Santander X Global Award is the best international competition for university-level entrepreneurs, proving that students from all around the world are more eager and excited than ever to put their ideas into action. 

Banco Santander believes entrepreneurship is an important solution to the challenges our society is facing. By promoting it, we can help build an inclusive, sustainable future that is more prosperous for everybody.

Contestants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain and Mexico submitted 100 projects, which include the 11 finalists selected to win $200,000 in prizes: $50,000 for the best start-up and $150,000 for the best scale-up (a high-impact project aiming to boost its growth).

The 11 finalists had to present solutions to an expert jury. The Start-up award went to Spain’s BrainGuard, from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. This project consists of a digital solution that can predict 75% of migraines in an average of 25 minutes. Its goal is to reduce the pain of people who suffer migraines with better, digitalised care. BrainGuard participated in the Explorer programme, which is now open for submissions for its eleventh year. 

The university-level Scale-up award went to another Spanish project, Rated Power, by Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, for its pvDesign, cutting-edge cloud-based software that blends engineering and technology to harness the value of photovoltaic plans and create more affordable, flexible and faster solutions than traditional engineering firms. This project also won the Explorer programme in 2018.  

If you want learn more about the value proposition of these 100 projects that are each a leader in its industry, access the Top 100 and meet the contestants.