The University of Macau & Bank of China Trophy UltiMater Entrepreneur Competition, organised by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) of the University of Macau (UM), is now open for applications. Students currently enrolled in higher education institutions in Macao and Macao residents studying in higher education institutions outside Macao are welcome to participate in the competition in teams. The competition offers a total prize pool of more than MOP 110,000. The top three teams and the winning teams of the outstanding prizes will have the opportunity to be incubated at CIE and have access to incubation services valued at over MOP 150,000 in total.

The competition is sponsored by the Bank of China Macau Branch. It seeks to identify potential technology and innovation projects in the fields of big data/artificial intelligence, robotics/smart manufacturing, new materials, fintech, biomedicine/healthcare, and low-carbon technology/sustainable development. Professionals will assess the feasibility of students’ business plans and help pave the way for the teams to achieve their entrepreneurial goals in the future. The competition also aims to propel universities’ commercialisation of research results and to promote communication, exchange, and business connections between higher education institutions and industries, investors, the government, and civil organisations in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in the hope of increasing the conversion rate with the help of enterprises and the market and developing an active ecosystem of innovation and research.

In addition to cash prizes, CIE will provide incubation services to the winning teams, including office space, professional mentorship and advisory services, entrepreneurship training programmes, and visits to renowned enterprises in mainland China. Moreover, CIE will recommend outstanding resident companies to apply for the Funding Scheme for Industry-University-Research Partnership for Enterprises launched by the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) of Macao, to further implement their business plans and to create a platform for entrepreneurial resources as well as supply-demand matching.

Applications are now open until 28 May 2024. Eligible students interested in joining the competition can apply at https://go.um.edu.mo/1zzy8bsb. For further details, please visit https://go.um.edu.mo/847u5mgu. For enquiries, please contact the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at 8822 4619 or 8822 9219, or email ICI.Innovation@um.edu.mo.