2nd Businet International Startup Competition in Porto, Isla Gaia 12-16 October 2025

Following our successful first competition in Istanbul, we’ve been working hard to organize the 2nd edition of the Businet International Startup Competition. While we initially explored the possibility of hosting it in Sofia, we weren’t able to secure a local partner. But true to the entrepreneurial spirit, we didn’t let that stop us!

We’re thrilled to announce that the 2025 edition will take place in Porto, Portugal, from 12–16 October, thanks to the generous support of ISLA Gaia, with special thanks to Marco Lamas and Paulo Furtado for stepping up to host this Blended Intensive Programme (BIP).

Why You Should Join

This international competition is part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week and offers students the opportunity to:

• Collaborate across borders,
• Compete with innovative ideas,
• Develop their entrepreneurial mindset,
• Pitch their ideas in a unique international Dragons’ Denformat.

We welcome:

• Students with validated ideas (past the problem–solution fit),
• Early-stage startups,
• Scaleups.

We’ve designed the program so that startups and scaleups will collaborate but have separate pitching tracks.

Who Can Participate?

We are aiming for 10 participating universities, with each university represented by 2 students. These can be:

• One student for a startup and one for a scaleup,
• Or both students working on the same venture.

Last November, 22 universities showed interest, and we’re excited to see who will join us this year! UCLL, Avans, RUAS, ISLA Gaia, and our friends from Latvia — all of whom were present at the first edition — will be joining us again

Let’s Connect!

We’re currently preparing the website with full details. In the meantime, we’d love to invite you to our online working group meeting Entrepreneurship:

📅 Date: 16 May

🕒 Time: 15:00 CET

💻 Location: Online (link shared via Businet)

👉 Please let us know:

• If your university is interested in participating,
• And of course, if you have any questions.

Looking forward to an exciting and impactful week in Porto!

Warm regards on behalf of the organising team,

Ria, Marco, Paulo and Paul