Competition Rules

Eligibility

To be eligible to enter the MassChallenge competition, a business entry must be at an early stage of development, and each team must pay the entry fee. The entry fee is intended to prevent entry from teams who are not committed to launching their business.

Entry

To enter the MassChallenge competition, a team must submit an executive summary and written elevator pitch through the MassChallenge website, from March 8 to April 11, 2011.

Awards

MassChallenge seeks to award high impact new ventures that will be successful, and anticipates approximately ~300 Semi-Finalists, ~125 Finalists and 10-20 award recipients.

• Finalists receive free resources in Massachusetts including mentorship, work space, strategic advice, and networking opportunities to further their businesses.

• Award recipients receive approximately $50,000 to $100,000 in cash, business guidance, public relations promotion, and marketing exposure from the Competition.
   
• These Awards will be used toward development of the start-up business.

Process

The process of forming the startup of each Entry is the focus of the competition. Note the following important dates: (SUBJECT TO CHANGE, please check HERE)

• March 8: MassChallenge launch, opening of website for entry. Training and networking events begin in earnest.
   
• April 11: Deadline for entry submission. Round 1 of Judging. Training, networking and other events continue.
   
• May 9: Round 1 judging completed. ~300 Semi-Finalists continue with competition events. Teams perform in-person pitches for Round 2 judging.
   
• May 24: **Round 2 judging completed. 100+ finalist teams will receive one on one mentorship, work space, and other resources as part of a 3 month accelerator phase. The final judging panel will identify approximately 10-20 awardees.
   
• June-September: Accelerator Program Each team pairs with mentors of their choice, given free premium office space in downtown Boston. Weekly entrepreneur stories, training sessions and workshops covering strategy, marketing, fundraising, team building and access to angel groups, law firms, marketing agencies, PR firms, venture capital firms
• October 3-17: Final Judging.
   
• October 20: MassChallenge Final Ceremony. Announcement of awards.
   
• **Entrants who participate in the accelerator must be present in Massachusetts to be eligible for awards.

Judging

The goal of the judging process is to award startups with promise for economic success and positive impact in the community. There are three rounds of formal judging.

MassChallenge will enlist the services of expert judges who are independent and objective, with no conflicts of interest.

Judges’ scores will be based on a weighted percentage of the following factors: 

Endorsement Points

The endorsement system is intended to encourage, capture and reward networking and referral. As indicated in these rules, endorsement points count for 10% of the judging score in the first round of the competition.

• Endorsements add to the team’s score, but do not influence the judges’ review of the entry.
   
• Any reimbursement/discount indicated expires on the April 11 midnight EST entry deadline.
   
• Endorsements must be submitted to the website by April 25 midnight EST to count toward the team score. Discounts will not be honored after April 11 midnight EST.
   
• Endorsements are not considered received by a team until submitted by an authorized endorser via the MassChallenge website.
   
• Successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, subject experts, investors and other prominent individuals in the entrepreneurial ecosystem can endorse your team. To see the list of endorsing organizations and individuals, see HERE

  Endorsement Type	Point Value	Discount on Entry Fee
  Diamond	+8	$50
  Platinum	+1	N/A

  Teams can collect as many endorsements as possible, but only one endorsement can be collected from any one endorser per team.

  • There are two types of endorsement tickets available:

Legal Action

MassChallenge shall be held harmless in the event of any legal action.

Other Agreements

MassChallenge takes no responsibility for agreements between competition participants and third parties.

Intellectual Property

MassChallenge takes no part in and has no liability for the domestic or international intellectual property rights of competition participants.

• Participants are responsible for their own intellectual property.
   
• Participants must keep confidential information confidential.

Privacy

MassChallenge protects personal information collected in competition materials (see privacy policy on MassChallenge.org).

Submissions

Entry materials become the property of MassChallenge.

Immorality

Participants who engage in immoral activities, including lying and cheating, or any activity that may adversely affect the image of MassChallenge or other participants, become ineligible for the Competition.

Originality

All work and submissions of Entrants must be original to the entrant/team.

Compliance, Disqualification

All participants must comply with the rules. Any violation of the rules will disqualify an entrant’s team from the competition, and result in forfeiture of any awards awarded to the team.

Liability Related to Awards

Awardees may not hold MassChallenge or other participants responsible for any harm resulting from accepting or using the award.

Immigration

Participants must be legally present in the United States. MassChallenge takes no responsibility for immigration status of participants.

Antiterrorism

Each Participant warrants that he or she does not participate in any terrorist activities. Mass Challenge shall not be held responsible for any harm resulting breach of this warranty.

Law

The competition is subject to applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Updates

MassChallenge may update the competition rules throughout the competition. All updates will be posted on the MassChallenge website.