Rules and Regulations

1            PITCHORA COMPETITION

1.1    The Applicant agrees that in order to participate in the Pitchora event (the “Competition”), they shall abide by the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

2          ENTRY AND PROCESS

2.1    Valid entry into the Competition shall be adjudicated once the applicant submits its application, uploads the 30 second pitching video,and agrees to the terms & conditions on the website.

2.2    The selection committee, consisting of 10 individuals representing the Organiser and the competition partners (the“Selection Committee”) shall select 10 applicants for the final competition event. The Competition judges, consisting of 5 representatives of the Organiser and other Competition partners (the “Judging Panel”) shall select 10 applicants for shortlisting. Successful applicants shall attend the subsequent workshops,focused primarily on professional pitching training.

2.3    The workshops are followed by the Applicants presenting their final pitches to the Judging Panel, who shall select 3 of the submitting Applicants to be awarded with the Prize.

2.4    The Prize consists of the Organiser providing business training, facilities, and mentorship and other services for a period of 6 months (the “Incubator”), worth at the Organiser’s valuation fifty thousand Euros (€50,000), as well as a non-repayable interest free ten-thousand Euros(€10,000) grant for the purposes of establishing the Applicant’s business and other professional and commercial costs.

2.5 Once the winners are selected they will also be receiving prizes and sponsorship monetary and non- monetary , however there may be circumstances were the prize and / or sponsorship value provided are subject to limitations associated with national & international rules and regulations that may limit or outright dis-allow their materialization of such value in the hand of a particular applicant based on their business model, industry, client base or product/service offering. In such a case Pitchora & it’s collaborators reserve the right to withdraw or limit such prize value when not permissible due to same national / international rules and regulations.

2.6    The winning applicant shall be decided according to the Organiser’s Competition regulations and the Judging Panel’s decision. The decision of the Judging Panel is final, and no correspondence, appeal, or discussion is available for the Applicant following this decision.

3          ELIGIBILITY

3.1    In order to be eligible, the Applicant must be:

3.1.1   Resident in Malta or Gozo; and

3.1.2  Over the age of 18.

3.2   In entering the Competition, the Applicant confirms their eligibility to enter and claim the Prize. The Organiser may request submission of proof regarding this at their discretion.

3.3    The following entries / applications shall be considered ineligible:

3.3.1   Senior Management, Directors and other Senior officials within the last 12 months of any of the Pitchora related entities, monetary sponsors and / or their related entities are not eligible to apply for Pitchora.

3.3.2 Members of the public whose immediate family members are currently employed or have been employed within the last 12 months within a Senior Management, Directors and other Senior official position of any of the Pitchora related entities, monetary sponsors and / or their related entities.

3.3.3 Any partners within the organisation who have been convicted of a felony or have a felony or misdemeanor criminal charges pending against them or have been found guilty of professional misconduct.

3.3.4 Any partners within the organisation that have been declared bankrupt or under an administration appointed by the Court, or under proceedings leading to a declaration of bankruptcy

3.4    Applications are limited to one per person or company.

3.5    The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify the Applicant if their conduct during any stage prior to or during the Competition is reasonably inappropriate, which non-exhaustively includes anything illegal, harmful, or otherwise undesirable.

3.6 All applicants confirm their willingness to voluntarily submit themselves to a standard background check.

4          APPLICANT’S OBLIGATIONS

4.1    The Applicant, without good reason as deemed by the Organiser, not miss any of the events or dates of the Programme as described to them by the Organiser and ensure within reasonable grounds full attendance of all such events.

4.2    The Applicant’s reception of the award shall be predicated on signature of a Pitchora Applicant Agreement and Grant Agreement provided in future by the Organiser, which the Applicant hereby acknowledges. The Applicant waives any entitlement to the award should they not sign the aforementioned agreements.

4.3    In participating in the Competition, the Applicant consents to appearing in public digital and physical advertising and documentation directly connected to the Competition, non-exhaustively including photos and videos of the Competition, whether as the focus of a given piece of advertising or documentation, or incidentally. The Applicant also consents to publicising of their name in all such related advertising and/or documentation.

4.4    The Applicant shall fully comply with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and any separate guidelines regulating the Competition published by the Organiser.

4.5    In the interests of objectivity and transparency, once the judging team is known, and once the Applicant recognises the fact that they hold a prior relationship with, or has an established conflict of interest regarding, any member of the Judging Panel, the Applicant is required to declare such relationship or interest and submit relevant information regarding this to the Organisation team, who will decide whether action is required to eliminate such conflict. The Organisation team has clear guidelines as to how to tackle any conflicts which particularly focuses on the allocation of a non-related judging panel by way of replacement or removal of a particular judge in the case of a conflict. With reference to this point please also refer to clause 3 for applicant eligibility criteria.

4.6    Upon application the Applicant binds themselves to receive the full Prize, including regular attendance of courses and mentorship to a reasonable standard.

4.7    The Applicant shall provide no information that is materially false and/or misleading throughout the duration of the applicant process and the Competition participation. Any provision of such information shall entitle the Organiser to disqualify the Applicant.

5          ORGANISER’S OBLIGATIONS

5.1    The Organiser shall:

5.1.1   Make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the applications and entries are judged to a fair and objective standard;

5.1.2  Claim no rights of ownership in the Applicant’s Competition entry, non-exhaustively including any intellectual or moral rights in any designs, business ideas, or anything else provided by the Applicant;

5.1.3   Perform to its best efforts everything required to provide the Prizes as described to the Applicant; and

5.1.4   Clearly and promptly communicate any key information regarding the Competition to the Applicant, non-exhaustively including any changes to existing obligations or new obligations owed by the Applicant.

 

6          INDEMNITY

6.1    The Applicant shall hold the Organiser and its agents harmless for any loss, damage, personal injury, or death arising out of attendance of the Competition except where it is caused by the negligence of the Organiser or its agents.

6.2    Nothing in this agreement shall limit or exclude a party’s liability:

6.2.1  For death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or the negligence of its employees, agents, or subcontractors; or

6.2.2   For fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

7          TERMINATION

7.1    Without affecting any other right or remedy available to it, the Organiser may terminate this agreement with immediate effect by giving written notice to the Applicant if they commit a material breach of any term of this Agreement which breach is irremediable or (if such breach is remediable) fails to remedy that breach within a period of five (5) business days after being notified in writing to do so.

7.2    On termination of this Agreement subject to the above Clause the Applicant shall be disqualified from the Competition.

7.3    Termination of this agreement shall not affect any rights, remedies, obligation, or liabilities of the parties that have accrued up to the date of termination, including the right to claim damages in respect of any breach of the agreement which existed at or before the date of termination.

 

8          CONFIDENTIALITY

8.1    The parties shall hold any Confidential Information in confidence. Confidential Information non-exhaustively includes any information relating to the business of the disclosing party which is not publicly available including, but not limited to, any information specifically designated by the disclosing party as confidential; any information supplied to the disclosing party by any third party in relation to which a duty of confidentiality is owed or arises; and any other information which should otherwise be reasonably regarded as possessing a quality of confidence or as having commercial value in relation to the business of the disclosing party.

 

9          MISCELLANEOUS

9.1    Each party shall at its own expense comply with all laws and regulations relating to its activities under this Agreement,as they may change from time to time, and with any conditions binding on it in any applicable licences, registrations, permits and approvals.

9.2    If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever by any court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be considered modified to the minimum extent required such that it is deemed valid, legal, or enforceable, or where this is not possible the provision shall be severed and the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect as if it had been executed without the invalid, illegal, or unenforceable clause.

9.3    In no event shall either of the parties be liable to the other for any loss or damage which is due to an event of force majeure. The term “force majeure” shall mean acts, events or circumstances which are beyond the reasonable control of a party and which makes that party’s performance of its obligations under the Agreement impossible, or so impractical as to be considered impossible under the circumstances, and shall include but shall not be limited to, an act of God, industrial dispute, act or regulation of any governmental or supranational bodies or authorities.

9.4    No variation of this agreement shall be effective unless it is in writing and signed by the parties or their authorised representatives.

9.5    No failure or delay by a party to exercise any right or remedy provided under this agreement or by law shall constitute a waiver of that or any other right or remedy, nor shall it prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy. No single or partial exercise of such right or remedy shall prevent or restrict the further exercise of that or any other right or remedy.

 

10      APPLICABLE LAWS

10.1 This agreement shall be governed by Maltese Law, and the parties subject themselves to the jurisdiction of the Maltese Courts.