Participants’ Requirements

Participants selected for the regionals phase will be requested to sign an agreement where the following is stated

1. Mentees should be available to allocate a minimum of 15 hours per week to Talent League’s mentorship schedule as well as project development tasks when the Talent League mentorships start, on September 5th, 2024.
2. Participants must ensure that they are reasonably available for, and respond promptly to, inquiries from the judging panel or THU Team during the period from their submission date to the end of Talent’s League edition, in May 2025.
3. The team representative is required to attend the Regional Finals. The team representative will have all expenses covered, namely flight, accommodation, meals on site and transport to and from the airport. Other team members are free to join however, they will have to cover their own expenses. 
4. If a team representative does not attend the regional events after booking by THU, the person who drops out is responsible for covering the cancellation fee of the booked flights. 
5. The team is requested to deliver a video pitch by October 31st, 2024.
6. Please refer to "Pitch criteria" chapter below, to check the criteria of each pitching moment.
7. The selected teams from each region going to the final, are requested to deliver a business plan for the project by February 28th, 2024. 

 

Judging criteria

 

In the first phase, there’s a selection of the teams that will benefit from 8 weeks of mentorships before attending the regional finals. This selection is based on: 

• Originality, creativity and forward-thinking (20%);
• Idea quality, entertainment relevancy and storytelling (20%);
• Impact (20%);
• Feasibility (20%);
• Participants’ skills, qualifications, and readiness for mentorships (20%).

At the regional finals, a representative from each team will pitch their idea at their respective local event. One final team from each region will move forward to the next phase of the challenge. The final teams will be evaluated and selected based on: 

• Originality, creativity and forward-thinking (10%);
• Idea quality, entertainment relevancy and storytelling (10%);
• Impact (10%);
• Feasibility (10%);
• Participants’ skills, qualifications, and readiness for mentorships (10%).
• Project’s progress (15%)
• Impact of the project on the team’s location (15%)
• Pitch (20%)

Each regional finalist will present their final pitch at the Grand final, where the winner will be selected based on: 

• Originality, creativity and forward-thinking (10%);
• Idea quality, entertainment relevancy and storytelling (10%);
• Impact (10%);
• Feasibility (10%);
• Participants’ skills, qualifications, and readiness for mentorships (10%).
• Project’s progress (15%)
• Impact of the project on the team’s location (15%)
• Pitch + Business Plan (20%)

 

Talent League values projects that can be done primarily within the participants’ own resources and can be materialized at least as a proof of concept by October 31st, 2024.

Pitch criteria

 

There will be 3 pitching moments: 

• Video-pitch- to be delivered on October 31st, 2024.
• Regional Final live pitch- to be presented by the Team Representative on its respective regional event
• Grand Final live pitch- to be presented by the Team Representatives of the finalist teams, in the Grand Final. 

The video-pitch is expected to follow the below criteria: 

• Duration: Be no longer than 15 minutes;
• Format: MP4 format file;
• Problem statement: definition of the void the project aims to address; 
• Solution and Value Proposition: Present your solution and highlight the unique value it brings. Clearly explain how your project addresses the identified problem better than existing solutions;
• Market Opportunity: Demonstrate the market demand for your project. Highlight potential users or customers and the size of the target market;
• Team presentation;
• Call to Action: Clearly state the next steps or actions you want the audience to take. Whether it's funding, collaboration, or support, make your call to action explicit.

Please also include the following additional items: 

• An English transcript of the video;
• An updated representative image, if applicable 
• An updated project description, if changes have been made 
• If applicable, your project’s proof of concept, which may consist of materials like websites, demos, powerPoints or PDFs.

Regarding the platform for submitting your video pitch, the participants are free to choose any option that suits them best, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, WeTransfer, MyAirBridge, or any other preferred platform. Please send the video pitch to both [email protected]  and [email protected] emails by 31 October 2024 at 23:59 WET. 

• The Regional Final live pitch is expected to follow the below criteria: 
  • Duration: Be no longer than 15 minutes;
  • Problem statement: definition of the void the project aims to address; 
  • Solution and Value Proposition: Present your solution and highlight the unique value it brings. Clearly explain how your project addresses the identified problem better than existing solutions;
  • Market Opportunity: Demonstrate the market demand for your project. Highlight potential users or customers and the size of the target market;
  • Team presentation;
  • Call to Action: Clearly state the next steps or actions you want the audience to take. Whether it's funding, collaboration, or support, make your call to action explicit.
• The Grand Final live pitch is expected to follow the same criteria as the Regional live pitch, with the addition of the following:
• Business plan presentation. 

The live pitches can incorporate various files, including PowerPoint presentations (PPT), videos (MP4 format file), demos, and proof of concept. These resources can be used to illustrate the pitch presentation effectively.