Nordic Startup Awards is part of Global Startup Awards, a global competition to recognise the best talents of the global startup ecosystem. The overall process of the competition bottom-up (from national level up to the regional and global level) consists of 4 different phases, which are described below.

Phase 1: Nomination opens
Anyone can nominate a person, company or organisation in all categories per country through an online nomination system. Data is gathered from all nominees based on the criteria of each category for the following phase of the competition.

Phase 2: Selecting National Finalists
A group of 7 ambassadors from each Nordic country, through a selection process, evaluate the nominees and choose the best talents based on the criteria of each category which are gathered into a shortlist. The shortlist consists of a minimum of 5 national finalists per category on each country.

Phase 3: Finding National Winners
Public Voting
Once the shortlist is published online, the public voting for National Finalists opens through an online system. Individuals can only vote one time per finalist.

National Jury Rating
Each of the country partners invites a national jury of 7 jury members per category, with extensive knowledge and experience relevant to the category. A jury member can rate in more than one category.
The rating of each finalist is done through a star based system provided by GSAwards, where each finalist is rated from 1 to 5 stars. The public votes weigh as one jury member, and they are equivalent to stars. Each finalist receives from 1 to 5 stars depending on the amount of votes gathered through the online voting phase. The overall rating of each finalist is based on the sum of the stars from the national jury and the public voting. The national jury provides quotes supporting the specific rating on the finalists. The National Winners are announced at the national events and published online.

Phase 4: Finding Regional Winners
Public Voting
Once the National Winners are published online, public voting opens through an online system. Individuals can only vote one time per finalist.

Regional Jury Rating
GSAwards invite a regional jury of 7 jury members, with extensive knowledge and experience in the startup ecosystem which can be from the region as well as outside the region. The rating of each finalist is done as in the national round (phase 3). The regional winners are announced at the Grand Finale and also published online after the award show.

Phase 5: Finding Global Winners
Public Voting
Once the Regional Winners are published online, public voting opens through an online system. Individuals can only vote one time per finalist.

Global Jury Rating
GSAwards invite a regional jury of 7 or more jury members, with extensive knowledge and experience in the startup ecosystem which can be from the region as well as outside the region. The rating of each finalist is done as in the regional round (phase 3).
The global winners are announced at the Global Grand Finale and also published online after the award show.