Last updated: 28.04.2026
1. These Program Rules establish the operating and participation rules for the Startup Matchbox platform (the "Platform").
2. These Program Rules define, namely:
a) the Platform operating process;
b) the participation conditions;
c) the rules applicable to interaction between Users.
1. Startup Matchbox is a digital open innovation platform that facilitates the connection between Companies and Startups or Scaleups through a structured matching system based on technical, sectoral and strategic compatibility.
2. The Platform acts exclusively as an intermediary, as defined in the Terms and Conditions.
3. Startup Matchbox, as well as the Platform Administrator, does not intervene in, and is not a party to, any contractual relationships that may be established between Users, including those that may result from a match made on the Platform.
1. These Program Rules must be read together with:
a) the Terms and Conditions;
b) the Privacy Policy;
c) the Cookie Policy.
2. These documents constitute a single binding contractual framework for all Users.
3. In case of conflict or contradiction between these Program Rules and the other documents referred to in paragraph 1, the Terms and Conditions shall prevail.
For the purposes of these Program Rules, the following terms mean:
a) Platform Administrator: Startup Portugal - Portuguese Association for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship (SPAPPE), hereinafter identified only as Startup Portugal, which is the entity responsible for the administration and management of the Platform;
b) Operational Partner: Beta-i Collaborative Innovation Lda, hereinafter identified only as Beta-i, the entity responsible for methodological, operational and technical support for the Platform;
c) Users: any visitor who accesses or browses the Startup Matchbox platform, even without registering (the Visiting User); any entity that creates an account and registers on Startup Matchbox through a representative duly empowered for that purpose, namely a company registered on the Platform to publish challenges and identify innovative solutions, and/or a Startup or Scaleup with the corresponding recognised status, registered to submit solution proposals to published challenges (the Registered User);
d) Companies: legal persons legally established in Portugal that publish Challenges on the Platform to identify innovative solutions for business problems or needs;
e) Startups/Scaleups: companies legally incorporated in Portugal, with startup or scaleup status recognised by Startup Portugal under Law no. 21/2023 of 25 May, that submit solution proposals to Challenges published on the Platform;
f) Challenge: a business problem, need, opportunity or question identified by a Company and published on the Platform to receive innovative solution proposals from Startups/Scaleups;
g) Solution: the response or proposal submitted by a Startup or Scaleup to a Challenge published by a Company, containing the description of the technical, methodological or technological approach to solve the identified problem;
h) Matching: the process of bringing together and establishing direct contact between a Company and one or more Startups or Scaleups, facilitated by the Platform, with a view to developing a potential commercial collaboration, partnership, pilot or service provision relationship;
i) Shortlist: a restricted list of Startups and Scaleups pre-selected by the Company, after evaluation of submitted Solutions, for detailed presentation of the solution (pitch) or deeper contact;
j) Asynchronous Pitch: the stage in which selected Startups or Scaleups upload their pitch video for offline evaluation by the Company;
k) Deep-dive Meeting: an in-person or online meeting between the Company and each Startup or Scaleup that has reached this stage, aimed at validating the solution;
l) Pilot or Proof of Concept (PoC): an experimental project, of limited duration, intended to test and validate the technical, operational and economic feasibility of a Solution submitted by a Startup, developed in a real or controlled context;
m) Confidential Information: all information of a commercial, technical, strategic, financial or other nature shared between Users within the Platform, as defined in the Terms and Conditions.
1. Companies may participate if they cumulatively meet the following requirements:
a) they are legally established in Portugal or have a permanent establishment in Portuguese territory;
b) they have no tax debts to the Tax Authority or social security debts, or have regularised their situation through a payment plan approved by the competent authorities.
2. By registering on the Platform, the Company, through its representative, declares and warrants that:
a) it is legally established in Portugal or has a permanent establishment in Portuguese territory;
b) it has no tax debts to the Tax Authority or social security debts, or has regularised its situation through a payment plan approved by the competent authorities;
c) it has the financial and organisational capacity to develop pilots, proofs of concept or collaborations with Startups and Scaleups in an open innovation context;
d) it has effective availability to collaborate with Startups and Scaleups, including allocating the necessary human and technical resources to the matching process.
3. The Platform Administrator reserves the right to request supporting documentation proving compliance with the requirements and declarations referred to in the previous paragraphs at any time.
4. Companies may not participate on the Platform if they:
a) are subject to declared insolvency, liquidation or dissolution proceedings;
b) have been excluded from the Platform in the 12 months preceding a new registration attempt;
c) have been convicted by final judgment of crimes related to fraud, corruption, money laundering or infringement of intellectual property rights.
5. Without prejudice to applicable legal duties, as well as all other duties arising from these Program Rules, the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy, Companies must:
1) Maintain compliance with the eligibility requirements;
2) Demonstrate effective availability to collaborate with Startups and Scaleups; and
3) Ensure the provision of relevant and appropriate information regarding the proposed challenge.
7. By registering on the Platform, the person acting on behalf of the company or entity expressly declares that (i) they have sufficient powers to bind the represented entity to acceptance of the Terms and Conditions, as well as the applicable Program Rules, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy; (ii) the represented entity is immediately bound by all such documents, regardless of the User's actual capacity or powers; (iii) if, at the time of registration, the person does not have sufficient representation powers, they undertake to obtain express ratification from the entity within 15 (fifteen) business days, failing which they shall be personally and jointly liable for compliance with all obligations assumed; and (iv) continued use of the Platform by the entity, including access, submission of information or use of services, shall constitute tacit ratification of all terms accepted at registration, definitively binding the represented entity. Startup Portugal reserves the right to request documentary proof of representation powers at any time and may suspend access to the Platform until such proof is provided.
1. Startups and Scaleups may participate if they cumulatively meet the following requirements:
a) they are legally incorporated in Portugal;
b) they have no tax debts to the Tax Authority or social security debts, or have regularised their situation through a payment plan approved by the competent authorities;
c) they hold startup or scaleup status recognised by Startup Portugal;
d) they develop, or are able to develop, solutions applicable to real business contexts.
2. By registering on the Platform, the Startup or Scaleup, through its representative, declares and warrants that:
a) it is legally incorporated in Portugal or has a permanent establishment in Portuguese territory;
b) it has no tax debts to the Tax Authority or social security debts, or has regularised its situation through a payment plan approved by the competent authorities;
c) it holds startup or scaleup status recognised by Startup Portugal;
d) it develops, or is able to develop, solutions applicable to real business contexts.
3. If the Startup or Scaleup wishing to register on the Platform has a pending application for status recognition, it must submit proof of that application and, within a maximum period of 90 (ninety) days from the registration date, submit proof of status recognition.
4. The Platform Administrator reserves the right to request supporting documentation proving compliance with the requirements and declarations referred to in the previous paragraphs at any time.
5. Without prejudice to applicable legal duties, as well as all other duties arising from these Program Rules, the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy, Startups and Scaleups must:
1) Maintain compliance with the eligibility requirements; and
2) Demonstrate effective availability to collaborate with Companies.
1. Participation on the Platform is free of charge, unless expressly indicated otherwise and previously communicated to Users by the Platform Administrator.
2. Participation on the Platform, including registration, submission of Challenges or Solutions and the matching process, does not grant any right to:
a) funding or financial support;
b) hiring;
c) establishment of a partnership or any other collaborative, employment or commercial relationship;
d) financial compensation or payment of any kind.
3. Any commercial relationship resulting from contacts made through the Platform is established exclusively between Users, under their sole and exclusive responsibility, and is deemed to take place outside the scope of the Platform.
4. The Platform does not guarantee the successful completion of any matching process, nor does it ensure that all published Challenges receive Solutions or that all Solutions are selected.
1. Without prejudice to the information and declarations provided under the Terms and Conditions, Program Rules, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, when registering on the Platform, Companies, Startups and Scaleups declare, under their responsibility, that:
1. all information entered, shared or disclosed through the Platform or in any context related to it is true, real, correct, complete and up to date;
2. the information provided does not violate or harm third-party rights, including intellectual property rights, personality rights, trade secrets or any other legally protected rights.
2. Upon registration on the Platform, Companies, Startups and Scaleups expressly authorise Startup Portugal to use their trademarks, corporate names, logos and other distinctive signs for institutional promotion of the Platform.
3. The authorisation provided in the previous paragraph includes references to Users as participants or members of the Platform in communication and promotional materials, without identification or specific reference to concrete challenges, individual programmes or relationships established through the Platform, unless additional express consent is given by the relevant Users.
4. Startup Portugal undertakes to fully respect the applicable rules and principles on intellectual property.
5. Users may withdraw the authorisation granted under this article at any time by written notice addressed to Startup Portugal through the functionality available for that purpose on the Platform or by email to matchbox@startupportugal.com.
6. Withdrawal of authorisation does not affect the use of distinctive signs in communication and promotional materials already published or distributed before the withdrawal takes effect, provided they are not republished or redistributed afterwards.
7. The authorisation provided in this article is granted free of charge and does not give Users any right to remuneration or economic consideration.
1. The matching process on the Platform generally comprises the following stages:
a) Challenge Definition and Validation
• The Company defines the Challenge and submits it on the Platform for publication. To do so, the Company must include at least the following information: problem description, solution requirements, submission deadline and expected benefit.
• The Platform Administrator and/or the Operational Partner may request clarifications or adjustments before publication.
• It is recommended that the deadline for submitting solutions is never shorter than 30 consecutive days or longer than 90 consecutive days. This information is mandatory.
b) Challenge Publication
• After validation by the Platform Administrator or the Operational Partner, the Challenge is published on the Platform.
• Publication must include at least: problem description, solution requirements, submission deadline and expected benefit.
• When submitting the challenge, the Company may authorise the disclosure of a generic teaser of its challenge, without identifying the company or challenge details, for inclusion in public Platform information.
c) Submission of Responses
• Interested Startups and Scaleups submit Solution proposals through the Platform within the established deadline.
• The submission must include at least: description of the Solution, presentation of the Startup or Scaleup (team, skills, experience), success cases or relevant references (if applicable), implementation proposal or work plan and any information requested in the Challenge.
• Each Startup may submit only one Solution per Challenge, unless the Company expressly authorises multiple submissions.
d) Evaluation
• The Company evaluates submitted solutions according to the criteria previously defined and published in the Challenge.
• The Operational Partner, where applicable, may provide methodological support without interfering with the decision.
• The evaluation must be conducted diligently, objectively, transparently and in accordance with the previously established criteria.
e) Shortlist Selection for Pitch Stage
• The Company selects a Shortlist of Startups or Scaleups for the next stage.
• Selected Startups or Scaleups are notified through the Platform.
• Startups not selected are also notified of the evaluation result, without the Company being required to justify the decision.
• It is recommended that the Shortlist include no more than 6 Startups and Scaleups.
f) Asynchronous Pitch
• The Startups and Scaleups on the shortlist for this stage upload their pitch for offline analysis by the Company.
• The format and duration of the presentations are as follows: XXXXXX
• After analysing each pitch, the Company evaluates and selects a maximum of 3 Startups or Scaleups to proceed to the next stage.
g) Deep-dive Meetings
• Stage in which the Company meets with the Startups or Scaleups that have reached this stage to deepen technical, commercial or operational aspects of the Solution.
• At this stage, more detailed, sensitive or confidential information may be shared between the parties, so participants (Company and Startup/Scaleup) must sign an NDA.
• The Platform provides an NDA template that must be downloaded, signed and uploaded in signed form to the Platform. Without a signed NDA, it is not possible to proceed with and complete the deep-dive meeting stage.
• Each Company must sign a specific NDA with each Startup or Scaleup that reaches this stage.
• Users may choose to enter into a specific NDA negotiated between them, provided they upload the signed version to the Platform.
h) Potential Matching
• If mutual interest exists between the Company and one or more Startups or Scaleups, direct contact is established between the parties to negotiate the terms of a potential collaboration.
• From this stage onwards, the Platform no longer intervenes in the process, and the parties conduct negotiations and define contractual terms autonomously.
i) Possible Collaboration
• Any subsequent contractual relationship (including pilot, proof of concept, partnership, service provision agreement, supply agreement or other) is established exclusively between the Company and the Startup or Scaleup, outside the scope and without intervention of the Platform.
• The parties are fully responsible for negotiating, entering into, executing and complying with the agreements established between them.
2. The Administrator may adjust the process described above according to the operational needs of each Challenge or the specific characteristics of certain sectors or types of solution.
1. The deadlines for each challenge are defined by the Company.
2. The Platform does not guarantee any response or completion deadline.
1. Without prejudice to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions, information made available through the Platform may have different access and visibility levels, depending on its nature and the stage of the process:
1. Public Information: accessible to all unregistered users, namely challenges whose disclosure has been authorised by Companies;
2. Restricted Information: accessible to registered users. Companies may only view information relating to Startups and Scaleups and never information relating to other Companies or their challenges. Startups and Scaleups, after registration, have access to full information about Challenges and the Companies that publish them.
3. Confidential Information: without prejudice to the Terms and Conditions, this is sensitive information shared directly between Users and subject to the confidentiality obligations set out in the Terms and Conditions.
2. Anonymisation of Challenges or any other information does not exempt Users from full compliance with confidentiality, secrecy and information protection obligations set out in the Terms and Conditions regarding all information shared, obtained or accessed through the Platform.
3. The Administrator does not guarantee the absolute inviolability of the anonymisation system. There may be situations in which, due to the specific nature of the Challenge, sector of activity or other objective circumstances, Users may infer or deduce the Company's identity even if it has not been expressly disclosed.
1. Evaluation of Solutions submitted for each challenge is the exclusive responsibility of the Company that published the Challenge, which has full autonomy and discretion in analysing, comparing and selecting Solutions.
2. The Operational Partner and/or the Platform Administrator may provide methodological support without interfering with the decision.
3. Notwithstanding the support referred to above, the final decision on selection or non-selection of Solutions, the composition of the shortlist and the interest in proceeding to subsequent process stages belongs exclusively and entirely to the Company, and the Administrator or Operational Partner cannot be held liable for the choices made.
4. The Company undertakes to evaluate Solutions in a manner that is:
a) diligent, effectively analysing all Solutions submitted within the deadline;
b) objective, applying the evaluation criteria previously defined and published in the Challenge;
c) transparent, ensuring that the criteria applied correspond to the criteria disclosed;
d) non-discriminatory, without unjustified favouring or unequal treatment between Startups.
5. The Company is not required to select any submitted Solution and may close the process without selecting a shortlist or without proceeding to subsequent stages.
6. The Company is not required to individually justify the non-selection of each Solution or Startup. Communication of the final evaluation result (selection or non-selection for the next stage) is sufficient.
7. Startups and Scaleups not selected may request generic feedback on the evaluation of their Solution. It is at the Company's discretion whether to provide such feedback, and this does not constitute any contractual obligation or liability, including for the Platform or its operators.
1. The confidentiality obligations applicable to all information shared, accessed or obtained in the use of the Platform are regulated in detail and are binding under article 5 of the Terms and Conditions.
2. To reinforce confidentiality obligations, Users must pay particular attention to:
a) the definition of Confidential Information in article 5, paragraph 5.2.2 of the Terms and Conditions;
b) the permitted and prohibited uses of Confidential Information provided in article 5, paragraph 5.3 of the Terms and Conditions;
c) the obligation to adopt technical and organisational information protection measures under article 5, paragraph 5.4 of the Terms and Conditions;
d) the recommendation to enter into a standalone confidentiality agreement (NDA) in stages involving the sharing of particularly sensitive information, under article 5, paragraph 5.6 of the Terms and Conditions.
3. Breach of the confidentiality obligations set out in the Terms and Conditions constitutes a serious breach of these Program Rules, with the consequences provided in article 5 of the Terms and Conditions and article 16 of these Program Rules.
1. Ownership of all content, information, data, documents, solutions, technologies, methodologies, know-how and other materials made available by Users on the Platform or shared between Users in the context of the matching process belongs exclusively and entirely to the respective Users who created or hold them.
2. Use of the Platform, participation in matching processes, submission of Challenges or Solutions or any other form of interaction through the Platform does not, in any case and unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing directly between the interested Users, imply:
a) assignment or transfer of intellectual or industrial property rights;
b) granting of a licence for exploitation, use or commercialisation;
c) authorisation for reproduction, adaptation, modification or creation of derivative works;
d) transfer, disclosure or sharing of trade secrets, know-how or proprietary information.
3. Users undertake to fully respect the intellectual and industrial property rights:
a) of other Users of the Platform;
b) of the Matchbox Platform itself, including its brand, logo, design, source code, database and other distinctive or technological elements;
c) of the Platform Administrator (Startup Portugal) and Operational Partner (Beta-i);
d) of any third parties whose rights may be affected by use of the Platform.
4. Except with prior written authorisation from the rights holders, it is expressly prohibited to:
a) reproduce, copy, distribute or communicate to the public content made available by other Users;
b) modify, adapt or create derivative works based on Solutions submitted by Startups;
c) use trademarks, logos, corporate names or other distinctive signs of Users for commercial, advertising or other unauthorised purposes;
d) reproduce, decompile, reverse engineer or attempt to access the source code or technical structure of the Platform;
e) use the name "Matchbox", the "Startup Portugal" brand or other distinctive elements of the Platform or the Administrator for unauthorised purposes.
5. Violation of third-party intellectual or industrial property rights constitutes a serious breach of the Terms and Conditions and these Program Rules, and may result in immediate exclusion of the infringing User and civil and criminal liability under applicable law.
1. The limitation of liability of the Platform, the Platform Administrator and the Operational Partner is defined in detail in article 7 of the Terms and Conditions, to which express reference is made.
2. The Startup Matchbox Platform, the Platform Administrator and the Operational Partner act exclusively as intermediaries and facilitators of the connection between Companies and Startups and Scaleups, and do not intervene in, are not parties to and assume no liability in relation to:
a) negotiations, agreements or contractual relationships established between Users;
b) the content, quality, truthfulness, feasibility or suitability of published Challenges or submitted Solutions;
c) evaluation processes, selection criteria or decisions made by Companies;
d) outcomes, success or failure of matching processes, pilots, proofs of concept or collaborations;
e) compliance or non-compliance with contractual obligations between Users;
f) damages, losses or harm resulting from relationships established between Users.
3. Users expressly acknowledge and accept that the Platform does not guarantee:
a) the obtaining of suitable Solutions for all published Challenges;
b) the selection or hiring of any Startup;
c) the technical, commercial or financial success of any collaboration;
4. d) the continuity, uninterrupted availability or absence of technical errors on the Platform.
1. Without prejudice to the above, Users also undertake to:
a) provide true, complete, accurate and up-to-date information at all times during their participation on the Platform;
b) use the Platform properly, responsibly, diligently and in accordance with the law, the Terms and Conditions, these Program Rules and applicable rules of good conduct;
c) fully respect all documents forming the binding contractual framework: Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy and these Program Rules;
d) refrain from fraudulent, misleading, abusive or bad-faith practices in using the Platform or in relationships with other Users;
e) keep their account, profile and contact information updated;
f) immediately notify the Administrator of any unauthorised use of their account or security breach of which they become aware;
g) cooperate with the Administrator or Operational Partner whenever requested for clarifications, validations or regularisations.
2. Users are expressly prohibited from:
a) using the Platform for unlawful, fraudulent purposes or purposes contrary to public order;
b) attempting to access restricted areas of the Platform or information of other Users without authorisation;
c) interfering with the normal functioning of the Platform or performing acts that may damage, overload or harm technical systems;
d) reproducing, copying or appropriating Solutions, ideas, concepts or information of other Users without authorisation;
e) using the Platform for unauthorised commercial solicitation, spam, direct marketing or similar practices;
f) creating multiple accounts for the same entity or registering using false identities or third-party identities;
g) assigning, transferring or sharing Platform access credentials.
1. The Administrator may suspend or exclude Users who:
a) violate the Terms and Conditions, the Program Rules or the Privacy Policy;
b) repeatedly or intentionally provide false, misleading, incomplete or outdated information;
c) use the Platform improperly, abusively, fraudulently or contrary to the purposes for which it was created; violate intellectual property rights, confidentiality or other third-party rights;
e) compromise, through their conduct, the proper functioning of the Platform, the reputation of the Platform Administrator and the Platform itself, or the interests of other Users;
f) repeatedly or seriously breach any obligations set out in the documents forming the contractual framework;
g) cease to comply with the eligibility requirements provided in articles 5 or 6 of these Program Rules.
2. Suspension or exclusion is communicated to the User by email or through notification on the Platform itself, with a brief indication of the reason for the measure applied.
3. Whenever possible and appropriate, considering the nature and seriousness of the infringement, the Platform Administrator will first notify the User to regularise the situation or provide justification, setting a reasonable deadline (as a rule, not less than 5 business days) for that purpose.
4. Prior notification referred to in the previous paragraph may be waived in cases of serious or particularly harmful breach, namely:
a) proven or reasonably suspected fraud;
b) confidentiality breach causing harm to third parties;
c) appropriation or infringement of intellectual property rights;
d) use of the Platform for unlawful practices;
e) other situations of equivalent seriousness justifying immediate action.
5. Suspension or exclusion from the Platform does not prejudice the criminal and/or civil, contractual or non-contractual liability of the infringing User towards injured Users or third parties, nor does it prejudice the continued validity of confidentiality obligations, which remain in force even after use of the Platform ceases.
1. The processing of personal data collected, accessed or processed in connection with registration, access to and use of the Platform is governed by the Privacy Policy, available at [insert link], which forms an integral part of the binding contractual framework for all legal purposes.
2. The sharing of personal data between Users in matching processes is the exclusive responsibility of the Users involved. The Platform, the Platform Administrator and the Operational Partner shall not be liable for data processing carried out autonomously by Users outside the direct scope of the Platform.
1. The Platform Administrator reserves the right to amend these Program Rules at any time.
2. Users will be informed of any relevant amendments, as well as their effective date, through the means considered appropriate, namely through the Platform itself or by electronic communication.
3. If the User does not agree with the amendments introduced, they may cease using the Platform and, where applicable, close their account.
4. Continued use of the Platform after the amendments enter into force constitutes full and unconditional acceptance of the updated Program Rules.
1. Omitted situations shall be resolved by the Administrator, who may decide on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the applicable general principles, the nature of the Platform and its objectives, as well as general principles of law and contractual good faith.
2. Users may request clarifications or guidance on the interpretation of the Program Rules by email at matchbox@startupportugal.com.
1. These Program Rules are governed by Portuguese law.
2. The courts of the district of Lisbon shall have jurisdiction to resolve any disputes, with express waiver of any other jurisdiction.
3. These Program Rules are drafted in both Portuguese and English. If versions in other languages are made available, the Portuguese version shall always prevail for interpretation and application purposes.
Version: 1.0
Effective date: 28.04.2026
Last updated: 28.04.2026