The SECRETARIAT OF INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, through the UNDERSECRETARY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (hereinafter “SSCYT”), and ARCOR S.A.I.C. (hereinafter “ARCOR”) call for the presentation of projects (hereinafter the “Call”) for the “ARCOR NATIONAL AWARD FOR INNOVATION” (hereinafter the “Prize”), which will be awarded to the best innovation and/or technological development project in the areas of interest detailed in these Terms and Conditions.
Likewise, Fundación ARCOR Argentina (hereinafter “ARCOR Foundation”) will award the “ARCOR FOUNDATION SPECIAL MENTION FOR INNOVATION WITH A SOCIAL PROFILE” (hereinafter “Special Mention”) to one of the Finalist Projects that is distinguished from the rest by any of the objectives indicated in these Bases and Conditions for such Mention.
1. Objectives of the Call
This Call and the Prize that will be awarded have the following objectives: to promote and expedite technological transfer between the scientific-technological and productive fields; recognize and stimulate talent, the application of knowledge and entrepreneurial attitudes that allow the introduction of new processes and/or products, the addition of value and technological differentiation; support research projects and/or technological developments that include the generation of new products, processes and services in the food industry and that have an impact on society; promote innovative culture and technological development within the academic, entrepreneurial and industrial fields that lead to greater productivity and competitiveness in the food sector, as well as the improvement of the living conditions and social situation of the communities.
1.1 Special Mention, Arcor Foundation for Innovation with a Social Profile
The Special Mention aims to distinguish among the participants of the Call the project that is evaluated as having the greatest impact on improving the living conditions of children, especially addressing the needs of vulnerable groups; demonstrate the greatest potential for resolving socio-community problems diagnosed in the areas of nutrition, healthy lifestyle habits, growth and comprehensive development of children and adolescents in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability; and demonstrate the greatest commitment to contributing directly to the social development of vulnerable communities or population groups.
2. Recipients
The following may participate in the Call: entrepreneurs; SMEs companies incorporated and based in the country, made up of Argentine capital; researchers and/or groups or associations of researchers belonging to any public or private institution, based in the country, that develop projects with the potential for transfer to the productive sector; non-profit organizations (civil associations, foundations, cooperatives and/or mutuals).
Likewise, participants may submit more than one proposal, but only one may be awarded. Projects that have been awarded another award or that have obtained a subsidy or financing from any institution, and/or their productive implementation has not yet been completed, will be considered admissible. The leaders and/or references of a project may not participate as a member of the work team of another project presented.
2.1 Exclusions
People who maintain an employment relationship with ARCOR and/or its related companies and/or with the ARCOR Foundation and/or the SSCYT will not be able to participate in the Call and/or will be excluded from it at any stage of the process; those people and/or companies directly involved in the organization of the Call and/or that support it financially, and/or that have some participation in the evaluation of the projects; companies or business groups controlled by another company that does not satisfy the SME conditions; and projects that aim to implement or certify quality standards, develop products or processes that are dangerous to health or the environment, fail to comply with current regulations, do not respect human rights or do not consider ethical aspects.
3. About the projects: Areas of interest
Projects must fall within one or more of the areas of interest set out below. For the purposes of the Special Mention, the Social Profile will be evaluated in any area of interest.
Food Technologies: innovations that improve the nutritional quality and the positive impact of products on health; new technologies to improve food safety; improvements in food shelf life; proposal of new innovative foods; circular economy projects; cost optimization; differentiated products or ingredients with potential for industrial scalability; functional ingredients; sweetening ingredients; new sources of nutritious or non-traditional ingredients; and innovative processing technologies.
Technologies applied to agriculture: agricultural management based on data, images, sensors and artificial intelligence platforms; cost optimizations; automation for harvesting, weeding and crop protection; digitization of production, logistics and commercial processes; circular economy; mycotoxin mitigation; biofertilizers and bioinputs; valorization of by-products; regenerative agriculture; advanced storage technologies; composting; and mixed agriculture and aquaculture systems.
Technologies applied to packaging: new materials, biobased products developed from agro-industrial waste or recycled dry materials; new oxygen, water vapor, temperature and UV barrier technologies; active and/or smart packaging; technologies for traceability or logistics such as RFID or NFC; circular economy; and cost optimization.
4. Stages
4.1 Project presentation - Online application. Duration: nine weeks. Those who wish to participate must present their projects through the access arcor.com/ar/innovacion, completing the application form. Projects that do not clearly demonstrate the relationship between the problem and the proposed solution, or that do not present complete information requested, will be excluded in the admission stage. Inquiries can be sent to premioarcor@arcor.com. Projects may be submitted from February 17, 2025 to April 21, 2025, inclusive.
4.2 Project selection process. The process will have five phases: Phase I, admission process; Phase II, technical evaluation and selection of Semifinalist Projects; Phase III, pre-acceleration of Semifinalist Projects; Phase IV, commercial evaluation and selection of Finalist Projects; Phase V, pre-acceleration of Finalists, final evaluation and selection of the Winning Project and Special Mention Winning Project.
Phase I: Admission process. Duration: two weeks. The projects presented will pass the admission stage if they meet criteria of national origin, provide the requested information, correctly define themselves within an area of interest and present a sworn declaration of not having intellectual property restrictions or violating third-party rights.
Phase II. Technical evaluation and selection of Semifinalist Projects.Duration: five weeks. All accepted projects will receive a request for additional information. Each project will be evaluated in dimensions such as technological innovation, value proposition, technical feasibility, technological scalability, performance and efficiency, degree of development progress, interoperability and technical sustainability. As a result, a maximum of twenty semi-finalist projects will be selected.
Phase III. Pre-Acceleration of Semifinalist ProjectsDuration: four weeks. The semi-finalists will participate in theoretical-practical online workshops, training and mentoring to deepen their knowledge of how a business operates. Participation will be mandatory. As a result, they are expected to prepare an executive summary, a pitch deck and a financial model.
Phase IV. Commercial evaluation and selection of Finalist Projects.Duration: three weeks. The semi-finalists will be evaluated by ARCOR business leaders. Criteria will be taken into account such as degree of innovation, value proposition, size of the opportunity, technical and financial viability, business design, business processes and replicability, implementation strategy, impact on the market or society and team and leadership capacity. This phase culminates with the selection of a maximum of eight finalist projects.
Phase V. Pre-Acceleration of Finalists - Final evaluation - Selection of Winning Projects - Award and Mention. Duration: six weeks. The finalists will present their project at the “ARCOR - SSCYT Pitch Day” before a Jury in a maximum time of five minutes. They will also participate in workshops and oral presentation mentoring. The Jury will be made up of two members designated by the SSCYT, two by ARCOR and one by the ARCOR Foundation. The evaluation criteria will be orality, feasibility, socio-productive and/or environmental impact, and innovative and disruptive nature.
5. Dates
- Online presentation of projects: February 17 to April 21, 2025.
- Phase I: until May 2, 2025.
- Phase II: until June 6, 2025.
- Phase III: until July 4, 2025.
- Phase IV: until July 25, 2025.
- Phase V: final date to be defined within September 2025.
6. Award
ARCOR will award the Winning Project the sum of FIFTEEN MILLION PESOS ($15,000,000) as the Arcor National Innovation Award, as a non-refundable contribution intended to contribute to its execution. The winner will also receive training and, if it has application potential at the discretion of ARCOR, the possibility of carrying out a proof of concept with ARCOR.
7. Mention
The ARCOR Foundation will award the Finalist Project that best contemplates the established objectives the sum of SEVEN MILLION PESOS ($7,000,000) as the Arcor Foundation Special Mention for Innovation with a Social Profile.
8. Acceptance of the Bases and Conditions
The Organizers may adjust or modify these Terms and Conditions at any time by publication on the website. They reserve the right to cancel, modify or suspend the selection process, declare the Call void or leave the number of pre-selected candidates vacant, without generating the right to any claim.
9. Limitations of Use
The Participant knows and agrees not to use the platform to transmit content that is contrary to the law, harmful, abusive, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, invasive, racist, xenophobic or objectionable; harm individuals or groups; falsely identify persons or entities; transmit content without necessary rights; infringe intellectual property rights; send materials containing viruses or harmful code; interfere with servers; violate laws; collect personal information; or use images of people without authorization.
10. Responsibility
The Participants will be responsible for all mediate or immediate, direct or indirect damages caused by the violation of these Bases and Conditions or by the violation of third party rights through their participation.
11. Absence of job offer
Under no circumstances will the submission of a project, its use by the Organizers or any mention in these Terms and Conditions be interpreted as an offer or employment contract with the Organizers.
12. Data processing - Use of Images and voice
The content of the projects and the information provided by the Participant will be treated as confidential, with the exceptions provided for in the Bases. The Participant authorizes the data obtained to be incorporated into a file owned by the Organizers for registration, participation, analysis, training and communication. Participation in the Pitch Day will require authorization for the public dissemination of films, photographs, images or image and/or voice recordings of finalists and winners.
13. Intellectual property - Ownership of the results
Ownership of the results obtained by the winning projects will belong to the members of the entrepreneurial group, company or research group that obtained them or to the corresponding public or private entities. Publications must state that the work received the Prize or Special Mention.
14. Notifications
All communications will be made to the email address reported by each Participant in the form.
15. Jurisdiction and applicable law
For the interpretation and compliance of the Bases, the parties submit to the applicable laws of the Argentine Republic and the competent courts based in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
16. General Considerations
The acceptance of the Prize by the Winning Project implies its authorization for the awarding of the Prize and the content of the winning project to be disclosed and promoted by the Organizers.
17. Glossary
The terms entrepreneur, project of national origin, innovation, circular economy, Pitch Day, personal data and confidential information are defined.