Commercial competition terms Digital Catapult – Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Accelerator

1. Programme Description

1.1. The Programme

Niantic, the technology company behind Pokémon Go, is partnering with the UK authority on advanced digital technology, Digital Catapult, on an Augmented Reality (AR) acceleration programme. The programme will give UK startups the chance to develop game-changing immersive experiences as part of Niantic’s mission to create a real-world metaverse. 

Niantic has recently launched the Lightship Augmented Reality Developer Kit, which lowers the barrier to entry for developers to create immersive AR experiences and enables immersive startups to bring virtual content into the real world. Digital Catapult will deliver Niantic’s developer toolkit and funding to the startups with the most creative ideas that bring people together and enrich real-world experiences. 

1.2. The Digital Catapult

Digital Catapult is the UK authority on advanced digital technology. Through collaboration and innovation, we accelerate industry adoption to drive growth and opportunity across the economy.

We bring together an expert and enterprising community of researchers, startups, scaleups and industry leaders to discover new ways to solve the big challenges limiting the UK’s future potential. Through our specialist programmes and experimental facilities, we make sure that innovation thrives, and the right solutions make it to the real world.

Our goal is to accelerate new possibilities in everything we do and for every business we partner with the journey – breaking down barriers, de-risking innovation, opening-up markets and responsibly shaping the products, services and experiences of the future.

Digital Catapult works with organisations on projects involving at least one of the technologies from its “Advanced Digital Technology Stack”: Artificial Intelligence, Immersive, Internet of Things, Distributed Ledger Technologies and 5G.

1.3. Niantic

Niantic, Inc. is an American software development company based in San Francisco. Niantic is best known for developing the augmented reality mobile games Ingress and Pokémon Go. The company was formed as Niantic Labs in 2010 as an internal start up within Google

1.4 The Programme Partners

1.4.1. Industry Challenge Owners

Creative companies that are sponsoring the programme and responsible to put forward challenges for the innovation community.

1.4.2. Programme judges

The judges will be responsible for scoring the Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Accelerator applications according to the criteria set out in these Commercial Competition Terms. The panel of judges will consist of a variety of individuals from Digital Catapult, Niantic representatives and industry challenge owners. The judges will be chosen based on their business experience and technological expertise.

1.5. Applicants & Participants

1.5.1. You are considered an “Applicant” if you apply to this competition.

1.5.2. You are considered a “Participant” if you are successful with your application, completed any necessary security checks and complete all pre-Programme activities (e.g. signing the Open Call Purchase Agreement). 

2. There are three independent Challenges for this Open Call. Each Challenge will be individually assessed

2.1. Retail & the Future of the High Street Challenge

2.2. Studio Wayne McGregor Challenge

2.3. Cartoon Network Challenge

3. Programme Benefits

Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Accelerator offers access to three independent challenges:

In addition to each Applicant that pitches at Phase 2 of the competition being paid £2,000 plus VAT.  The successful Participants will receive the following benefits:

3.1. Retail & the Future of the High Street Challenge

• Demonstrator development phase funding – £50,000 If successful at the end of the Concept development phase.
• Engagement with technology experts, challenge owners and innovation managers from Digital Catapult, as well as subject matter experts.
• Digital Catapult will hold periodical meetings required with the challenge owners, technology teams and Innovation managers and subject matter experts to help develop Participants’ solutions on various topics during the concept and demonstrator development stage.
• Business expertise – Support network of industrial and technology experts to help develop impactful concept development and build new technology demonstrator.
• Technical monitoring – Engineering expertise to increase confidence in demonstrator build and push the boundaries of the technology – this monitoring also includes inputs from Digital Catapult technologists and Niantic.
• Demonstrators showcase event – opportunity to participateand attend meetings at the showcase event in February 2023 for the Demonstrator development phase.
• Potential support network of industry experts with technical and business experience to help companies grow their businesses and develop their Demonstrator and prepare for the showcase.

3.2. Studio Wayne McGregor

• Demonstrator development phase funding – £90,000 If successful at the end of the Concept development phase.
• Engagement with technology experts, challenge owners and innovation managers from Digital Catapult, as well as subject matter experts.
• Digital Catapult will hold periodical meetings required with the challenge owners, technology teams and Innovation managers and subject matter experts to help develop Participants’ solutions on various topics during the concept and demonstrator development stage.
• Business expertise – Support network of industrial and technology experts to help develop impactful concept development and build new technology demonstrator.
• Technical monitoring – Engineering expertise to increase confidence in demonstrator build and push the boundaries of the technology – this monitoring also includes inputs from Digital Catapult technologists and Niantic.
• Demonstrators showcase event – opportunity to participateand attend meetings at the showcase event in February 2023 for the Demonstrator development phase.
• Potential support network of industry experts with technical and business experience to help companies grow their businesses and develop their Demonstrator and prepare for the showcase.

3.3 Cartoon Network

• Demonstrator development phase funding – £100,000 If successful at the end of the Concept development phase.
• Engagement with technology experts, challenge owners and innovation managers from Digital Catapult, as well as subject matter experts.
• Digital Catapult will hold periodical meetings required with the challenge owners, technology teams and Innovation managers and subject matter experts to help develop Participants’ solutions on various topics during the concept and demonstrator development stage.
• Business expertise – Support network of industrial and technology experts to help develop impactful concept development and build new technology demonstrator.
• Technical monitoring – Engineering expertise to increase confidence in demonstrator build and push the boundaries of the technology – this monitoring also includes inputs from Digital Catapult technologists and Niantic.
• Demonstrators showcase event – opportunity to participate and attend meetings at the showcase event in February 2023 for the Demonstrator development phase.
• Potential support network of industry experts with technical and business experience to help companies grow their businesses and develop their Demonstrator and prepare for the showcase.

Programme Obligations

4.1.  Demonstrator

Please see the supply agreement titled  “OPEN CALL PURCHASE AGREEMENT” for all supply terms, including delivery of the Demonstrator and terms relating to intellectual property. This includes assignment terms with the Sponsors of the Programme requiring their ownership of newly created intellectual property by Participant to be transferred to Sponsor in exchange for payment.  Sponsor, Digital Catapult and Niantic will also obtain marketing rights to showcase the Demonstrator and supporting materials from the Programme.

4.1.1. Demonstrator – the Sponsor, Niantic, and Digital Catapult (each a “Customer”) will also be granted a marketing right by Participant (and Phase 2 paid Applicants) enabling Customer to include images, videos and stills of the Participants’ (and Phase 2 paid Applicants’) pitches, demonstrations and other output from this Project (and competition), as well as the Participant’s name and marks, in Customer’s marketing materials and promotions relating to this project. In addition, the Participant selected to create a demonstrator will be required to submit their final build to Customer, which Customer may use to create marketing and promotional materials., on an “unsupported” basis, and subject to reasonable terms depending on the nature of the demonstrator.

Participants must also be willing to commit to the following obligations as stated below.

4.1.1. Assist Digital Catapult with the writing of a business case for the Challenge owners.

4.1.2. Attend kick-off event hosted by Digital Catapult in w/c 1st August 2022 and final showcase w/c 1st February 2023.     

4.1.3. Attend, present and demonstrate at the Demonstrator Showcase event – w/c 1st February 2023

4.1.4. Attend at least 70% of the workshops and/or webinars.

4.1.5. Attend all sessions with Industry Challenge Owners as agreed from August 2022 – February 2023.

4.1.6. Participant agrees to be named and logo listed on marketing collateral, this may include website, print, the Demonstrator, and digital materials.

4.1.7. For a maximum period of five (5) years following the Programme End Date, Participant shall use its reasonable endeavours to answer specific questions from Catapult relating to its growth and progress to assist Catapult demonstrate the impact of its activities. This shall include:

Participation in an annual telephone conversation of one hour.

Participation in bi-annual (two yearly) survey sent out by Digital Catapult

5. Applicants

5.1 .Minimum Requirements

• Applicants must be a UK based registered company – or prove they have an establishment in the UK and undertake the majority of the activity in the UK.
• Applicants must have a UK business bank account
• Applicants must develop solutions enabled by immersive technologies, as defined in the FAQ section on the FutureScope website.
• The team has to have one or more team members with expertise with Immersive digital technologies, specifically augmented reality.
• Applicant must have two or more team members
• Applicants must be able to attend at least 70% of the activities as stated in section 5 .
• Industry challenge owners have the right to reject the applications if their security checks aren’t successfully passed.

5.2 What we’re looking for

The programme seeks applications for technology innovators from the startup and studios community who will be interested in developing technology demonstrators utilising the Niantic Lightship platform.

Here are the requirements for applications to the Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Accelerator:

5.2.1. The lead company* has to be registered with Companies House in the UK (or equivalent, for example establishment in the UK and the majority of work must be carried out in the UK. In the case of international co-productions, the work carried out outside the UK must be proportionate to the amount of funding brought in by the international company)

5.2.2. The lead company* must have a business bank account

5.2.3. The team has to have one or more team members with expertise with Immersive digital technologies, specifically augmented reality.

5.2.4. The team must be able to attend all the activities (for example, workshop and final Showcase for the duration of the programme).

Please note dates are subject to change:

• Workshops and concept development: August 2022
• Concept Development Presentation – w/c 29th August 2022
• Workshops and Demonstrator development (*if successful) October 2022 – February 2023
• Final showcase and programme close – w/c 1st February 2023

*Lead Company

• You may enter as a collaborative team, but there must be a lead company that will contract with us and get paid.
• All other collaborators involved must be named in the application process. It is the responsibility of the lead company to arrange any collaboration agreements or subcontracts as necessary and to comply with the Niantic Lightship Augmented Reality Accelerator terms and conditions.
• Your collaborators may be with international companies. 
• You can be named as a collaborator on more than one application, but can only be a ‘lead’ company once.
• We may carry out due diligence on the lead and any collaboration companies so they must be willing to submit documentation upon request (including but not limited to bank account statements for the business and personal references).

6. Key Dates

6.1. Open Call – Applications Open Monday 9th May 2022

6.2. Open Call – Application Deadline Sunday 19th June 2022 at 23:59 pm

6.3. Phase 1 – Applications shortlisting – 16th May – 27th June 2022

6.4. Phase 1 – Final selection and deliberation days – w/c 27th June – 15th July 2022

6.5. Intended public announcement of successful applications: Friday 15th July 2022

6.6. Phase 2 – Start date, concept development starts w/c 1st August 2022

6.7. Concept Development Presentation – w/c 29th August 2022

6.8. Phase 2 – Judging period – 5th September 2022 – 16th September 2022

6.9. Intended public announcement of Phase 2 finalists: Friday 16th September 2022

6.10. Phase 2 – Demonstrator Development – w/c 3rd October 2022 – February 2023

6.11. Final showcase and programme close – w/c 1st February 2023

7. Application

7.1. What information should my application contain? 

7.1.1.Complete the short registration of interest form on this website

7.1.2. An email will be sent to the address indicated in the short registration of interest form with the link to the full application form.

7.1.3. You will need to apply to a specific challenge, please ensure you tick the appropriate box in the full application form.

7.1.4. Applicants must answer all required questions in the full online application form.

7.2. Who will see my Application?

7.2.1. Relevant Catapult representatives will see your application in order to assess the application, and otherwise in the administration of your application and participation on the Programme.

7.2.2. Applications will also be shared with judges from Niantic and Industry Challenge owners. Personal data and very sensitive business information not required to assess the application will not be shared with Industry Challenge owners and Niantic.

7.3. Key contact information 

7.3.1. Applicant will appoint a main contact for the Programme (“Key Contact”). This person will be Digital Catapult’s main point of contact for the competition and, if successful, jointly defining the shape of your Programme activities, workshop and event commitments, team members’ availability, ongoing activities, and assessment of progress during and after the Programme.

7.4. Submitting your application

7.4.1. You must submit your application form (“Submission Method”).

7.4.2. All applications must be submitted via the Submission Method by the Application Deadline.  

7.4.3. Once your completed application has been received, Digital Catapult will send you a confirmation receipt by email. If you do not get a receipt within twenty four (24) hours of the next working day, please email us at [email protected].

8. Selection

8.1. Qualification

The Catapult will undertake an initial assessment of the Applicants against the Programme Requirements.

8.2 Selection Process

8.2.1.1. Digital Catapult will determine which applicants proceed to the Industry Challenge owners and Niantic review in the challenges deliberation days. All criteria shall be taken into consideration. Digital Catapult will rank applications in order of highest to lowest scoring to create an index allowing the best applications to be easily identified and to progress to the final selection stage. Ideally, up to 10 applications will be selected for each of the challenges to enable a varied selection of companies for each Industry Challenge owner to deliberate and choose from using the exact same aforementioned ranking process.

8.2.1.2. The successful finalists for each challenge in Phase 2 of the programme will be selected based on the demonstrator pitches on the pitch days concluding the Phase 1 of the programme, detailed project plan and additional materials as well as their original application. The successful applicants will be announced after the conclusion of the last round of deliberation days where Sponsor, Niantic and DC will pick one winner per challenge.

8.3 Scoring Panel and Composition Experience

The panel of judges will consist of individuals from Digital Catapult, Niantic and Industry Challenge owners. The panel of judges and Digital Catapult staff are experts in immersive technologies and innovation management. The panel of judges will be chosen based on their immersive and creative experience and expertise.

8.4 Scoring

​​Application Scoring criteria and weighting:

8.4.1. The scoring criteria will be assessed based on statements in the areas below. Each criterion will be scored on a range from 0 to 5. 0 being an “Unacceptable or No submission” Score for each criterion and 5 being an “Excellent” Score for each criterion. This scoring will be applied to all applications and will be equally weighted.

8.4.2. Potential to answer the set challenge ​​(weight: 1) – The proposal shows a good understanding and a clearly identified solution with relevance to the creative sector and the challenge objectives. The concept and proposal has clear aims and vision. 

8.4.3. Strength of the idea ​​(weight: 1) – The idea is realistic, well-developed and demonstrates strong vision and application to the chosen challenge with consideration to the market fit and context

8.4.4. Technology suitability/relevance ​​(weight: 1) – The idea described uses suitable immersive technology and promises commercial value alignment for the challenge owner. The idea is also likely to be suitable for further funding opportunities. The proposal shows a good understanding of a clearly identified target audience and potential risks

8.4.5. Originality of the idea (weight: 1) – The idea is unique and novel in a way that meets the challenge requirements. The concept is innovative and original

8.4.6. Appropriate team experience (weight: 1) – The team is equipped to deliver the proposed demonstrator and has appropriate technology and business skills, Demonstrating a good team structure and diversity 

8.4.7. Feasibility of demonstrator delivery (weight: 1) – The technical delivery of the proposal is feasible with a viable solution, within the timeframe and budget. This includes the design and build of the demonstrator, level of manpower, and financial capabilities

8.4.8. Value proposition (weight: 1) – The idea’s combination of cost, quality and sustainability is well balanced. The scale of the demonstrator is reasonable with respect to the effort proposed

8.4.9. Growth potential (weight: 1) – The idea is scalable and has the potential to succeed in its full range of capabilities at a growing scale. The idea is likely to be suitable for further funding opportunities

8.5 Due Diligence

8.5.1.  We will carry out due diligence on applicants prior to the point of selection onto the Programme. Applicants must be willing to submit further information or documentation upon request to qualify as ‘successful’.

8.6 Succesful Applicants

8.6.1. Successful applicants will be notified and provided with a completed Open Call Purchase Agreement.  A template has been published at the time of the Open Call, but is subject to amendment by the Sponsors up to the point of contract..

8.6.2. In order to be accepted onto the Programme, successful applicants must sign Digital Catapult’s Open Call Purchase Agreement (“Programme Agreement”).

9. Competition Terms – Specific

9.1. Benefits

All the benefits provided under the Programme by third-party organisations (“Suppliers”) are subject to the Supplier’s terms and conditions stated in the Programme T&Cs. 

Digital Catapult reserves the right to amend the list of benefits at its sole discretion.

9.2. State Aid

Not applicable

9.3. Applicants

Digital Catapult reserves the right to accept any application which does not fulfil the minimum requirements. 

9.4. Key Dates

Digital Catapult reserves the right to change the Key Dates at its sole discretion. No extension to deadlines will usually be granted, with very limited exceptions where the Applicant requests an extension due to reasonable extenuating circumstances, beyond the Applicant’s control and unforeseen to them, subject to the Applicant providing evidence that proves the extenuating circumstance; and the applicant informing Digital Catapult as soon as reasonably practicable following the extenuating circumstance becoming apparent. Digital Catapult reserves the right to consider the factors and decide whether such circumstances are extenuating and whether granting an extension is fair to other applicants. No extension granted will be for greater than two working days.

9.5. Applications

All information and documents requested must be submitted. Failure to submit all requested information and documents may result in the application being rejected.  Catapult will not use outside information in respect of your application unless otherwise indicated, other than to undertake due diligence.  Catapult reserves the right to not work with people or an organisation which could impact its reputation.

9.6. Previous Applications

Catapult reserves the right to either (i) reassess an application from a previous competition (together with information gained from an update meeting), or (ii) accept as a successful applicant an organisation that was previously successful in a previous competition, but whose participation was deferred to a later Programme.

9.7. Key Contact Information

In submitting the Application, the Applicant confirms that it has made the Key Contact (and any other person whose personal data has been submitted, aware of, and has the lawful grounds to enable Digital Catapult, Niantic, and Sponsors to, process the personal information of the Key Contact (and any other person) as set out in these Competition Terms and Digital Catapult’s privacy policy (https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/privacy-policy/).  Digital Catapult will provide the personal data Niantic and Sponsors as several (not joint) data controllers.

9.8. Programme Agreement

Digital Catapult reserves the right to make amendments to the Programme Agreement it issues up until the point of execution by both parties.

9.9. Participant Programmes

Digital Catapult reserves the right to offer Participants access to its Participant Programmes, such as its Platinum Awards.

10. Competition Terms – General

10.1. Data Collection, Storage & Use

10.1.1. Digital Catapult will store your application and the scoring it has received for the entire duration of the Programme.  If you are a successful Applicant, we shall also store your Application for a period of up to five (5) years following the end of the Programme.  For administration purposes, contracts may be stored for up to seven (7) years, contracts providing State aid for up to eleven (11) years, and deeds for up to thirteen (13) years from the end of the Programme.

10.2. Confidentiality

10.2.1. The information provided in your Application will be kept confidential and only used and disclosed as reasonably necessary for the purpose of assessing Applications, and, if admitted onto the Programme, for working with you on the Programme.  This shall include with our Programme Partners as indicated above.

10.2.2. For practical reasons, NDAs will not be signed by Digital Catapult or the Partners as part of this Programme Competition. 

10.2.3. The scoring of your Application will be treated as confidential information.

10.2.4. As your Application will be transmitted over the Internet, ultimately Digital Catapult cannot guarantee its security.

10.3. Intellectual Property

10.3.1. We respect the intellectual property of others and we ask our Applicants to do the same. 

10.3.2. In submitting the Application, you promise that you have and continue to have all necessary rights, licenses, permissions and consent to provide the content in your application to us, and for Catapult to use the Application as we have set out.

10.3.3. We will not remove from Applications any proprietary labels or copyright assertions. 

10.4. Disclaimers

10.4.1. We accept no liability for any consequences, whether direct or indirect, that may arise from your participation in the Programme Competition, your reliance on any statements we may have made about the Programme, or its suspension or withdrawal.

10.4.2. In any case, to the extent permitted under law, Digital Catapult’s liability shall be limited to one thousand (£1,000) pounds. 

10.5. Jurisdiction

10.5.1. The Programme Competition is governed by English law and the Applicant agrees that any dispute shall be exclusively resolved in the English courts.