Young people between the ages of 15-20 worldwide can participate in the challenge.

The challenge program is entirely in the English language. A good understanding and ability to communicate are a must.

The challenge is designed for people between 15-20 years old. You can still join if you are 14 and turning 15 at some point during the challenge. The same counts if you are still 20 when applying, and at some point during the challenge turning 21, you are still eligible to apply.

Yes! You agree that you have informed your parents, before applying to the challenge. We will require signed parental consent for participants who will get to the Final Pitching and are under 18 years old. You will receive the form before joining the Final Pitching Ceremony and need to send it signed by one of your parents before the Final Pitching Ceremony.

Nothing. We believe in fair chances; thus, participation is free for all young people worldwide.

The challenge will take place from May 15 to June 15. You’ll receive short videos (3-10 min) from experts who will guide you and help you proceed with your project. We’d prefer you to watch them once you’ve received them, but if you don’t manage that, you will have access to them at any time once they’re published. In addition, there will be live online workshops with experts for you to attend, and you can book additional calls with mentors to help you with your project. But the slots for the mentor calls are limited, so you’ll need to act fast!

This depends entirely on you and your team and how much effort you would like to put into the project. You should be able to fit this together with your everyday school schedule.

There will be 3-10 minute impulse videos on topics such as “the biggest challenges in the world,” “how to develop an idea,” “how to promote an idea,” and others. It does not require too much time to look at the videos. There are also optional live workshops with experts and individually bookable 30-minute mentoring sessions with international experts, where you can get answers to your specific question. The estimated time you need for the challenge will be 20 min to 1,5 hours per day.

There will be videos published nearly every day on various topics. You do not need to watch them precisely at that time. The videos will be available on the platform throughout the challenge. Watching those videos should help you and your team develop your ideas, so we recommend you don’t leave watching them until the last minute.

Yes, absolutely. As long as you are accepted for the Shape the Future challenge. You can also join if you’re doing an apprenticeship or have a job or are traveling as long as you are active and contributing to the development of the idea.

We encourage the integration of the challenge into the classroom curriculum as it is an excellent opportunity for the students to dig deeper into the topics and can be very positive for developing the ideas in the team.

If you want to support your students by including it in your classroom agenda, we are happy to provide further information to help you.

You can apply to the challenge both as a team or individual. If you are applying as a team, still each of you needs to submit an individual application, where you can specify that you are part of a team. If you apply individually, you will get access to the challenge space on our platform, where you can find other participants from all over the world to form a team. Ultimately, you have to be part of a team of 2-6 people to participate in the challenge.

As a lot of teamwork is involved during the challenge, we highly recommend having a laptop/pc. Also, there will be multiple live calls and calls with mentors, and some things will be difficult to do simply from a phone. As this is an online challenge, a good internet connection, and a laptop/pc are highly recommended.

Moonshot Pirates, unfortunately, can not fund your projects. We can provide you with mentors, workshops, videos, and other input to help you develop your idea. There is, however, a chance that partners might select some ideas that they find exciting, and your teams develop those further.

So you have realized that you cannot participate in the challenge anymore? Well, that’s a pity, but we understand. Please let us know via email at . We will cancel your application and remove all related data. Please ensure you have received an acknowledgment of your cancellation from us. Only this will confirm that your application was canceled. This might take up to 5 working days.

No. You can only be part of one team.

Difficulties like this happen. It would help if you worked through it with the other team members. Of course, you can also reach out to us with any problems. If one member of your team drops out, that is okay. However, you must be at least two people on the team when submitting your final project.

Of course not! We encourage you to make your team as diverse and international as possible!

We are looking for innovative ideas in the context of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Learn more about the SDGs here.
The overarching topic that you should address is mobility.

You can explore some previous project ideas from our Bootcamps and other Challenges here:

• #beapirate Challenge 2020 ideas
• #beapirate Challenge 2021 ideas
• Bootcamps’ ideas

Innovation can take many shapes and forms. Find what your passions and strengths are and put them to action.

Yes. Your topic needs to address at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will learn more about the SDGs during the challenge.

It’s highly unlikely to build a final solution in 3 weeks. What counts is the level of execution and depth of the idea. All the different aspects count. Is it scientifically viable, is there a sustainable business model, how does it work, is there a market, what research has been done, how do you present the idea, how much research have you done… and much more. In simple words, the more you can show the better.

Yes. Your idea should be around the topic of mobility. It is up to you to discover what mobility means for you and what part you want to focus on during the challenge. However, note that the partners have a say in who will get to the Final Pitching Ceremony and thus will most likely choose teams that tackle the idea closer to the challenges they face within mobility. You can check that on the challenge website in the partner introduction section.

Both are fine. You can describe your idea and a concept and how it can be implemented. Or you can also build a prototype of your idea, app, website, etc. The more you can show during the online voting and final pitching, the better your chance of winning.

No. Each team should focus on only one idea throughout the challenge. Even with “only” one project, it will be challenging enough 😉

What happens to the ideas is up to you and your team. We do not own the idea nor take any shares if the idea is realized. We are currently developing a mentoring on-demand program, which should also enable you to continue working on your ideas after the challenge is over.

One criterion the judges will look upon is “feasibility,”  For that, it will be necessary that your idea is also financially sustainable and can be implemented at some point. There are many financial models your concept could be built on. So we encourage you to discover how the idea can be financially sustainable.

Promoting an idea is as much a part of success as the idea itself. The team with the most votes will automatically get a spot on the Final Pitching. There will be two “wildcards” from our partners. The other four teams will be selected through criteria assessment and their position in online voting. Each criteria assessment and online voting counts for a max of 50% of the points. If two teams have the same amount of points, the higher place of the particular team in online voting decides.

Criteria & Online Voting Position

Impact: min 1 – max 10 points
Radicality: min 1 – max 10 points
Feasibility: min 1 – max 10 points
Wow effect: min 1 – max 10 points
2-3 place: 40 points
4-7 place: 30 points
8-15 place: 25 points
16-30 place: 20 points
31-50 place: 10 points

Our expert jury will then select the winner from the seven teams during the final Pitching Ceremony.

Online Voting Disclaimer
It is forbidden to use any fake emails or bots for voting. If a team is caught using any of these, they will be disqualified.

Your friends, family, teachers, fellow pirates, … everyone that is a fan of your idea. Go out and promote your idea! The voting is public.

The criteria consist of 4 points:

1. Impact – whose live are you changing? What is the difference that you make?

2. Radicality – How big are you thinking? Do you want to change your neighborhood, or are you crazy enough to change the world? Shoot for the moon!

3. Feasibility – Can you make your project happen sometime in the future? Will it be financially sustainable?

4. “WOW Moment” – What’s the little special thing that puts a smile on your customer’s/user’s/society’s face? Do you have that with your project?

The jury, in general, will be partners of the challenge, experts on mobility, and other topics revolving around entrepreneurship. The jury will be revealed closer to the Final Pitching Ceremony.

The winning team members will fly with Moonshot Pirates to Silicon Valley and San Francisco to visit the headquarters of big companies like Apple and other successful companies and start-ups to experience the “entrepreneurial mindset” firsthand. The reward includes the flights (from a big airport near you), the accommodation and all the events, workshops and meetings. See more in the About the Silicon Valley trip section of FAQs.

Whether you want to present your idea as a whole team or only one person is up to you. However, most of the time, it is the best way to choose the best pitcher from your group and have them present your idea. Also, note that every team member should attend the Final Pitching Ceremony as there will be a Q&A session after your presentation.

Yes, the Final Pitching is available to the public. So invite your friends, family, and everybody who wants to learn about your unique project! We will provide you a link to share the final Pitching Ceremony live stream closer to the event.

We will require signed parental consent for the participants who will get to the finals and are under 18 years old. You will receive the form before joining the Final Pitching Ceremony and need to send it signed by one of your parents before it.

The trip is preliminary planned for September 2023. The exact dates of the winner’s trip to the Shape the Future challenge will be aligned directly with the winners of the challenge.

The trip includes return flights to San Francisco from a major international airport close to you, accommodation and a program with workshops, meeting startups, visiting companies like Instagram, Apple, Pinterest, and Google, and exploring Singularity University and Stanford campuses. The exact program will be announced closer to the trip.

The winners will need to take care of their VISA/ESTA applications and cover the related costs. Please inform yourself about the cost of the VISA/ESTA for your country.

Winners of the trip will need to cover their expenses related to getting to and back from the airport. They also need to cover their food and miscellaneous during the trip.

Moonshot Pirates crew members will join and accompany the winners on the trip to Silicon Valley.

Please visit the “Book a Mentor” page on the Moonshot Pirates platform for a detailed step-by-step guide to easily book a mentoring session with a mentor of your choice.

Everyone from your team can join the session! It is sufficient if one person books the session and shares the details with the other team members.

No, every team can book every mentor. Each team can only book each mentor once, so you can not book the same mentor twice. However, the other teams can still book the same mentor in another time slot.

If you need more time with a specific mentor, you can also contact them and agree on private sessions with the mentors apart from the offered slots. However, please note that the mentors are doing this voluntarily and offering you their free time – so understand if they say no.

If you feel that you do not need the help of a mentor, you are not forced to have mentoring sessions. However, we highly recommend you take advantage of this significant free input from experts in different fields. You should have at least one mentoring session to see how much input they can give you. This will, of course, be of advantage when thinking about getting to the Final Pitching.

We are beyond happy to have the support of such amazing mentors throughout this challenge. The mentors come from various fields, and all have unique expertise in what they are doing. You can check out the mentors on the website and see who fits your needs best.

We suggest you briefly explain to the mentor the idea you are working on and have specific questions ready that they can answer. Remember that you only have 30 minutes with each mentor, so the better you prepare, the more you will get out of the session.

If a parent insists on accompanying their child on the Silicon Valley trip, they need to cover their travel and all expenses related to that trip by themselves. If the parents also decide to join the Silicon Valley tour program while there, they need to cover the costs associated with that tour.

All participants below 18 years old from the seven teams selected for the Final Pitching must submit parental or legal guardian consent before joining the online Pitching. Participants will receive the form before the challenge starts. In the consent, parents agree that their children are allowed to join the trip to Silicon Valley in case of winning. If we do not receive the consent before the Final Pitching, another team will be given a chance.

The Moonshot Pirates team is happy to offer video calls to the parents of minors to get to know each other before the trip.

We are happy to answer any of your questions via email or phone. Please find the contact details here.

Moonshot Pirates is a global educational platform enabling young people from 125+ countries to acquire 21st-century skills, solve global challenges by developing innovative solutions for the SDGs, as well as advise and challenge established companies.

We believe everyone has what it takes to make a difference. As a global movement, we want to encourage young leaders & changemakers to think big, build on their passions, gain relevant skills, and explore the possibilities of the latest technologies.

The Shape, the Future Challenge is funded exclusively by partners, foundations, and government grants. Bootcamps are usually made possible by regional sponsors. Other partners on board are the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research and the Federal Ministry of Labor, Family, and Youth. For more information, go here.