AIB Start-Up Academy terms and conditions

1. In order to be eligible to enter this Promotion entrants must be:
(a) Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland residents aged 18 or over and/or companies incorporated in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; and
(b) have a turnover of less than €400,000 in the last financial year (where the company is part of a group of companies, the turnover of the group will be        considered and if the total turnover of the group of companies is over €400,000 in the last financial year, The Irish Times and Allied Irish Banks PLC ("the Promoters") will determine at their discretion whether the entrant will be included.
(c) a business operated by individuals and/or the company which has been established in the last 36 months. In the event that the business or company is a spin off venture from an existing business or company, the Promoters will determine at their discretion whether the entrant will be included.
2. Employees of the Promoters (including subsidiaries and affiliates), their families, agents or anyone professionally connected with the Promotion are not eligible to participate. To enter the Promotion, each entrant (having complied with term number 1) must complete and submit the online application form on the AIB Start Up Academy hub page of www.irishtimes.com, submitting all requested information in support of their application between 12pm Monday 15th June 2015 and 9am Monday January 4th, 2016.
3. Responsibility will not be accepted for entries lost, damaged or delayed as a result of any network, computer hardware or software failure of any kind. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.
4. No applications from agents, third parties, organised groups or applications automatically generated by computer will be accepted. No incomplete, illegible, or corrupted entries will be accepted. No entries not in accordance with the entry instructions will be accepted. Entries will become the property of the Promoter and will not be returned.
5. Closing date for receipt of entries is 9am, Monday, January 4th, 2016 Entries submitted after the closing date will not be accepted.
6. A judging panel consisting of six judges, will shortlist twenty entrants. The twenty shortlisted entrants will be the entrants who in the opinion of the judges best fulfil the selection criteria i.e have a compelling idea; the product or service is clearly engaging to customers and will be used regularly The decision of the judging panel will be final and no correspondence will be entered into. The short listed entrants will be notified by The Irish Times that they have been shortlisted by Friday 29th January, 2016.
7. The short listed entrants will be invited to submit a PowerPoint/Slide Deck/Document to the Judging Panel outlining their business model. Shortlisted entrants will be invited to pitch to the Judging Panel on February 4th, 2016. Entrants must be available for all dates provided by the Judging Panel.
8. The judging panel will select ten of the shortlisted entrants to participate as finalists in the Start Up Academy Programme. The Start Up Academy programme is a weekly programme of training (one day per week) provided by The Irish Times Training, which will run for eight weeks in total. The content of the programme and the time and dates on which the programme are held will be at the discretion of The Irish Times. The ten finalists will be the ten entrants who fulfil key criteria i.e sustainable growth; passion for their brand; quality of pitch. The decision of the judging panel is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
9. Following the completion of the weekly training programme, finalists will be invited to pitch to the judging panel to win the overall prize on Thursday, 28th April. The finalists must make themselves available on the dates and times selected by the judging panel. The judging panel will select an overall winner and two runner ups from the 10 finalists. The winner will be the entrant who in the opinion of the judges has delivered the best pitch - showing sustainable growth, business goals and USP. The winner will be announced on the night as well as two runners up. Prize outlined below.
10. This promotion is limited to one entry per person/entity.

AIB Start-up Academy 2016 Prize Details

First Prize

• €20,000 cash investment from AIB
• €30,000 advertising spends with Irish Times across print and digital. (€20,000 print & €10,000 digital) to be used within 12 months from Thursday April 28th, 2016
• Irish Times Office Space for one year subject to licence (consisting of one desk and one phone only on Media Solutions floor of The Irish Times Building)
• Maximum Media – Advertising spend to the value of €65,000 across www.joe.ie, www.her.ie, www.SportsJOE.ie & HerFamily.ie. The prize includes €5,416.60 per month digital spend for a 12 month period across Maximum Media Platforms. This will/ may encompass a Monthly Editorial with the winner to come from the above spend. All prices will be applied as per the Maximum Media Rate card. The first place winner will also secure Maximum Media Mentorship to the value of €5,000
• Mentorship via Maximum Media
• Coaching from AIB (1 day marketing coaching and 1 day digital coaching)
• One day PR Masterclass via WHPR - PR workshop with Wilson Hartnell valued at €10,000 - The workshop would cover a variety of topics from the function of public relations, dealing with the media, crisis communications, sponsorships and ambassadors and case studies
• Rothco – Creative Strategy & production of print / digital assets from Rothco. Rothco will work with the winner of the 2015/16 academy in the development of their creative strategy including the production of print and digital assets for use across Irish Times and Maximum media advertising space, secured as part of the academy prize. To the value of €50,000
• Starcom & Radical – Search & Social Consultancy.

The search consultancy package will help ensure that your business reaches its true potential by enabling you & your business to be easily found on search engines such as Google. By being top of the Google search results page when customers are searching for something related to your product or business, you ensure your business gets the awareness and exposure a start-up company needs to grow. Understanding how search engines work, with the help of our team of search experts, will allow you to make your product offering visible at the right time, right place, to the right audience.
Social Media consultancy prize included in this year's AIB Start Up Academy will involve spending a day with AIB's own social agency, Radical. Social media agency of the year for the last three years Radical's expert team will be able to work with you on key areas for your business, such as, Social Strategy, Paid Media Strategy, Content Strategy and Measuring Performance.
Starcom & Radical – search and social consultancy valued at €10,000.

Runners Up Prize x 2
Each runner up will receive the following:

• €10,000 advertising spend with The Irish Times across print and digital, Rate Card (€5,000 digital & €5,000 print)
• Advertising spend to the value of €15,000 across www.joe.ie, www.her.ie, www.SportsJOE.ie & HerFamily.ie. The prize includes €1,250 per month digital spend for a 12 month period across Maximum Media Platforms. This will/ may encompass a Monthly Editorial with the winner to come from the above spend. All prices will be applied as per the Maximum Media Ratecard
• AIB Coaching
• Irish Times masterclass on how to write a press release.

11. The Promoters will not accept responsibility for defective goods or services won as prizes and any complaints must be referred to the suppliers.
12. The prizes will be subject to any additional terms and conditions of the supplier of the prize to the Promoters or of the Promoters ( in the case where the Promoter is providing the prize).
13. All Advertising included in the above prizes is to run no longer than twelve months from the date the winner is advised by the Promoters that it has won the overall prize or the runner up prize. Creative ads must be provided to The Irish Times (should winner wish to use some advertising spend across digital) and Maximum Media by the client at least five days in advance of the campaign start date. Creative must be provided in formats available across irishtimes.com, joe.ie and her.ie. Creative must not contain imagery or copy that viewers may find offensive and must be legal, decent and honest and comply with all relevant laws and regulations. All creative will be subject to Irish Times and Maximum Media approval. Winner's ads will not be run on pages where an exclusive campaign is running. Winner's ads will not be shown alongside competitor ads. Winner will be responsible for ensuring that destination URL is correct and maintained. Winner will be provided with a monthly report outlining impressions achieved, clicks and click through rate. Winner's ads will only be run in placements currently available on JOE.ie and Her.ie.
14. In terms of the office space to be provided in The Irish Times Building as part of the prize, this will be subject to the winner entering into a licence agreement, the terms of which will be stipulated by The Irish Times.
15. In the event of unforeseen circumstances the Promoters reserve the right to substitute the prize for an alternative of equal or greater value.
16. The Promoters shall not be liable in any way to the finalists or to the overall winner in respect of any of the prizes which involve the provision of advice or support to the finalists or overall winner by third parties.
17. Prizes are non transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash.
18. The Promoters shall not be liable for any loss, damage or consequential damage of any nature in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise caused by the acceptance of the terms and conditions or in connection with the participation in the Irish Times and AIB Startup Academy 2015 by any entrant or in connection with the Prize.

General
19. The shortlist finalists will be announced on the Irish Times website on 15th January 2016 or such later date as may subsequently be notified by the Promoters. The overall winner will be announced by May 2016 or such later date as may subsequently be notified by the Promoters. Entrants consent to the disclosure of their name as a shortlisted entrant and finalist (if successful) and as the overall winner (if successful).
20. The finalists and the overall winner may be required to participate in unpaid publicity arising from this Promotion. The Promoters reserve the right to use information relating to the shortlisted entrants, finalists and the overall winner, including their names and the contents of their submissions, in any publicity both in paper and online.
21. Notwithstanding that the overall winner has been declared, if the Promoters discover before the distribution of the prizes that for any reason under these terms and conditions the overall winner should have been ineligible to enter the Promotion or if the entry should have been declared invalid, the Promoters reserve the right to determine that the overall winner is disqualified. An alternative winner will then be selected from entries.
22. The Promoters may not be held liable for any breakdowns, faults, accidents or technical complications arising in relation to this Promotion.
23. By entering the Promotion all entrants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the terms and conditions. All entry instructions on the online application form form part of the terms and conditions.
24. The Data Controllers are the Irish Times Limited and Allied Irish Bank PLC. By entering the Promotion all entrants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the rules and consent to the transfer of their personal data to the Data Controllers for the purposes of the administration of this Promotion and for any other purposes to which the entrant has consented, including the receipt of marketing material from AIB and/or The Irish Times. .
25. These terms and conditions shall be governed by Irish law and each entrant submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Ireland with respect to any dispute out of or in connection with this Promotion.
26. The Promoters and Data Controllers are The Irish Times Limited, registered number 2514, The Irish Times Building, PO Box 74, 24 – 28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 and Allied Irish Bank, p.l.c.. Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is registered in Ireland. Registered No. 24173. Registered Office: Bankcentre, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
27. The Promoters reserve the right to amend, withdraw or terminate the Promotion terms and conditions or alter the specification of the Promotion without prior notice.