Terms and Conditions

The Startup Competition (the “Competition”) is held as part of the Regional Defence and Security Summit 2026, taking place on 21 October 2026 at Sofia Event Center, Sofia, Bulgaria (the “Summit”).

The Competition is organised by Capital, part of Economedia JSCo, UIC 131326269, with registered office at [Economedia address], Sofia, Bulgaria (“Capital”), together with [Eleven Ventures legal entity], UIC [●], with registered office at [Eleven address] (“Eleven”), the Summit’s VC Partner. Capital and Eleven are together the “Organisers”.

By submitting an application, the applying company (the “Applicant”) and the individual submitting on its behalf accept these Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”). The individual submitting warrants that they are authorised to bind the Applicant.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. Where a translation is provided, the English text prevails.

The Competition identifies and promotes the most promising emerging defence and dual-use technology companies headquartered, or conducting their core research and development, in Central, Eastern and South-East Europe, and connects them with the investors, defence organisations, industry and government representatives present at the Summit.

Its objectives are to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies by defence and security end users; to create collaboration between early-stage companies and government, industry and institutional partners; to increase the visibility and traction of defence founders from the region; and to enable investment, pilot programmes and strategic partnerships.

An Applicant’s solution must address at least one of the following tracks:

• T-01Autonomy and unmanned systems
• T-02Defence AI, sensing and decision support
• T-03Cybersecurity and secure communications
• T-04Energy and critical-infrastructure resilience
• T-05Space, advanced hardware and enabling technologies

Dual-use solutions and solutions developed solely for defence and security use are equally eligible.

To be eligible, an Applicant must, on the date of submission, satisfy all of the following:

• (a)Stage. Be at pre-seed or seed stage, and not have closed a priced Series A or any later equity financing round.
• (b)Entity. Be a legal entity incorporated in a member state of the European Union or of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

• (c)
  Footprint. Have its headquarters, or its core research and development activity, located in one of the following countries or territories:

  Albania · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Czechia · Estonia · Greece · Hungary · Kosovo · Latvia · Lithuania · Moldova · Montenegro · North Macedonia · Poland · Romania · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Türkiye · Ukraine

• (d)Maturity. Have a working prototype, or a product in testing.
• (e)Team. Be able to have at least one founder present the pitch in person, in English, at the Summit on 21 October 2026.

Conditions 4.1(b) and 4.1(c) are assessed separately. An Applicant whose team is located in a country listed in 4.1(c) that is not itself an EU or NATO member state is eligible, provided the applying legal entity satisfies 4.1(b).

The Organisers may, at their sole discretion, admit an Applicant that does not satisfy every condition in 4.1 where they consider its circumstances exceptional. No Applicant has a right to such admission, and the Organisers are not required to give reasons.

The following may not apply: companies in which Eleven, or any fund managed or advised by Eleven, holds an equity or convertible interest; employees, officers and contractors of the Organisers; members of the jury; and the immediate family of any of the foregoing.

One application per company. Where more than one is received, the last complete application submitted before the Deadline is the one considered.

Applications are submitted only through the online application form at [competition URL]/apply, between 1 September 2026 and 1 October 2026, 23:59 EEST (the “Deadline”). Applications received after the Deadline are not considered.

Applications are made in English and must be complete. An application comprises the eligibility confirmations; company and contact details; a description of the technology, the problem it addresses, its maturity and its differentiation; information on the team, customers and traction; a pitch deck in PDF format of no more than fifteen slides; and the confirmations set out in clause 11.

The Organisers may request clarification or additional information during screening. An Applicant that does not respond within three working days of such a request may not be considered further.

Participation is free of charge. The Organisers take no fee, equity or other consideration from any Applicant, Finalist or Winner in connection with the Competition.

Applicants bear their own costs of participation, including travel and accommodation.

An Applicant may withdraw at any time by written notice to [competition email].

After the Deadline, the Organisers screen applications for completeness and eligibility.

Eligible applications are scored by members of the jury, acting independently, against a weighted scorecard reflecting the criteria in clause 7. Each application is scored by at least two jurors.

The ten highest-ranked Applicants are selected as finalists (“Finalists”). The Organisers may select fewer than ten if, in their judgement, fewer applications meet the required standard, and may maintain a reserve list.

Finalists are notified by email by 8 October 2026 and must confirm their participation within two working days. Where a Finalist does not confirm, or withdraws, the Organisers may offer the place to the next-ranked Applicant.

All Applicants are informed of the outcome by email. The Organisers are not obliged to provide individual feedback.

Decisions of the Organisers and the jury on eligibility, selection and awards are final and not subject to appeal or correspondence.

Pre-selection. Applications are scored against a weighted scorecard based on the information in the application, covering the team, the technology and its maturity, the operational problem addressed, commercial potential, and fit with the Competition’s tracks.

On stage. Finalists are assessed on: clarity of the problem; operational relevance; technical credibility; commercial potential; founder expertise; adaptability; the ability to address challenging questions; and relevance to NATO and EU priorities.

The jury comprises five members: a representative of Eleven; investors from the Summit’s VC panel; a representative of the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), subject to confirmation; and an industry operator or defence manufacturer. Jurors are announced on the Competition website.

The Organisers may replace or add jurors at any time.

Conflicts of interest. A juror who holds a financial interest in, an advisory or board role with, or a close personal relationship with an Applicant must disclose it to the Organisers and does not score or vote on that Applicant. The Organisers keep a record of disclosed conflicts.

Jurors are bound by confidentiality undertakings in respect of application materials.

Expo. Each Finalist receives dedicated exhibition space in the Summit Expo zone for the duration of the Summit, and Summit access for up to three team members.

Pitches. Pitches take place in a single session on the Summit’s second stage. Each Finalist has five minutes to pitch, followed by three minutes of questions from the jury. Pitches are in English, delivered by a founder, and strictly timed.

Materials. Finalists submit their final pitch deck by 16 October 2026 in the format specified by the Organisers.

Awards. The jury selects a first, second and third place. They are announced and awarded on the Summit’s main stage. The first-placed Finalist is the “Winner”.

A Finalist that does not attend, or does not pitch as required, forfeits its place and any award.

The Winner receives:

• (a)Fast-track access to Eleven’s investment evaluation process. This is an accelerated review by Eleven’s investment team. It is not, and shall not be construed as, an offer, commitment, undertaking or guarantee of investment. Any investment remains subject to Eleven’s due diligence, investment committee approval, applicable law and definitive agreements, entirely at Eleven’s discretion. Nothing in these Terms or in the Competition constitutes investment advice, an offer of securities or a solicitation.
• (b)Curated one-to-one meetings with investors from the Summit’s VC panel during the Summit.
• (c)A seat for one representative at an invitation-only official Summit dinner.
• (d)Editorial coverage in Capital, at Capital’s sole editorial discretion.
• (e)Introductions to NATO-affiliated innovation organisations and defence organisations represented at the Summit, where those organisations agree.
• (f)Support from the Organisers in structuring a proof-of-concept engagement with a prospective end user, where one is identified.

Every Finalist receives: exhibition space under clause 9.1; Finalist branding across Summit communications; investor office hours with members of the jury during the Summit; Summit access for three team members; and an invitation to the investor reception on the eve of the Summit.

Awards are non-transferable, have no cash value and no cash alternative, and are provided to the Applicant company, not to any individual. Awards that depend on third parties are provided on a reasonable-endeavours basis; the Organisers do not guarantee any particular meeting, introduction or outcome.

Any tax arising in connection with an award is the responsibility of the recipient.

All intellectual property in an application, deck and pitch remains with the Applicant. Nothing in these Terms transfers any intellectual property to the Organisers.

The Applicant warrants that it owns, or holds all necessary rights to use, all material in its application, deck and pitch, and that none of it infringes the rights of any third party.

Confidentiality. The Organisers treat the contents of applications as confidential. They are disclosed only to the Organisers’ personnel, members of the jury, and service providers engaged for the Competition, each bound by confidentiality, and are used for no purpose other than running the Competition — except (i) the public information about Finalists described in clause 12; (ii) where the Applicant has separately consented to its application being shared with investors on the jury; and (iii) where disclosure is required by law.

The live pitch at the Summit is a public event. Finalists should not disclose confidential information on stage.

Export control. The Applicant warrants that its application, deck and pitch contain no classified information, no information subject to a security clearance or a government marking restricting its distribution, and no technical data whose export or transfer is controlled under Regulation (EU) 2021/821 on dual-use items, under national export-control legislation, or under the export-control laws of any other jurisdiction applicable to the Applicant. The Competition’s application channel is not an accredited channel for such information, and the Applicant is solely responsible for compliance.

The Organisers are not obliged to review submissions for compliance with clause 11.5, and may reject, and delete, any submission they reasonably believe to contain material in breach of it.

Each Finalist grants the Organisers a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use its company name and logo, the one-sentence description of its solution given in its application, the names of its founders, and photographs and recordings of its pitch, to promote the Competition and the Summit before, during and after the event, across the channels of Capital, Eleven and the Summit’s partners.

The Organisers do not publish the contents of application forms or pitch decks.

The participation of Applicants that are not selected as Finalists is not published without their consent.

A Finalist may state that it was a Finalist, or the Winner, of the Competition. Otherwise no Applicant may use the names or logos of the Organisers or the Summit, or imply their endorsement, without prior written consent.

Capital and Eleven act as joint controllers of personal data processed for the Competition. Contact for data-protection matters: [DPO / privacy email].

Personal data processed comprises the contact details and role of the submitting individual; personal data contained in team descriptions and pitch decks; referral-source data collected by the application form; and technical data collected by the form platform.

Personal data is processed to run the Competition and provide awards (performance of the contract formed by acceptance of these Terms, Article 6(1)(b) GDPR); to communicate about the Competition and the Summit (legitimate interest, Article 6(1)(f)); for publicity concerning Finalists under clause 12 (contract and legitimate interest); to share an unsuccessful application with investors on the jury, where the Applicant has opted in (consent, Article 6(1)(a), withdrawable at any time); and to comply with legal obligations.

Recipients are the Organisers’ personnel; members of the jury; Typeform S.L., Barcelona, Spain, as processor operating the application form; and, only to the extent needed to provide an award, the Summit partner concerned. Where a processor or sub-processor processes personal data outside the European Economic Area, transfers are made under appropriate safeguards, including Standard Contractual Clauses.

Application data of Applicants not selected as Finalists is retained until [31 March 2027]. Data of Finalists is retained for [24 months] after the Summit. Data is then deleted, unless longer retention is required by law or the Applicant has consented to sharing under clause 13.3, in which case it is retained as consented.

Data subjects have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, and the right to withdraw consent, by writing to the address in 13.1, and the right to lodge a complaint with the Commission for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Bulgaria or another competent supervisory authority.

Further information is in the Privacy Policy at [privacy policy URL].

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Organisers are not liable for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of business or loss of opportunity arising from the Competition, and their total liability to any Applicant in connection with the Competition is limited to [EUR 1,000]. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law.

The Organisers are not liable for the unavailability or malfunction of the application platform. Where an Applicant demonstrates that a platform failure prevented submission before the Deadline, the Organisers will use reasonable endeavours to accept the application.

The Applicant indemnifies the Organisers against claims, losses and costs arising from a breach of the warranties in clauses 1.3, 11.2 and 11.5.

The Organisers may amend these Terms, the Competition format, dates, jury or awards for justified reasons, including force majeure, changes to the Summit programme, and the availability of partners. Amendments are published on the Competition website; material amendments are also notified to Applicants by email.

The Organisers may postpone or cancel the Competition in whole or in part. In that case no liability arises beyond any award already delivered. If the Summit is postponed, the Competition is postponed with it.

These Terms are the entire agreement between each Applicant and the Organisers concerning the Competition.

If any provision is held invalid, the remainder continues in force.

Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, agency or employment relationship between any Applicant and the Organisers.

Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Sofia, Bulgaria.

Questions about the Competition: [competition email].