Marco Duarte Rizzolio, co-founder of the 929 Challenge, highlighted the increased participation from less developed Lusophone countries as a key feature of the fifth edition of the 929 Challenge. The professor at the City University of Macau attributed this rise to new partners in the competition: “We signed strategic agreements with Cabo Verde Digital and Eduardo Mondlane University [Mozambique].”
Since the end of the last edition in November 2024, Rizzolio has already visited Angola twice to promote the 929 Challenge, while the other co-founder, José Alves, visited São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor.
“These are very small countries, with a very small population and a very underdeveloped ecosystem, but we managed to have projects there,” emphasized the organizer, thanks to “a particularity of developing countries.” In countries with a relatively low average age, “due also to the lack of employment, the youth is full of energy and very open to developing businesses,” Rizzolio explained.
A New Award
The fifth edition of the 929 Challenge in Macau includes for the first time the ‘Future Builders’ award for the best startup from the PALOP and East Timor.
The only time a team from the PALOP and East Timor reached the finals was in the very first edition, launched in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was then directed only at university students. A project from the Lusophone University of Guinea-Bissau to install solar panels in the Gabu region, in the east of the country, placed second.
Rizzolio also highlighted that, for the first time, startups from Lusophone countries—including Portugal and Brazil—are in the majority at the 929 Challenge, representing about 65 percent of the 402 participants. “We had many more projects coming here from mainland China,” noted the organizer.
The 929 Challenge “has already gained a certain notoriety,” Rizzolio argued, particularly through promotion at the SIM Conference in May in Porto and the Web Summit in June in Rio de Janeiro. The bootcamp for the 929 Challenge began on Monday, taking place online and attracting over 400 teams and startups, a rise of more than 25 percent compared to 2024.
The last edition of the competition recorded a maximum, with over 1,600 participants in more than 320 teams. The final is scheduled for November 30. The competition is co-organized by the Macau Forum and several institutions in Macau, including all local universities.
