Sustainability

You must be between the ages of 16-25 at the point applications close on 18th December 2022.

You can enter as an individual or as a team of no more than five.

You must not have received financial support for your idea exceeding £2,000 prior to this competition to be eligible.

You must be a UK or Ireland resident.

If your entry is shortlisted it may be featured on our website, used within publicity materials and showcased at the finalists’ pitch day.

At each stage of the competition applications will be judged by an expert panel from Samsung, Startup Discovery School as well as other independent industry experts. 

What you enter is up to you – an app, a product or a service, what we are looking for is:

• Technology - Is your idea one that could use technology?
• Creativity - Does your idea display originality of thought?
• Feasibility - How feasible is the idea with current technology and resources?
• Social impact - What societal challenge are you addressing? How have you considered the needs of your intended target audience, and the potential of your idea to reach and benefit your target audience?
• Design thinking methodology - How have you used Design Thinking in developing your idea? Listen to our Design Lab here and let our Solve for Tomorrow Mentor Andriana guide you through the process

No. You will retain the rights to any intellectual property surrounding your idea. Our role will be to help you develop your idea and connect you with industry contacts to help you take your solution forward.

This is a three phase competition.

Phase One: Successful application will hear in January 2023.

Phase Two: Shortlisted teams will take part in workshops and mentoring support from 1st February-31st March 2023.

Phase Three: Five finalists (from each category 16-18 and 18-25) will be announced in April 2023, and will enter further workshops and mentoring in preparation for the final pitch on the 25th May.

If you have any additional questions, please email csr.uk@samsung.com to speak to us directly.

You must be between the ages of 16-25 at the point applications close at 23:59 on 12th January 2025.
You can enter as an individual, or as a team of up to five people.
You must not have received financial support for your idea exceeding £2,000 prior to this competition to be eligible.
You must be a UK or Ireland resident.

It’s not always easy to come up with an idea. That’s why we’ve created the Design Thinking Toolkit – a resource that helps you create an idea and submit an entry in less than an hour!

In addition to the details we need about you and/or your team, and how to best contact you, we will ask the following questions around your idea:

• What is your tech idea and how will it benefit people or the planet? (30 words)
• Who is your target user? What problems or challenges do they face in their daily life? (180 words)
• What is your idea (App, Product, or Service) and how does it use tech to benefit your user / the planet? (200 words)

Yes! You can enter again with a new idea, but you can use the knowledge and feedback from your previous experience to support your entry.
You will only be judged on the new idea you submit, and any previous submission/idea will not count toward this entry.

What age group you fall into will depend on two things:
If you are studying at a school, sixth form, or college at the time of applying, you will be placed in the 16-18 age group.
If you are not studying at a school, sixth form, or college but your teammates are, you will be placed in the 16-18 age group.
If neither option reflects your status, you will be placed in the 18-25 age group.

If your entry is shortlisted it may be featured on our website, used within publicity materials, and showcased at the Awards Ceremony.

If shortlisted to take part in the competition, you will be required to attend the workshop sessions provided. The majority of these sessions will be run virtually via a Microsoft Teams call.
However, there will be a few sessions throughout the competition that require in-person attendance. We will give plenty of notice around when these sessions will take place, with travel expenses covered upon evidence of a receipt.

At each stage of the competition, applications will be judged by an expert panel from Samsung and/or other independent industry experts.

What you enter is up to you – an app, a product or a service. What we are looking for is:

• Societal impact - What societal challenges are you addressing?
• Audience – How have you considered the needs of your intended target audience, and the potential of your idea to reach and benefit them?
• Technology - Is your idea one that uses technology?
• Creativity - Does your idea display originality of thought?
• Feasibility - How feasible is the idea with current technology and resources?
• Design thinking methodology - How have you used Design Thinking in developing your idea? Use our NEW Design Thinking Toolkit to guide you through the process (and create your idea) in less than 45 minutes.

No. You will retain the rights to any intellectual property surrounding your idea. Our role will be to help you develop your idea and connect you with industry contacts to help you take your solution forward.

Shortlisted applicants will hear at the start of February 2025 if they have progressed to the next round of workshops to help you develop your idea further.
All applicants who have used the Design Thinking Toolkit to support their entry submission will also receive a signed certificate from Samsung UK, recognising them for their effort in applying their new learnings.

All successful teams will take part in a series of virtual and in-person workshops led by industry experts in each phase. Your idea’s development will be also supported by a dedicated Samsung expert as a mentor.
There are two rounds of workshops after the application phase, with selected participants progressing from one stage to the next before the overall competition winners are crowned.

• Phase 1 (October 2024 – January 2025): Young people, ages 16-25 from across the UK & Ireland, enter their tech solutions into the competition.
• Phase 2 (February – March 2025): 24 Shortlisted teams (minimum of 10 teams from each age group 16-18 and 18-25, but with maximum capacity of up to 100 individuals) will take part in design-focused workshops and receive mentoring support throughout.
• Phase 3 (May 2025): 10 finalists (five from each age group) will access further business-focused workshops and receive mentoring support throughout.
• Final Pitch Event & Awards Ceremony (July 2025) - Finalists will present their final submissions to a panel of judges, and the winners and runners-up will be announced in the evening.

If you have any additional questions, please email samsungsft@wearefutures.com to speak to us directly or check the Terms & Conditions of the competition for finer details