Banco Santander in Spain and the Oxentia Foundation announced the start of the global Santander X Global Challenge competition | Blockchain and Beyond. It is prepared for startups and scaleups that will develop an innovative, scalable solution using blockchain technology. The competition organizers aim is to support innovation to improve productivity and employment, as well as to solve social problems.
The new global competition is aimed at startups (between 2 and 25 employees) and scaleups (over 25 employees). Companies submitting their projects must be based in one of 11 countries (Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, USA, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, UK, and Uruguay). The deadline for submitting applications is Thursday, June 9, 2022, at https://www.santanderx.com/calls/blockchain-challenge.
“Blockchain technology has the potential needed for the so-called “changing the game’s rules in business.” More and more sectors recognize its power to redefine and strengthen business models. However, there is still a long way to go before blockchain becomes a natural part of the daily activities of society and companies. Seeing the potential of blockchain, the Santander Group wants to actively promote this technology, helping startups and companies offering innovative solutions to use it,” – explains Dariusz Paczewski, Head of the Santander Bank Polska Innovation team.
The submissions of the new solutions under the competition will be evaluated by a panel of international experts who will select 20 finalists. This group will have the opportunity to present their projects in the final. 6 winners will be selected as part of the finals – 3 startups and 3 scaleups.
The solutions should address issues such as: improving the level of privacy and security of blockchain network users, activating decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenization (a digital representation on the blockchain network), and enhancing and extending digital interactions with the users through the concepts such as Web3 and metaverse.
The competition jury will select the 6 winning projects, which will receive EUR 120,000 in prizes. For the winning startups, the prize pool is EUR 30,000 (each will receive EUR 10,000), while the top three scaleups will receive EUR 90,000 (EUR 30,000 each). The winners will also have access to Santander X 100, Santander X’s global community of leading startups that connects entities with the resources these companies need to grow their businesses, such as consulting and training, capital, customers, talent base, and network of contacts.
“By helping entrepreneurs, the Oxentia Foundation also contributes to solving global problems – the implementation of innovative solutions and promotion of the use of new, breakthrough technologies is at the core of our activities. Therefore, the Oxentia Foundation is very pleased to work with Santander X to launch a new global competition. We are waiting for applications from entrepreneurs from the regions where Santander operates. We hope that they will present us with excellent projects using the latest technologies and transformational solutions,” – says Steve Cleverley, President of the Oxentia Foundation.
Finalists will also have the opportunity to present the proposed solutions as part of Fintech Station, a platform promoting innovation at the bank.
Source: the Santander’s Bank Polska press release dated May 12, 2022
