Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are teaming up with Oxentia Foundation in order to launch a new global challenge for entrepreneurs from 11 countries.
The challenge aims “to find innovative artificial intelligence solutions that will have a positive impact to address social challenges.”
Santander X Global Challenge | The AI Revolution “targets startups and scaleups from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the US, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, the UK and Uruguay. Applications can be submitted until 27 April.”
The six winning projects “will receive 120,000 euros in prize money: 30,000 euros for the three best startups (10,000 euros each) and 90,000 euros for the three best scaleups (30,000 euros each).” In addition, winners will “travel to Silicon Valley to attend the awards ceremony on 29 June.”
Winners will gain membership “in Santander X 100, an exclusive global entrepreneurship community of outstanding Santander X projects.” Santander X 100 “gives members access to the resources they need to grow: mentoring and training, capital, customers, talent and networking.”
In addition, winners will be “mentored by Microsoft experts in artificial intelligence to present projects to M12, Microsoft’s venture capital initiative.”
According to Diego Calascibetta, global director of Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation at Santander Universities:
“Artificial intelligence is a technological revolution that is growing in leaps and bounds. As in any cutting-edge sector, innovation is key to ensuring development that supports sustainable progress in society. With this challenge, we want to support companies that share our vision on AI as a technology that is destined to be ever-present in our lives much sooner than we thought.”
Jens Hansen, General Manager EMEA – Data & AI at Microsoft, says:
“At Microsoft, we have always viewed technology as a catalyst for progress, and we believe that AI will have a positive and transformational impact on our lives if used responsibly. We are committed to democratizing the use of AI, which is why we are delighted to join Banco Santander in the Santander X Global Challenge | The AI Revolution.”
Steve Cleverley, CEO of Oxentia Foundation, highlights that:
“Exploring exciting new technologies and helping entrepreneurs tackle global challenges in innovative ways is at the heart of our work. We are delighted to collaborate with Banco Santander and Microsoft to launch this new challenge. Artificial Intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in our lives, and we look forward to learning more about the best cutting-edge technology and transformative solutions from the candidates.”
As covered, Banco Santander is firmly committed “to progress and inclusive, sustainable growth.”
Through Santander Universities, the bank has “stood out among the world’s financial institutions as a pioneering stalwart of education, entrepreneurship and employability for 26 years.”
Since the launch of Santander Universities, the bank has “deployed more than €2.2 billion and has supported more than a million students, professionals and entrepreneurial projects through agreements with more than 1300 universities across 25 countries.”