Due to the worldwide healthcare emergency, Santander Universities has extended the deadline and will accept innovative initiatives providing solutions related to the contingency generated by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Santiago de Chile, 28 April 2020.
Banco Santander announces the launch of "Overcome Together", an open space accessible to any person or company, whether they are a bank customer or not, containing information and resources to help them tackle the situation created by the coronavirus (covid-19). 

The deadline for entries for the 2nd Ideas X, a programme organised by Santander Universities to drive university entrepreneurship that awards the best initiatives generated by students at different educational establishments in Chile, has been extended to 14 May. 

Furthermore, due to the health crisis, a special track was opened this year for all projects that aim to come up with solutions for the impact generated by the covid-19 contingency. 

Entries may be submitted via the Santanderx.com platform by teams of two to four university undergraduates with an innovative idea that meets the programme terms and conditions. 

All of this year's entrants can directly access Ideas X online training through short videos on entrepreneurship. An external jury will then choose the 70 best projects and they will go through to a second level. At this stage, the 43 best initiatives will be selected and the entrants will receive in-person training, which will end with a boot camp where expert mentors can give their feedback to the entrepreneurs.

 At the next stage, each team has to pitch their idea and the 23 best projects will each receive initial capital of CLP 500,000 each to improve their prototype and may accelerate them in a 2-month process with a specialist. At this point, projects relating to the covid-19 contingency will receive an additional CLP 500,000. 

In the end, the entrepreneurs behind the 10 best projects will be awarded a fund of CLP 2.5 million, and the ones with projects relating to the contingency may receive up to CLP 3.5 million. This capital will be used for developing the idea, and the bank will also provide a monitoring and support programme over the following three months. 

To protect the health of entrants, Ideas X will devise alternative ways to run the programme online, if circumstances should require, ensuring continuity at all stages of the programme. 

Banco Santander is firmly committed to education through Santander Universities, an international initiative that distinguishes it from other financial institutions. Banco Santander is the private company that invests most in education in the world (Varkey/UNESCO-Fortune 500 Report). More than EUR 1,600 million has been allocated to academic initiatives and programmes since 2002.