MASSCHALLENGE ANNOUNCES FINAL 26 STARTUPS FOR 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                         

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MASSCHALLENGE ANNOUNCES FINAL 26 STARTUPS FOR 2011
WORLD'S HIGHEST-IMPACT STARTUPS VIE FOR UP TO $1 MILLION IN AWARDS

Boston MA-MassChallenge announced today the Final 26 startups remaining in contention in the world’s largest Global Startup Competition and Accelerator.

"The startups I judged from this year's accelerator were compelling," said Peter Parker, a pre-final judge for MassChallenge and a Senior Advisor at Ampersand Capital Partners. "From my vantage point in Healthcare investing it was tremendous year for MassChallenge and solidified their position as the premier accelerator in the world."

The 2011 installment of the $1Million competition launched on March 7 and attracted 733 applications from 24countries and 34 U.S. states. The 125 highest-impact, highest-potential startups were invited to participate in a 3-month accelerator program providing intensive mentoring and access to free resources including office space, legal support and targeted introductions to customers and funding sources.

The Final 26 teams will now pitch their businesses to the last round of judges who will identify between 10 to 20winning startups to be announced at a ceremony on October 24.

There are no strings attached to the funding or competition– MassChallenge is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and does not take equity from winners or place any restrictions on entrants.

The final 26 startups

You can read more about these and all 125 MassChallenge 2011 Finalist startups here: http://masschallenge.org/entrants/2011/

MassChallenge Founder and President Akhil Nigam said

"Innovation and entrepreneurship are the cornerstone of the American economy. This year's MassChallenge class of 125 startups includes an amazing set of entrepreneurs who are working on solving real-world problems, from improving breast cancer diagnostics to addressing clean energy challenges to keeping the world's websites safe and secure. The judges were extremely impressed with the breadth and quality of enterprises in MassChallenge. MassChallenge is proud to support these entrepreneurs and to help accelerate the next generation of high-growth companies. We need more entrepreneurs and more startups. MassChallenge aggregates the very best entrepreneurs and arms them with the skills needed to launch and scale high-growth enterprises by surrounding them with the best resources from across the startup ecosystem."

2011 MASSCHALLENGE FINAL JUDGES

JUDGING GUIDELINES

The Final Judges are able to award up to $1Millionin amounts of either $50K or $100K each. MassChallenge is intended to help identify, strengthen and enable funding for the world's highest-impact, highest-potential startups.

Guidelines for judges include:

• Compelling vision and impact – is this a big idea with the potential to achieve scale?
• Feasibility – does the startup have the plan and assets to compete and win in their market?
• Execution – has the team made sufficient progress to demonstrate they can execute against goals?

2011MASSCHALLENGE FINAL AWARDS CEREMONY

The 2011MassChallenge Final Ceremony will be held on Monday, October 24starting at

6pm at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Centerin Boston's Innovation District. The Final 26 startups will each deliver 1 min pitches before MassChallenge announces the winners of up to $1M in cash prizes. Scheduled keynotes include the Honorable Deval L. Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts and Honorable Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston. Lead Keynote to be announced soon.

You can read more about the MassChallenge Awards Ceremony and can register here:

http://masschallenge.org/awards-ceremony

About MassChallenge
MassChallenge is a $1M global startup competition and accelerator designed to catalyze the launch and success of high-growth, high-impact new businesses. MassChallenge is a 501(c)(3) (nonprofit) and does not take equity from startups or place any restrictions on winners.

President Obama honored MassChallenge in January of 2011 as one of the nation's best organizations for supporting high-growth entrepreneurs, and MassChallenge was the youngest inaugural member of the Startup America Partnership. The 111 startups supported in the 2010 MassChallenge accelerator raised over ~$100M in outside funding and created ~500 new jobs in under 12 months.

The second annual MassChallenge Competition launched on March 7, 2011 and received 733 entries by the application deadline on April 11. Ten to twenty winners will be announced on October 24 2011 and will split $1M in cash awards. The competition is open to anyone in the world, with any new startup, in any industry. Physical activities are based in Massachusetts where innovation resources are highly concentrated. Every entrant receives training, feedback, PR and networking support via expert volunteers from partner organizations. 125 of the highest-potential startups receive 3+ months of intensive mentorship and other free resources, including office space and targeted introductions to customers and funding sources. The highest-impact startups are identified by expert judges to receive cash awards toward launching their businesses along with enhanced PR and privileged access to top investors seeking to place seed capital to work in high-growth firms.  

You can read more about MassChallenge here: http://www.masschallenge.org/

2011 MassChallenge Diamond Sponsors

We are very grateful to the partners and sponsors who make MassChallenge possible. You can read more about these collaborative people and organizations here: http://masschallenge.org/partnerships/2011

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