MASSCHALLENGE ANNOUNCES FINAL 26 STARTUPS FOR 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT

Jodi-Tatiana Charles

MassChallenge Brandographer

Tel: 888-782-7820 ext 707

media@masschallenge.org

MASSCHALLENGE ANNOUNCES FINAL 26 STARTUPS FOR 2012

WORLD'S HIGHEST-IMPACT STARTUPS VIE FOR $10M+ IN AWARDS, INCLUDING $1.1M CASH

BOSTON, MA-MassChallenge announced today the Final 26 startups remaining in contention in the world’s largest global startup accelerator and competition.

The 2012 installment of the multimillion-dollar startup competition launched on March 1 and attracted 1,237 applications from 35countries and 36 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 pitch their startups to the last round of judges who will identify 10 to 20winning startups to be announced at the MassChallenge Awards Ceremony on October 23.

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.

"Over 400 entrepreneurs from across the globe came together in the Boston Innovation District to address some of the world's most challenging problems together with the tremendous resources in the Boston startup community," said MassChallenge Chief Mentorship Officer Karl Büttner. "MassChallenge 2012 represents another great example of the growth, energy and excitement that can only be produced through collaboration. It is truly inspiring to work closely with the hundreds of MassChallenge mentors and judges who volunteer their time, effort and advice to help the 125 MassChallenge startups grow."

THE FINAL 26 STARTUPS

You can read more about these and all 125 MassChallenge 2012 Finalist startups here: http://masschallenge.org/browse/2012

2012 MASSCHALLENGE FINAL JUDGES

JUDGING GUIDELINES

The Final Judges are able to award up to $1Million of MassChallenge grants in amounts of either $50K or $100K each. MassChallenge is designed 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?

SIDECAR PRIZES INCREASE TOTAL CASH AWARDS TO $1.1M

Three sponsors – John W. Henry Family Foundation, Perkins School for the Blind and VenCorps – committed additional grants on top of the $1M in MassChallenge award money to support specific causes, thereby raising the award total to $1.1M for the 2012 program.

The John W. Henry Family Foundation will provide an additional $50,000 of grants to support the startup or startups in the 2012 MassChallenge accelerator with the most compelling social impact potential.

Perkins School for the Blind will offer an additional $25,000 of grants via the Perkins Assistive Technology Prize to encourage participants in MassChallenge to develop new, low- and high-technology devices that could make a significant impact on the quality of life for people with disabilities. VenCorps will contribute an additional $25,000 for grants to the startup or startups demonstrating the greatest potential to positively impact the City or State of New York.

MASSCHALLENGE 2012 AWARDS CEREMONY

October 23, 2012 | Boston Convention & Exhibition Center | 6 pm

On October 23, join MassChallenge and over 1,200 business and community leaders for its most exciting, highest-value event of the year: The MassChallenge 2012 Awards Ceremony. Attendees will be inspired by 1-minute pitches from the Final 26 startups of the MassChallenge 2012 Accelerator, representing the top 2% of the original 1,237 entrants. The anticipated crowd of over 1,200 business and community leaders will then celebrate global entrepreneurship as MassChallenge awards over $10,000,000 in prizes with no strings attached – over $1,000,000 in grants and over $9,000,000 of in-kind benefits.

This is MassChallenge’s only fundraiser of the year. MassChallenge is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all proceeds support the startup accelerator, contributing to the million dollars in grants.

You can read more about the MassChallenge Awards Ceremony and can register here: http://masschallenge.org/awards

You can find information regarding Awards Ceremony table sponsorship and VIP benefits here:

http://www.masschallenge.org/VIP-tables

ABOUT MASSCHALLENGE

MassChallenge is the largest-ever startup accelerator and competition, and the first to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strings attached. Benefits for startups include:

• 3-month accelerator program. World-class mentorship and training, free office space, access to funding, media and more.
• $1.1M in cash awards. $9M+ in-kind support.
• Open to all. Any startup can enter, from anywhere, in any industry.
• No equity taken. No restrictions applied.

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 affiliate of the Startup America Partnership. The 236 startups supported in the 2010 and 2011 accelerators have already raised well-over $250M in outside funding and created 2,150 jobs. 

The 2012 MassChallenge accelerator received 1,237 applications from 35 countries and 36 states. The program is open to anyone in the world, with any startup, in any industry. The accelerator is based in Massachusetts where innovation resources are highly concentrated – but there is no requirement for teams to create a physical presence in Massachusetts beyond the accelerator program. Every entrant receives training, feedback, PR and networking support via expert volunteers from partner organizations. Yearly, 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 very best 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.

###