About the Program

  • The Future Innovators Program is Unicorn Factory Lisboa’s flagship innovation program for university students, divided into three phases: academy, hackathon, and acceleration. The end goal is for students to learn more about innovation and ultimately create their own ventures.

  • All young entrepreneurs that are curious to learn more about innovation (no matter where they are from).

  • For the academy phase, everyone is welcome to join at any time (start now). For the hackathons and acceleration, you must go through an application stage, from which the best ideas will be selected. Participants from the academy phase will be given extra credits, so their chance of being selected is higher.

  • The first phase, the Academy, is now live — make the most of it! The other two phases will be coming soon.

  • During the academy, you will go through the ideation process, in the hackathon you’ll build your MVP, and in the acceleration phase, with proper validation, you'll launch in the market.

  • Not at all. You can choose whichever phase (academia, hackathon, acceleration) makes the most sense to you, although the academia is always a great place whether you're defining, refining, or growing your idea.

  • Mostly not, but it depends on each stage - The academy is completely online, the hackathon will be in person and the acceleration will have a hybrid format.

Academia

    1. Complete the learning modules, by watching the videos: expert-led sessions by top universities and/or real stories from founders who’ve been through the journey themselves.

    2. Develop your ideas, either on your own or with the help of our partner challenges.

    3. Submit a pitch deck with the help of step-by-step guides.

    Your academy participation will only be complete once you submit your pitch deck. In doing so, you get the change to win an amazing prizes.

  • We accept pitch decks in both English (preferred) and Portuguese.

  • All you need to do is click the "start" button on the website. After that, you will be redirected to the academy page, where you'll need to create a profile with your basic information, and then you'll be ready to go!

  • No. You need to watch at least 3 videos from each module to complete it. However you are free to choose the three videos you choose inside each module.  If it’s your first time exploring these topics, we recommend going through them in order, as they build on each other. But if you already have a project, you can focus on the areas that need improvement, for instance.


  • Both options are possible! If you want to submit the pitch deck as a team, one of the team members must submit the deck and indicate the names of the rest of the team member s (maximum 6 participants per pitch deck).

    In doing so the “Submit Pitch Deck” deliverable will be checked in all participants profiles.

  • During your time in the Academia, you can either:

    • Refine an idea of your own

    • Identify a problem and develop that idea from scratch

    • Get inspired by one of our partners' challenges

  • By completing the Academia, your pitch deck will be evaluated by our team to get a chance to win the prize. The best pitch deck will win €2,000, a ticket to Web Summit, and direct entry to our Lisbon or Porto hackathons. Additionally, the top decks will be shared with key players in the ecosystem. The deadline for pitch decks submissions is May 11th.

  • You can start the Academia at any time and submit a pitch deck until May 17th.

Hackathon

  • If you want to turn your idea into a real MVP, this is where it happens.

    In just 24 hours, you’ll go from concept to prototype, supported by entrepreneurs-in-residence, hands-on workshops, and dedicated mentors who will help you shape and validate your solution. Whether you come with an idea or join a team on-site, you’ll be building something with real market potential.

    The experience ends with a live Demo Day, where you’ll pitch your MVP to investors and ecosystem players — with the chance to win up to €2,000 in prizes.

  • The program will be conducted exclusively in English to ensure everyone is fully integrated.

  • At the Unicorn Stage in the Beato Innovation District, on April 24–25.

  • You can apply to the Hackathon trough the Hackathon page.

  • It's not mandatory, but it's highly recommended. And if you don’t have a team yet, don't worry, we will match you with the perfec team.

For full details on how the program works, check the official regulations here.