Eligibility Requirements for GIST Startup Training & Investment Forum: Pacific Islands

Startup Training applicants must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible to participate in the GIST Startup Training & Investment Forum: Pacific Islands:  

1. The applicant must be a citizen of one of the following economies: 

   Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu (dual citizenship is allowed)

2. The application must be complete (described below in Application Instructions). 
3. The application must be received by the submission deadline of September 15, 2023.
4. The applicant must be the founder of a science/technology company. Companies in all science and technology industries are encouraged to apply.
5. All applications must focus on science/technology, clean energy, or climate adaptation, resilience, or preparedness solutions with market potential in the Pacific Islands. 
6. All applications must include TWO individuals. Individuals applying alone will not be considered. The entire training should be attended by TWO team members.
7. Startups led by women, and startups that directly advance the interests of women in the economies where they operate are particularly encouraged to apply.
8. Applications that fall under the following categories will not be accepted:  
   • Research projects with no demonstrable commercial potential 
   • Teams based at a charity or foundation (not-for-profit) organization.
   • Participants in previous in-person GIST activity such as Catalyst pitch competitions, Business Incubation, Tech-I, or Startup Trainings.
   • Teams based at organizations that buy and resell technologies and other goods 
9. The applicant must be at least 18 years old and can be through 40 years old on September 15th, 2023 (application deadline), and must be able to both read and speak English proficiently.
10. All materials submitted must be the original work of the applicants

 

Application Instructions

The application must contain two components:

1. Completed online application form, which includes demographic information, information regarding the development of your business, revenue, team composition, and growth plans.

2. Pitch deck, which should be a powerpoint presentation detailing:

   1. The problem you are solving with your product or service

   2. The solution you propose to address that problem

   3. Your next steps for developing your product/service/company d) Profiles of the two individuals who would attend the training e) Any other information you wish to include in your application

Each eligible application submitted will be reviewed by a panel of experts, including regional experts, scientific and technological experts, and innovation and entrepreneurship experts.

The panels of experts will evaluate the merit of applications using the following criteria and weighting.