TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN AMERICA’S GOT ACCESS STARTUP COMPETITION 2022

BY REGISTERING TO PARTICIPATE IN THE AMERICA’S GOT ACCESS, A START-UP COMPETITION, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND MEET ALL QUALIFICATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITION. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO, OR QUALIFIY WITH RESPECT TO ANY OF THE TERMS, DO NOT ACCESS REGISTER.

If you accept or agree to the Terms and Conditions on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that company or other legal entity to the Terms and, in such event, “you” and “your” will refer and apply to that company or other legal entity.

THE SECTIONS BELOW TITLED “BINDING ARBITRATION” AND “CLASS ACTION WAIVER” CONTAIN A BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. THEY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.  PLEASE READ THEM

Definitions

The following words have the following meanings:

Money20/20: Ascential Inc. with registered address at 251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware DE 19808, United States;

Commerce Ventures: Commerce Ventures Management, LLC with a principal place of business at 604 Mission Street, Unit 600, San Francisco, CA 94105

Organisers: Money20/20 and its co-organiser Commerce Ventures and any third party co-sponsor (“Organizers”, “we”, “us, “our”).

Introduction

America’s Got Access, a start-up competition (the ‘__Competition__’) will be held on Sunday, 23 October 2022 at Money20/20 Las Vegas, in the format of an investment forum, in which a maximum of ten (10) finalist companies who will be selected by Commerce Ventures and Money20/20 from among the applications submitted (the ‘__Finalists__’), will present their company according to the rules stipulated in these terms (the ‘Terms), before the judging panel. The judging panel, in accordance with a scoring system whose guidelines are indicated in the Terms (the ‘__Scoring System__’), will score each of the companies, finally awarding a prize, which is identified in the Terms, to the winning startups(s) (the ‘__Winner(s)__’).

Who can register to participate in the Competition?

America’s Got Access is designed for the participation of incorporated companies (the ‘Entrant’) that meet the following criteria: They must be a legal entity duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of any of the United States. We do not accept applications from entities organized outside of the United States.

  • They present an innovative business, with a necessary impact on underserved communities, with high growth potential and with a disruptive and interesting value proposition for potential investors (Business Angels or Venture Capital).
  • Have the capacity to impact, influence, improve or form part, even collaterally, of the finance industry in its broadest sense.
  • Have raised less than USD 20m in fundraising.
  • Have at least one MVP (Minimum Viable Product) on the market, even in private beta.
  • Have customers, users, even free users and/or betatesters.
  • Need to be headquartered in the US. (The official language of the presentation will be English)
  • Have not been convicted of any been convicted of any felony or misdemeanor or any other criminal offence.
  • Not on any sanctions list including the Trade Sanctions imposed by EU and US Governments.
  • In the event of any dispute concerning the eligibility of any company to participate in the Competition, Money20/20’s decision shall be final.
  • Money20/20 reserves the right to verify the eligibility of any company at any time during the Competition. Failure to comply with any verification procedures will result in disqualification from the Competition.
  • The Entrant must be available to participate throughout the full course of the Competition otherwise could face disqualification.
  • The Competition may be void in the state where you reside. If it is, then you may not enter the Competition.

Deadline and submission process

  • The window for the submission of applications will open on 13 September 2022 and will end on 27 September 2022. Should it be necessary to request additional information and/or documentation to correct the information submitted, we will grant the Entrant an additional period of three (3) calendar days from the deadline to complete the information.
  • Entrants must register on the website (https://beststartups.secure-platform.com/apply/) and must accept the Terms at the time of registration. Once accepted, the Entrant accepts the conditions stipulated herein, declares that he/she is aware of them, accepts them and undertakes to comply with them.
  • In the registration process, the application will ask the Entrant for a series of information and/or documentation (the ‘__Entry__’). If any documentation or information necessary to complete the registration process is incomplete, the Entrant will not be able to submit a complete application and will be ineligible to proceed with the competition.

Selection Process

  • With the documentation received, the judging panel will analyse the projects and the ten (10) Entrants with the highest score shall be designated as Finalists. The rest will remain, in order of score, as alternates in case any of the selected Entrants are unable to, or refuse to participate in the in-person component of the Competition at Money20/20 Vegas (the ‘__Pitching Session__’).
  • The Finalists will be informed, via email, of their opportunity to participate in the Pitching Session as soon as Money20/20 and Commerce Ventures has made their decision.
  • The Finalists will be asked to send the Organisers the presentation to be used at the event at least nine (9) days before the Pitching Session.
  • In order to avoid prejudicing other Entrants that submitted their candidacy, Finalists have ten (10) calendar days’ notice to confirm their decision to take part in the Pitching Session, so that Money20/20 can select the corresponding substitutes.
  • Money20/20 will provide one (1) free delegate pass per a Finalist to be used to attend Money20/20 2022. The Finalist will be expected to cover all other costs associated with their participation in the Competition and Pitching Session.

 

Awards

  • The Winner(s) will be the Finalist with the highest aggregate score as determined by the judging panel and will be announced on Sunday, 23rd October 2022.
  • The judging panel's decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • Commerce Ventures will present the Winner(s) an ‘uncapped’ SAFE Note for the investment amount of USD100,000 conditional upon:
    • Commerce Ventures conducting any confirmatory legal diligence on the Winner(s)
    • The Winner(s) meeting agreed upon qualifications for the competition, as defined in the Applicant Terms.

Intellectual Property

  • All Entrants represent and warrant that they have sufficient title to the intellectual property rights (logos, commercial names, brands, trade names and trademarks and any other elements), programmes and/or contents included in their ,

  • The Entry should be original. Therefore Entrants agree that the content of their Entry is created by the submitting Entrant and that they have the right to submit the Entry and content. If any content in an Entry is owned by a third party it must be clearly identified and may only be included in the Entry with written permission from the owner or licensor.

  • Entrants confirm that submission of the Entry and participation in the Competition are consistent with and not in violation of any policies or obligations they have to their employer. The Entry will not contain intellectual property owned by their employer or any third party except in accordance with clause 7 and participation in the Competition is not in breach of their employment contract.

  • The Entry must not contain content that (a) violates the privacy or publicity right of any third party; (b) breaches any obligations of confidentiality including unauthorised use of trade secrets; (c) is false, inaccurate, fraudulent or misleading; (d) is in breach of any applicable laws, regulations, licences, or third-party rights; (d) is libellous, harmful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, harassing, abusive, hateful, or racially or ethnically offensive; (e) facilitates illegal activity; (f) promote violence or discrimination based on race, gender, colour, religious belief, sexual orientation and/or disability.

  • Entrants will be responsible for any costs incurred by Money20/20 or its Organizers or in the event the Entrant has not complied with any of the requirements of this clause 7.

  • The Entrant hereby grants to Money20/20 the perpetual, royalty-free, transferable, right and licence to copy, store, archive, amend, edit, reproduce, broadcast, publish and distribute and otherwise exploit their Entry for any purpose including purposes related to the Competition and/or to Money20/20(the “__Competition Purposes__”).

Confidentiality

The Organisers cannot guarantee the confidentiality of the Entry submitted by the Entrant; the organisers may disseminate, at any time and by any means, the general characteristics of the same, as well as the names of said ideas and/or projects and of the Entrant and, in particular, of the Winner(s). You hereby consent to the use of information you submit as part of your application and Entry for said purposes.

Advertising Authorization

The Entrants and, in particular, the Winner(s) expressly authorise the Organisers, by itself or through third parties, without territorial or time limit, with the acceptance of these rules, to publish, reproduce, disseminate and use by all written, spoken and signed media, in any form by any means and on any support, their name, image and voice, and the general characteristics and name of the or Entrants presented, respecting in all cases the provisions of the Intellectual Property and Confidentiality sections of this document, provided that the purposes are advertising, informative and/or promotional in relation to the Competition or the Organisers in any of its editions, formats, venues and locations without the right to any consideration whatsoever.

Privacy Policy

  • Any personal information related to an entrant, that is collected or processed by Money20/20 at the beginning and during the course of the Competition will be held and used by Money20/20, to administer the Competition, in accordance with Money20/20’s privacy policy available on its website (https://www.money2020.com/global/ascential-global-privacy-policy). Such personal information shall also be shared with the Organisers, to the extent necessary for the administration of the Competition.

  • Money20/20 will either publish or make available information that indicates that a valid award took place. To comply with this obligation, Money20/20 will announce the name, job title, company name and country represented by the winner(s) and, if applicable, their winning entries on its website (https://www.money2020.com/). Money20/20 may also, but will not be obliged to, publish details of the winner(s) and their winning entries on its social media channels.

  • If you object to any or all of your personal details being announced or made available, please contact Money20/20 via https://beststartups.secure-platform.com/apply/. In such circumstances, Money20/20 may still be required to provide the information and winning entry to any relevant regulatory bodies upon request.

Modifications

Money20/20 reserve the right to modify these rules at any time, including the prize, the number of prize(s) and/or Winner(s) the judging panel and/or the Competition's cancellation before the foreseen date of resolution of the prizes and the awarding of prize the Winner(s).

Liability

The Organisers shall not be liable for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any Entrant. Other than for death or personal injury arising from its gross negligence or for fraud, the Organisers exclude and disclaim to the fullest extent permitted by law all liability for any losses, damages, costs and expenses, whether direct or indirect, howsoever caused in connection with the Competition, or any aspect of the event, including any liability of any kind in connection with the exploitation, advertising and/or promotion of your entry, as permitted by these Terms.

Arbitration

In the event of a dispute arising under or relating to these Terms and Conditions, or the Competition (each, a “Dispute”), either party may elect to finally and exclusively resolve the dispute by binding arbitration governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). Any election to arbitrate, at any time, shall be final and binding on the other party. IF EITHER PARTY CHOOSES ARBITRATION, NEITHER PARTY SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO LITIGATE SUCH CLAIM IN COURT OR TO HAVE A JURY TRIAL, EXCEPT EITHER PARTY MAY BRING ITS CLAIM IN ITS LOCAL SMALL CLAIMS COURT, IF PERMITTED BY THAT SMALL CLAIMS COURT RULES AND IF WITHIN SUCH COURT’S JURISDICTION. ARBITRATION IS DIFFERENT FROM COURT, AND DISCOVERY AND APPEAL RIGHTS MAY ALSO BE LIMITED IN ARBITRATION. All disputes will be resolved before a neutral arbitrator selected jointly by the parties, whose decision will be final, except for a limited right of appeal under the FAA. The arbitration shall be commenced and conducted by JAMS pursuant to its then current Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures and in accordance with the Expedited Procedures in those rules, or, where appropriate, pursuant to JAMS’ Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures. All applicable JAMS’ rules and procedures are available at the JAMS website www.jamsadr.com. Each party will be responsible for paying any JAMS filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees in accordance with JAMS rules. Judgment on the arbitrator’s award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. This clause shall not preclude parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. The arbitration may be conducted in person, through the submission of documents, by phone, or online. If conducted in person, the arbitration shall take place in the United States county where you reside. The parties may litigate in court to compel arbitration, to stay a proceeding pending arbitration, or to confirm, modify, vacate, or enter judgment on the award entered by the arbitrator. The parties shall cooperate in good faith in the voluntary and informal exchange of all non-privileged documents and other information (including electronically stored information) relevant to the Dispute immediately after commencement of the arbitration. As set forth in Section 14 below, nothing in this Agreement will prevent us from seeking injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction as necessary to protect our proprietary interests.

Injunctive Relief

You acknowledge and agree that in the event of a breach or threatened violation of our intellectual property rights and confidential and proprietary information by you, the Organizers will suffer irreparable harm and will therefore be entitled to injunctive relief to enforce this Agreement. We may, without waiving any other remedies under this Agreement, seek from any court having jurisdiction any interim, equitable, provisional, or injunctive relief that is necessary to protect our rights and property pending the outcome of the arbitration referenced above. You hereby irrevocably and unconditionally consent to the personal and subject matter jurisdiction of the federal and state courts in the State of New York, Borough of Manhattan for purposes of any such action by us.

Applicable Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of laws rules and the Entrant and the Organiser, expressly waiving any other jurisdiction, submit to the Courts of federal courts located in the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan, New York.