MASSCHALLENGE AWARD CEREMONY

MassChallenge Announces World’s Highest-Impact Startups

17 Teams Split $1 Million in Awards

BOSTON MA – Today at the 2011 MassChallenge Awards Ceremony, leaders from across the startup ecosystem announced the 26 winning startups in the 2011 MassChallenge Startup Competition and Accelerator, including three $100K Diamond Prize Winners and fourteen $50K Gold Prize Winners.

The second annual $1M competition launched on March 7 and attracted 733 applications from 24 countries and 34 states. The 125 highest-impact, highest-potential startups were invited as competition finalists to participate in a 3-month accelerator providing intensive mentoring and access to free resources including office space, legal support and targeted introductions to customers and funding sources.

$100K Diamond Prize WINNERS

$50K Gold Prize WINNERS

Silver Prize WINNERS

Bert Jacobs, Founder and Chief Executive Optimist of Life is good gave a rousing keynote to a packed crowd at the Awards Ceremony. Bert said he had "three goals in speaking with this group of young pioneers. First, to have a few laughs. Second, to emphasize the important role of optimism in their work. And lastly, to encourage them to include strong social missions which will help to build their businesses and add deeper purpose to their lives."

"Massachusetts is home to an amazing array of startups and our entrepreneurial ecosystem is one of the strongest in the country," said Governor Deval Patrick. "MassChallenge is a highly successful program and the Commonwealth is proud to be a founding supporter."

The Final 26 teams pitched their businesses to the fourth and final round of judges including Desh Deshpande, the founder of Sycamore Networks and Chair of A123Systems, and Josh Boger, the founder of Vertex Pharmaceuticals on October 12th and 14th. The results were first announced to the public and the teams themselves at the Award Ceremony, which was held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston's Innovation District. John Harthorne, Founder & CEO of MassChallenge, announced that the judges were so impressed with the Final 26 startups they agreed to declare them all winners.

"Over our history, Boston has been home to many revolutionary ideas," said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "We continue a proud tradition of innovation on the thriving Boston Waterfront, where MassChallenge plays an integral role. Together, we’re showing that the Innovation District is the best place for startups to become upstarts.”

The startups were judged on impact, feasibility, and execution. There are no strings attached to the funding or competition – MassChallenge is a nonprofit and does not take equity from winners or place any restrictions on entrants.

"Innovation and entrepreneurship are cornerstones of the American economy. We need more entrepreneurs and we need more startups," said MassChallenge Founder & President Akhil Nigam. "This year's MassChallenge class of 125 startups included an amazing group of entrepreneurs collaborating to address some of the world's most important challenges, 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. 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."

MassChallenge received grants and funding from a broad range of supporters. The State of Massachusetts provided grants to MassChallenge in 2011 via 3 quasi-governmental agencies:

• Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
• Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
• Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

The Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) also partnered with MassChallenge to create the MTDC Fast Track program for MassChallenge Startups to further fuel the success of their 2011 finalists and to make it easier for those companies to remain in the Commonwealth. As part of the partnership, MTDC will select five of the twenty-six top companies to participate in the MTDC MassChallenge Fast Track program. MTDC will put the five companies through an accelerated diligence process selecting two companies for additional seed funding. On January 15th, MTDC and MassChallenge will announce the two companies that will receive a funding commitment from MTDC.

"MTDC has identified MassChallenge as a compelling mechanism for supporting early stage startups and we are committed to helping bridge the investment gap for technology companies looking to stay in the Commonwealth," said Dina Routhier, Vice President of MTDC and the 2011 People's Choice VC of the Year as announced at the MITX Innovation Awards ceremony in June.

The public funding and support catalyzed private financial support of more than $1.5M including contributions by:

• The Blackstone Charitable Foundation
• The Deshpande Foundation
• Johnson and Johnson's Corporate Office of Science and Technology
• Josh Boger
• The Microsoft New England Research and Development Center

And 12 other major sponsors

The last page of this document contains a complete list of financial sponsors, which is also online at: http://masschallenge.org/partnerships/2011

Gabor Garai, Chair of the Private Equity and Venture Practice at Foley & Lardner LLP said "MassChallenge is the only program of its kind to assemble so many high-impact startups at this scale. It is extremely impressive. Foley & Lardner has very much enjoyed mentoring and supporting these startups and we look forward to continued success in the years to come."

These and other sponsors provided more than $4M in additional in-kind support for the MassChallenge finalists. The Fallon Company donated over 27,000 square feet of premiere office space on Fan Pier for use by MassChallenge and the 125 finalist startups throughout the competition. Turnstone, Microsoft, SolidWorks, Rackspace, American Airlines, ZipCar, HubSpot and Grasshopper also provided significant value via in-kind support.

"American Airlines is a proud supporter of MassChallenge and the finalists participating in the program," said Karen Buls, Director of Small and Midsized Enterprise Loyalty. "We understand the needs of these companies and we are excited to provide travel to the finalists and winners so they can have the face-to-face meetings so crucial for these high-growth entrepreneurs."

Startup Massachusetts Officially Launched

In addition to awarding $1M in cash prizes to startups as part of the MassChallenge Startup Competition and Accelerator, Startup Massachusetts was officially launched as a statewide effort to support entrepreneurs and help startups drive job creation. Startup Massachusetts is the fourth regional initiative collaborating with the Startup America Partnership, an organization working to help young companies grow in order to create jobs in America. Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership, announced Startup Massachusetts and was joined by Governor Deval Patrick in celebrating the initiative.

As part of the program, Massachusetts entrepreneurs can leverage the Startup America Partnership’s national network to gain access to business resources throughout the state and country, enabling them to scale more quickly and create more jobs throughout the Commonwealth.

John Harthorne, Founder & CEO of MassChallenge, said “We are pleased to help launch Startup Massachusetts as a collaborative effort with other major startup advocates across the state. Entrepreneurs in Massachusetts will benefit greatly from improved access to resources.”

“I’m incredibly encouraged by the entrepreneurial activities taking place throughout Massachusetts and the active leadership behind those efforts,” said Scott Case. “Working together, we can create an environment that will help young companies in the state grow and create tomorrow’s jobs.”

2011 MassChallenge 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

DIAMOND SPONSORS

PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

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. 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, mentorship, 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. 10-20 of the highest-impact, highest-potential 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/