The AGTECH Innovation Challenge: Applied Researcher

Southern Africa Agtech Innovation Challenge

Guidelines
Here are 5 steps to help you formulate your pitch:
1. Name your project.
What’s your project in a nutshell?

2. Name your target objective.
Even if you think your project has broad appeal, you want to be specific versus using something like “consumers” or “enterprises.” It’s always better to start with a narrow target customer base and then widen later.

3. Name the key value.
Note that the value is usually different from a feature or a benefit. Think about it from the customer’s or research perspective.

4. Name the unique benefit your project enables. What does your project have to offer that’s novel and useful?

5. Name the most likely market alternatives that are similar to your project.
What does the competition offer in this space? Consider that customers’ ad-hoc solutions or non-consumption are common alternatives.

Summary
The process of writing your summary will really help you crystallise your pitch. The elevator should comprise your idea in one short paragraph (max. 50 words).

This is the basic structure:
My pitch is…
“A {project description} for {target customer/objective} that {key value} enabling {primary benefits} unlike {existing alternatives}.”
 
Guidelines
PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT (6 pages max)

The points to be addressed in writing your application:
  • Project title and acronym.
  • Summary (5 lines, origins and purpose of the project).
  • Presentation of the project team, their skills, their motivations.
    • Name & Surname
    • Curriculum and Qualification
    • Skills in line with the project
  • Describe the project (product, service or process), and its innovative nature.
  • Identify the targeted market, customers (main target and secondary target), explain how to bring its targets on his product.
  • Identify the constraints to be taken into account (socio-economic, legal, human resources, etc).
  • Assess the financial needs and the sources of financing envisaged
  • Plan of implementation (the different phases, planning, distribution of tasks, etc.) with perspectives in the short and medium term.
  • In appendix:
    • CV of each member of the project team.
    • Presentation of project partners (type of structure, legal regime, areas activities, expected contributions, commitment to the project).
Important:
The maximum number of pages allowed, to be absolutely respected, is 6 excluding annexes, 15 with annexes.

Advice :
To help you here are some points to think about:
  • Is my project both feasible and ambitious?
  • What are the perspectives of evolution of my project / product / company / association?
  • What are the axes of future development? How to value it?
  • Should I bring this project to life?
  • After the competition?
Please upload your 10 slide pitch deck.
Upload requirements

ARTICLE 1: Conditions of participation
1.1 - The candidates
May apply for any natural person or group of persons including at least one student or graduate of the institution (for instance, a research team may apply). By “student” is meant: person currently in initial training, whatever his / her degree (Bachelor, Honours, Master, Doctorate, PhD). The term "graduate" means a person who has completed a degree program, a graduate of a university.
Start-up companies are also allowed to compete on the condition that the laureates startups then engage in a partnership with F'SAGRI universities by taking interns, proposing study cases, participating in workshops
The following are not eligible to compete: organizers.
1.2 - The projects
Any project submitted must meet the following general criteria:
  • Be a personal project and related to the following themes: agronomy, agri-food, agriculture, environment, sustainable development.
  • Be proposed by a bilateral research/academic team in the particular case of applied research projects.
  • Present a quality of writing and presentation.
  • Describe precisely the objectives of the project.
  • Demonstrate feasibility and ambition in relation to the possible follow-up and consequences.
  • Include a plan of realization.
  • Present certain originality and creativity.
ARTICLE 2: Terms of participation
Any candidate wishing to participate in the Innovation Prize contest will have to complete the application form on the Innovation Bridge and submit it by November 1, 2021 at 23h59.
Any incomplete or non-compliant application (see Article 1, quality of presentation and drafting, etc.) will not be validated.
ARTICLE 3: Selection methods
3.1 – Selection committee
The jury will be composed of representatives of French and South African institutions.
The deliberations of the Jury will be done and will remain confidential.
Members of the Jury are bound by a duty of confidentiality.

3.2 – Selection
The pre-selection of the projects will be carried out on the basis of the summary & commitment and the presentation file.
Pre-selected candidates will have to pitch their project using a Powerpoint presentation

The complete projects will then be presented orally online before a jury composed of experts inside and outside the institutions. Structured as follows:
  • 5 minutes for the oral presentation; and
  • Question and answer session
For a team-assembled project, a project manager must be designated to represent the other members.
The online presentation of the projects to the jury will take place on November 25, 2021.
The exact schedules will be specified later.

3.3 – Attendance
Any pre-selected candidate undertakes to make every effort to present his project to the jury. In case of impediment, the organising committee must imperatively be notified 3 (three) weeks before the defense. If the project can’t be presented to the jury, it will be eliminated.

3.4 – Awarding of prizes
Once the defenses are over, the selection committee will decide on the awarding of prizes.
For projects submitted as a team, a person must be nominated to receive the full prize awarded to the project.

ARTICLE 4: Prize awarding
The competition is endowed with:
Applied research category: bursaries for cross-mobility,
Startup category: cash prizes.

The laureates undertake to make every effort to attend this ceremony, which will take place online on November 25, 2021, or to be represented by a member of their team.

ARTICLE 5: Calendar

1 November 2021, at 23h59: deadline for submission of projects
17 November 2021: announcement of the preselection laureates
25 November 2021: hearing of candidates and awards ceremony

ARTICLE 6: Reserve clauses

The organizing and selection committees reserve the right, without liability:
To change the overall value of the endowment or the number of awards listed in Article 4 in the event of an insufficient number of quality projects.
To extend, shorten, modify the schedule or cancel the present operation, if the quality of the projects presented is insufficient or if the number of applications is insufficient.
To arbitrate any dispute concerning the protests related to this contest.

ARTICLE 7: Acceptance of the Rules and Obligations

The participation in the contest and the submission of the application file shall entail, for the participants, the acceptance of all the clauses of the present rules and for the winners the free acceptance of the publication, in all modes, of the summaries of the projects (to be provided by the successful candidates for the second assignment) for media purposes in the context of this operation.

The laureates undertake to use the endowments only as part of the project they have submitted for the Innovation Prize Contest.
To this end, at the request of the organizing and selection committees, the winners agree to provide a year after the award ceremony a report of the project. This may remain confidential at the express request of the candidate.

The organizing and selection committees undertake not to distribute the participants' details without the prior consent of the interested parties.