Santander X Spain Awards │ Proyectos Emprendedores Universitarios 2026

• Recognize and promote the best university entrepreneurial projects at a national level.
• Support projects in the validation phase for their market launch.
• Facilitate access to prizes and visibility within the national entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Entrepreneurs or university entrepreneurial teams who meet at least one of the following requirements:

• At least one team member must be a student or graduate within the last 5 years from a participating university.
• Or at least one team member must be a professor, researcher, or public servant at a participating university.
• Or at least one team member must have a formal affiliation with the university.
• Or at least one team member must be a current entrepreneur or mentor within the university.

Additionally:

• At least one team member must reside in Spain.

Regarding the project, it must meet at least one of the following requirements:

• Be an entrepreneurial project in the validation phase for market launch, with disruption potential and high scalability, and have an MVP (Minimum Viable Product); or be legally incorporated as a company that has not generated revenue nor raised capital.
• Have a conceptual prototype that allows validation of the solution with potential customers.
• Be focused on the development and/or manufacturing of new goods or services using cutting-edge scientific or technological knowledge.
• Be an innovative project based on feasible and credible new technology, a new technological application, a new business model, or a new process.

The Universitat de Barcelona will verify compliance with these requirements in accordance with the official terms and conditions.

Winning projects will receive:

• A cash prize of €2,000 for the development of the entrepreneurial solution presented.
• Direct access to the national award Santander X Spain Award | University 2026, subject to prior registration through the platform.
• Visibility on the official channels of Santander X and Grupo Santander.
• Possible access to mentoring sessions, if determined by the University.

The cash prize must be used entirely for the development of the winning solution.

The selection process will consist of three phases:

1. Pre-selection phase

Review of applications and verification of compliance with the requirements established in the legal terms and conditions.

Notification of application status: May 8, 2026.

2. Evaluation phase

Projects that meet the requirements will be evaluated by experts appointed by the Universitat de Barcelona.

Evaluation criteria:

• Impact potential (25%)
• Quality of innovation (15%)
• Feasibility (15%)
• Scalability (15%)
• Competitive advantage (15%)
• Team structure (15%)

Publication of finalist projects: June 2, 2026.

The University may assign mentoring to finalist projects.

3. Final phase – Jury presentation

Finalist projects will present before a jury (maximum 4-minute pitch + 3 minutes of questions).

Jury evaluation criteria:

• Impact potential (20%)
• Scalability (20%)
• Competitive advantage (20%)
• Team structure (20%)
• Pitch evaluation (20%)

Presentation period: from June 3 to July 1, 2026.

Announcement of winning projects: July 2, 2026.

Participation in the call implies full acceptance of the legal terms and conditions published on the Santander X platform.