Caribbean Climate Resiliance Innovation Challenge

*For young people in the CARICOM Member and Associate States only 

The Caribbean Innovation Competition (CIC) is an international entrepreneur competition and business start-up accelerator for young people in the CARICOM Member and Associate States. The CIC differentiates itself from other existing business competitions by incorporating “before and after“ stages, focusing on training and mentoring as preparation for the competition, and providing follow up services that include access to finance, networking activities, visibility and promotion opportunities.

Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to present innovative solutions, tools, and mechanisms that will help the Caribbean region adjust to the realities of Climate Change, while creating economic opportunities and sustainable businesses. The entrepreneurs participating in the CIC 8.0 will also receive further training and mentoring throughout the program, and also international visibility of their businesses during the Finals of CIC, organized during the official activities of the 50th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Theme

Resilience and Climate Change: To support the understanding of the reasons and effects of Climate Change.

Priorities: Adaption and Mitigation

• Adaptation: Developing innovative solutions that will allow citizens and businesses in the Caribbean to adjust to the new realities of climate change by creating new social and economic opportunities.
• Mitigation: Developing tools and mechanisms that will allow the Caribbean to reduce or eliminate the social, economic, and environmental impact of climate change in the Caribbean.

Specail Focus:

• Sargassum: Innovative and sustainable solutions to respond to the diverse threats and opportunities that Sargassum presents for the Caribbean. We want to raise awareness on the occurrence of sargassum across the Caribbean.
• Natural Disasters: Innovative solutions to strengthen the Caribbean disaster management systems in the region, and thus help to reduce the negative impact of hurricanes, floods, or other natural disasters that occur.

Awards

Finalists:

• Finalist teams will receive a full scholarship for one team member to take part in the finals of TIC Americas/CIC. The scholarship includes: a round-trip flight ticket, travel insurance, hotel accommodation, full meals, and local transportation.
• Finalists will also have access to, trainings, mentorships, and networking sessions with YABT’s partners, which include multinational and government representatives, international media, investors and a wide network of entrepreneurs in the Western Hemisphere

Winners:

• A US$5,000 prize is awarded to the winners at the Finals of TIC Americas 2020. This award shall be considered by winning teams as seed capital for their businesses or initiatives. The winners are responsible of all the taxes, financial fees, and any other commission related to the disbursement of Funds.
• Every winner team receives one trophy, certificate, and other and opportunities to be nominated as a Winning Team of TIC Americas, i.e., participation at International Events of the YABT/OAS, PepsiCo and other partners’ events and conferences.

Competition Deliverables

Teams must present a project plan, following the CIC template that includes: 

A business plan/project

A Market Validation of the Prototype

Online presence: Website, Facebook page or blog that could showcase the product/service via the internet

A graphical presentation, either a video, promotional slide show or collage of at least three pictures that demonstrates the innovation of the product or service.

Note: Deadlines, deliverables and terms of participation may vary, please be advised to read the requirements for award categories carefully, if applicable. 

Projects and enterprises will be evaluated according to the award category for which they have registered to compete. For references please visit the Evaluation Criteria section. 

Eligibility

Teams registering for the CIC Awards must be citizens residing in a CARICOM Member or Associate State (see list of countries below) and have the minimum legally authorized age to start and operate a business in that country.

CARICOM Members and Associate States

• Antigua and Barbuda
• The Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Jamaica
• Montserrat
• Saint Lucia
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Anguilla 
• Bermuda 
• British Virgin Islands 
• Cayman Islands 
• Turks and Caicos Islands 

• Any entrepreneur, 18-34 years old, may enter regardless of their level of education

• A Team with multinational members will be considered to be from the country where the CEO is a citizen and/or permanent resident. 

• Since much of the competition and communication is through the Internet, the Team should have adequate access to the Internet during the competition to ensure full participation.

• YABT, National Chapters, Officials, Board of Directors Members and sponsors, as well as their immediate family members, are not eligible to participate. 

Teams

The CIC Teams may be comprised of a minimum of one and a maximum of ten members. If the Team consists of one member only, they will be holding the title of CEO. Teams of two and more members should include the following roles:

• Chief Executive Officer

• Chief Technical Officer 

• Others as identified by the team

Languages

• The CIC will accept projects to be submitted in English during Phase 1. Teams qualifying for Phase 2: CIC Finals must present copies of their written business model in English.

• Finalists that compete for the CIC Award must make their live presentation in English. Simultaneous translations/ interpretations will not be allowed. 

• Judges will not evaluate grammar in the presentation but focus instead on the overall quality of the business plan. 

• The CIC Finals, Awards Ceremony and Related events will also be developed in English. 

Mentors

• All Teams have the option of working with one or more mentors and there is no restriction regarding age, nationality, experience, or education of the mentors.

• Mentors will participate on a voluntary basis and will not be paid by the Team competing nor by YABT or any sponsors, partners or collaborators of the programme.

• Mentors can aid team members during the project preparation by answering questions, providing industry and technical expertise, helping with organizational strategies, editing project plans, evaluating team presentations, and facilitating the networks necessary for long-term success of the project. 

The YABT National Chapters Officials, Board of Directors, sponsors, along with their immediate family members, are not eligible to participate as mentors.

Detailed Timeline

a) Open Call and Registration –From September 23, 2019 to December31, 2019.

• Registration has no cost.
• All teams must register at the website of TIC Americas or CIC: www.ticamericas.net and/or http://ticamericas.net/cic/ to be eligible to compete in TIC Americas. YABT can announce at any time new categories and special awards, with instructions for registration.
• The participating team that has already submitted their Business Project, has the option to make changes until December 31, 2019, 5:00 PM (Washington DC time). Documents cannot be altered or amended after that date.
• All information about TIC Americas will be sent to the email address provided in the registration. Teams are responsible for ensuring that the email is functional and that the content is read on a regular basis.
• The delivery of the Business Project must follow the template provided by YABT according to the appropriate category of award.

b) Business/ Project Plan Submission Deadline –by December 31, 2019.

• Teams must present a Business Project depending on the category in which they participate with their idea / business project.
• The Business Project, as well as the other documents to be submitted, are mandatory in order to complete the registration. Also, they must be submitted prior to advancing to the next stage of the competition.
• The Business Project for all categories of TIC Americas must respond to the questions/challenges presented for each category that the Team wishes to apply.
• The Business Project can be delivered through the online platform, in Spanish, English, French, or Portuguese.

c) BOOT Camp – Open permanently

• All registered participants will have the opportunity to access the BOOT Camp upon registration in the competition. The earlier they register, the more mentoring opportunities they will have.

Participating teams can also participate in Business Labs workshops and other face-to-face trainings that are available on the YABT calendar.

d) Semifinals Evaluation – January - February 2020

• International judges identified by YABT and PepsiCo will evaluate all registered teams that completed the TIC Americas process. All teams will receive feedback.

e) Finalists Announcement – March 1, 2020

f) Finals – June, 2020

• Teams qualifying for the Finals may present copies of their executive summaries of the Business Project in English.

Judges

• Judges from around the world will participate in the CIC  to evaluate the Teams.

• Judges will be experienced and have skill sets which qualify them to carry out the judging of business models and other materials submitted by Teams of the CIC.

• Judges in both phases will score the projects according to the judging criteria and templates in these Rules and Terms of Reference.

• Judges will provide feedback to assist the participating Teams in identifying areas for improvement.

• Judges will determine their scores independently and will not discuss their scores or opinions with other individuals or judges.

• Judges agree to score Teams fully and impartially based on the technical quality and presentation of the project plan and the Teams’ performance during the competition and without regard to nationality, age, education or other discriminatory factors.

• All judges agree to terms of confidentiality prior to judging the business model, and they agree to abide by the CIC Rules and Terms of Reference established and published by YABT. 

• Mentors cannot be judges. If this is unavoidable or if there is a potential conflict of interest, they should remove themselves from judging the Team to which they are assigned.

• The YABT and sponsors will appoint an Evaluation Committee to coordinate the work of the judges and the review process during both phases of the CIC

See a detailed breakdown of the judging and scoring criteria here. 

Information for Finalists

• Finalists will be selected from the qualifying teams that have registered and completed the process in the semi-final stage and are eligible to participate in the Finals.  A total of Three Finalist Teams will be selected to move to the next round. 

• YABT and partners will notify the international community and media of the teams selected to be part of the Finals through, www.yabt.net and www.ticamericas.net

• A round-trip flight ticket, accommodation, meals, and local transportation will be provided for one representative of the Finalist Team to compete at the Finals and represent the Finalist team at the Expo, Conference and Awards Ceremony. The Team member who receives the round-trip ticket must depart from the country the team represents. The scholarship will be assigned to the Team’s CEO or a representative he/she might designate. Once the ticket is bought, it is non-transferable and any fee for changes to the itinerary will be paid by the traveler.

• Each team may designate up to two members to present to the CIC Finals Evaluation Committees. No other members or mentors will be allowed to attend or participate in the presentation.

• Any number of registered team members may travel to the CIC Finals, Expo and Awards Ceremony, with prior notification to YABT.
• The Team member who will make their "pitch" to the Judges at the Finals, should be able to present and answer questions in English. 

• Finalist teams competing for the CIC Awards must present copies of their project plan in English. It is mandatory to present these copies in English. 

• Presentation of Certificates of Recognition: A certificate as Finalist will be presented to each Registered Team Member. Non-registered members will not receive a Certificate as a Finalist.