Submission, the Local MITEF Chapter strongly urges the Participating Team to seek independent legal counsel. The Local MITEF Chapter cannot provide any legal advice regarding intellectual property or any other issues.

27. Participating Teams agree to use any competition prize received to further develop their startup or idea.

28. MIT, MITEF and the Local MITEF Chapter and Competition shall be held harmless by each Participating Team Member in the event of legal action involving the Participating Team or its Submission.

29. The Local MITEF Chapter and Competition are not responsible in any way for agreements between Participating Teams or Participating Team Members and third parties.

30. Materials submitted to the Competition become the property of the Local MITEF Chapter and will not be returned to the Participating Team.

31. Participating Teams and Team Members agree that they will not use the name Massachusetts Institute of Technology or the MIT Enterprise Forum or any variation, adaptation, or an abbreviation thereof, or of any of its trustees, officers, faculty, students, employees, or agents, or any trademark or logo owned by MIT or MIT Enterprise Forum in any advertising or publicity without the written permission of the MIT Technology Licensing Office for MIT or of the MIT Enterprise Forum.

32. IN NO EVENT SHALL (i) MIT, ITS TRUSTEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, STUDENTS, (ii) THE MIT ENTERPRISE FORUM OR ANY OF ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES, (iii) THE MIT ENTERPRISE FORUM OF GREECE, OR ANY OF ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES OR (iv) THE COMPETITION JUDGES AND MENTORS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “PARTIES”) BE LIABLE FOR ANY ADVICE, INFORMATION OR DECISIONS MADE IN THE COURSE OF THE COMPETITION OR FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING ECONOMIC DAMAGES OR INJURY TO PROPERTY AND LOST PROFITS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PARTY OR PARTIES HAD BEEN ADVISED, SHALL HAVE OTHER REASON TO KNOW OR IN FACT DID KNOW THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

33. All Participating Teams agree to participate in media and press opportunities related to the Competition. These opportunities include, but are not limited to:

    A. All Participating Teams may be asked to provide a short written description that will be made available to media and may be released publicly, either in part or in its entirety.

    B. All Participating Teams may be asked to speak to the media for Competition related interviews when requested by the Local MITEF Chapter.

    C. All Participating Teams may be asked to provide quotes and/or content for any Competition-related press releases.

    D. Participating in media and press opportunities in no way requires Participating Teams to disclose any proprietary or otherwise confidential information related to their businesses. The Local MITEF Chapter agrees to provide consultation to any team, upon request, to avoid such disclosures while participating in press related opportunities.

34. The MITEF Greece bears no responsibility if, for reasons beyond the scope of their control (including but not limited to force majeure, technical problems, no network coverage, network overload, network disconnection, incorrect application filing) or for reasons beyond the scope of control of any third party who will transfer the files a) the upload of the Submissions, including the videos delays or fails, b) the Platform is not available to the contestants, for any period of time, c) the retained records of the Platform are destroyed partially or completely, they are relieved without penalty from their Competition obligations. 
35. After the end of the Competition and the delivery of the awards, any obligation of the MITEF Greece ceases to exist. The MITEF Greece shall neither have, nor undertake any obligation with regard to the participants.
36. In case that a) the participation of the winning Participating Team is cancelled, for any reasons whatsoever, including but not limited to failure to comply with the Terms of Participation in the Competition, b) the winning Participating Team does not accept their award, the winning Participating Team forfeits ipso jure and permanently any right with regard to the award, which remains in hands of MITEF Greece and may be granted by at their full discretion.
37. The MITEF Greece reserves the right to annul, postpone, cancel or amend the Competition for any reasons whatsoever, without prior notification to the Participating Teams. The MITEF Greece bears no responsibility whatsoever for any such annulment, postponement, cancellation or amendment. MITEF Greece shall promptly notify the Participating Teams of any such annulment, postponement, cancellation or amendment.
38. The MITEF Greece bears no responsibility in the event of an interruption, postponement, cancellation or annulment of the Competition due to external factors or force majeure (indicatively due to natural disasters, strikes, war, acts of terrorism or threats of terrorism, accidents, fires, floods or other natural disasters or social disorders, etc.) which make it extremely difficult or impossible to hold the Competition and that the abovementioned events lay beyond the scope of control and therefore the responsibility of the MITEF Greece and the MITEF Greece is relieved pro rata and without penalty from its reciprocal obligations from the Competition.
39. The Greek MITEF is entitled to record, reproduce, fix aspects of the Participating Teams’ personality, such as their name, image, voice, statements, excerpts or interviews, scenes / images from videos in any media, as well as to publish, display, transmit and broadcast any of such audio, visual and audiovisual materials in respect of their participation in the Competition, free of any time, territorial or other restriction and free of any financial burden.
40. During the Competition, the Greek MITEF will keep filing system of the Participating Teams’ personal data (name, e-mail address (e-mail), date of birth, mobile phone number, images and video files), which will be processed for the purpose of conducting the Competition, as well as for its promotion by all media. The Participating Teams expressly consent to the use of their personal data by the Greek MITEF, resulting from their participation in order to be posted in public in the context of the Competition. Personal data may be transmitted to collaborators of the Greek MITEF acting for and on behalf thereof for the aforementioned purposes.
41. Participating Teams give their consent to the Greek MITEF to keep the above filing system with their personal data for the above purposes. The personal data will be kept only for the period necessary for the purposes for which the data were collected in accordance with the provisions of Law 2472/1997.
42. All Participating Teams reserve their right of access, information and object to the processing of their personal data in accordance with the provisions of Articles 11-13 of Law 2472/1997 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data. The aforementioned rights may be exercised by sending an email to info@mitefgreece.org; MITEF Greece shall be the Data Controller for the purposes of processing.
43. The Terms of Participation and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of Greece.
44. The Greek courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from or related to the Competition.
45. The Terms of Participation are available on the website http://mitefcompetition.org/track/2018/greece/startup.

Glossary of Legal Terms:

• LOCAL MIT ENTERPRISE FORUM (MITEF) CHAPTER = chapter representatives including judges, mentors, competition organizers, and “rule makers.”

• PARTICIPATING TEAMS or PARTICIPATING TEAM MEMBERS = the competition participants.

• SUBMISSION or SUBMISSION OF AN ENTRY = the video, business plan, idea, and all other information pertaining to the application for the competition submitted by the Participating Team.

• [THE] COMPETITION = the local MITEF chapter’s “MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Competition” and any activity relating to the “MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Competition.”

• INSTITUTIONAL FUNDING = funding received from institutional investors, such as pension funds, mutual funds, money managers, insurance companies, investment banks, commercial trusts, endowment funds, hedge funds, and some hedge fund investors.

• NON-INSTITUTIONAL FUNDING = All other funding that is not from a financial institution.

• WRITTEN DESCRIPTION = short written description provided by Participating Team upon Submission of an Entry

• PRIZE WINNERS = any Participating Team that receives a prize.