Banco Santander is preparing this event to bring the worlds of enterprise and universities together again. Ideas and projects can be submitted until 26 September. The winners will have access to non-repayable funding and promotional support.

1 September 2020. PRESS RELEASE
Santander is committed to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, as strategic pillars for the world of higher education and the growth of local communities. Santander is issuing a new call for proposals for its Elevator Day competition, through Santander Universities. This enables young people from entrepreneur centres of public and private universities to submit projects to receive non-refundable funding and promotion of their initiatives.

The 2020 Elevator Day will accept entries for the "Ideas" and "Established ideas" categories. The latter category is for initiatives that have been operating in the market for less than three years.

The objective is to encourage submission of ideas and entrepreneurial projects with global impact and vision, involving the development or innovative use of knowledge. Applications will be accepted until Saturday, 26 September.

Terms and conditions and registration are available at www.santanderX.com.

The invitation to apply is aimed at people or teams including at least one current or former undergraduate or postgraduate (master's or doctorate) student at any of the following universities: the Economic Sciences faculty of the Universidad de la República, the Universidad Católica, Universidad ORT Universidad de Uruguay, Universidad de Montevideo, Universidad de la Empresa, Universidad CLAEH, Universidad Tecnológica del Uruguay and the Julio Ricaldoni Foundation. The projects must also have links to institutions that sponsor entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship centres affiliated to these universities.

There will a winning project for each category. The winner of the Ideas category will receive a non-refundable prize of UYU 125,000, which must be invested in validating the project. The institution that presents the winning team will also receive UYU 25,000, also to be used in the validation process.

The winner of the Established enterprise category will have the opportunity to give a presentation to customers organised and sponsored by Banco Santander.

Banco Santander is the leading player in Uruguay's university-entrepreneurship system, with more than 9,000 direct and indirect beneficiaries in 2019 and 2020. The Elevator Day has attracted 18 innovative projects with possibilities for expansion in the country and the world in its various editions. 

Banco Santander's commitment to supporting entrepreneurs at the start of their journeys is in addition to its support for young people through the recent launch of its "Propósito" (Purpose) campaign, offering discounts at more than 200 businesses, benefits and the possibility of scholarships to continue achieving their objectives. This account is available for university students and graduates aged between 18 and 31.

These actions will be complemented by the involvement of the entrepreneurs Piero Vittori Locatelli, Jere Lazo and Josefina De León, who will share the benefits and experiences offered by Santander on social media.

Banco Santander and its support of Higher Education
Banco Santander is firmly committed to progress and inclusive, sustainable growth, with a long-standing dedication to higher education that sets it apart from the world's other financial institutions. With more than €1,800 million invested in academic initiatives since 2002 through Santander Universities and over 430,000 university scholarships and grants awarded since 2005, it has been recognised as the company that invests the most in education worldwide (Varkey/UNESCO, Fortune 500 Report), with agreements in place with 1,000 universities and institutions in 22 countries.