Santander, Microsoft & Oxentia Foundation team to launch AI challenge

By Gloria Methri

Banco Santander and Microsoft have teamed up with Oxentia Foundation to launch a new global challenge for entrepreneurs from 11 countries. The challenge aims to find innovative artificial intelligence solutions that will have a positive impact to address social challenges.

Santander X Global Challenge | The AI Revolution targets start-ups and scaleups from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the US, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Poland, the UK, and Uruguay. Applications can be submitted until 27 April.

The six winning projects will receive €120,000 in prize money: €30,000 for the three best startups and €90,000 for the three best scaleups. Winners will also get the chance to travel to Silicon Valley for the awards ceremony on 29 June.

Winners will gain membership in Santander X 100, an exclusive global entrepreneurship community of outstanding Santander X projects. In addition, winners will be mentored by Microsoft experts in artificial intelligence to present projects to M12, Microsoft’s venture capital initiative.

According to Diego Calascibetta, global director of Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation at Santander Universities, “Artificial intelligence is a technological revolution that is growing in leaps and bounds. As in any cutting-edge sector, innovation is key to ensuring development that supports sustainable progress in society. With this challenge, we want to support companies that share our vision of AI as a technology that is destined to be ever-present in our lives much sooner than we thought”.

Jens Hansen, General Manager EMEA – Data & AI at Microsoft, said, “At Microsoft, we have always viewed technology as a catalyst for progress, and we believe that AI will have a positive and transformational impact on our lives if used responsibly. We are committed to democratizing the use of AI, which is why we are delighted to join Banco Santander in the Santander X Global Challenge | The AI Revolution”.

Steve Cleverley, CEO of Oxentia Foundation, highlighted that “Exploring exciting new technologies and helping entrepreneurs tackle global challenges in innovative ways is at the heart of our work. We are delighted to collaborate with Banco Santander and Microsoft to launch this new challenge. Artificial Intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in our lives, and we look forward to learning more about the best cutting-edge technology and transformative solutions from the candidates”.