Terms and Conditions

1. Eligible for participation are teams or individuals wishing to submit an idea, a company concept or a business plan for a future business venture in the fields of chemistry, process technology or biotechnology to the competition. Business enterprises from the aforementioned fields established after 1 July 2021 may also participate in the competition.
2. The products and / or services of the business venture to be established comprise a market innovation that leads to a significant competitive advantage over potential competitors. The nature of the competitive advantage and the innovation must be explained.
3. Entering the competition for the ACHEMA Start-Up Award is possible at each of the three phases – Idea, Company Concept, Business Plan – subject to the submission deadlines communicated elsewhere. However, a complete business plan according to the specifications of the competition is a condition for being considered for the award. The deadline for the submission of business plans is 1 December 2023. Business plans from participants who have already gone through earlier competition phases may be submitted until 31 December 2023.
4. At least one natural person has to be named as the originator of an idea or as a potential or current entrepreneur. If several persons enter a contribution together, they have to appoint a contact person from among their circle, who is entitled to represent the team in the competition.
5. If applicable, the contact person is allowed to receive the prize money as a representative of the other team members. If the business has already been started, the prize money will be paid to the company.
6. The entry forms must be completed in German or English.
7. Access to private equity investors such as the Business Angels or the High Tech Gründerfonds will be enabled independent of the competition success, if requested by the participants. Conditions for the respective organisation will apply (e. g. www.ba-frm.de or www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de). As a general rule a comprehensive business plan will be expected, which may differ from the ACHEMA Start-Up Award.
8. The participants agree to present themselves and their business idea in public during the ACHEMA 2024 (in the form of a presentation at the stand of the Start-Up Award and / or a brief talk) in case they are among the finalists (maximum of ten) of the competition.
9. The participants agree that their data will be used and the entered documents will be passed on to the jury and mentors in connection with processing the ACHEMA Start-Up Award. The privacy policy of DECHEMA e. V. (https://dechema.de/en/datenschutz.html) is applicable. Mentors and jurors are obliged to adhere to a confidentiality agreement.
10. If applicable, we recommend that participants register patents and property rights as soon as possible, ideally before submitting their documents for the competition. Please note that any non-confidential publication complicates or rules out a later protection.
11. The decision of the jury is final and incontestable.
12. Severability clause: Should individual clauses of the terms and conditions of participation be partly or completely ineffective, the other terms and conditions will still apply.

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