Judging Process

Judges

1. The Judges shall be experienced entrepreneurs, investors and academics appointed by Entrepreneurship Center.
2. HKUST and the Judging Panel reserve the right to disqualify any entry that in its judgment violates the “Application & Eligibility” and/or “Submission Rules” of the Competition.
3. HKUST and the Judging Panel reserve the right to amend the procedure and/or the timing for the competition on one or more occasions without giving prior notice to any of the participants. HKUST and the Judging Panel reserve the right to decide that all or any of the entries or plans do not meet the judging criteria, or to defer in whole or in part all or any of the cash and/or in-kind contribution awards to the following year.
4. The decisions of the Judging Panel are final and binding.

Judging Process

The assessment process consists of 3 rounds and the winners will be announced after the Competition.

(1) Round 1 Assessment

(2) Round 2 Assessment

(3) Round 3 Assessment

All members of each team must attend the April 17 Exhibition in Round 2 Assessment and June 7 Business Plan Presentation.

Each Finalist Team is advised to plan its work distribution amongst its team members in handling the Exhibition & Pitch on April 17, 2018.

Faculty members are not allowed to make the presentations.

Judging Process for Selection of 12 Finalist Teams

(A) Round 1 Assessment : 2-page Executive Summary

1. The core assessment of the entries will focus on the innovativeness, feasibility and viability of the proposed product.
2. All applications will be evaluated by the Chair and co-Chairs of the Competition by using the common “Executive Summary Judging Criteria”. The Chair and co-Chairs will hold a joint session where up to a maximum of 24 entries will be selected to enter the Round 2 Assessment.
3. For the Focus Area Awards, the center will invite industry experts and/or sponsors to select the awardee.

(B) Round 2 Assessment : Exhibition, Elevator Pitch & Short Business Plan

(i) Exhibition

1. The Exhibition is a half-day event which will take place on April 17, 2018.
2. It is open to HKUST community, public, venture capitalists, investors and angels to give score for the best exhibition on site. The total scoring of this part will contribute 20% of Round 2 presentation.
3. A display board and a table will be allocated to each team to display its business proposals. Each team is allowed to use its display boards or digital media as needed.
4. Details of the exhibition booth arrangement will be confirmed with the teams after the Round 1 Assessment.

(ii) Elevator Pitch
The Elevator Pitch will take place on April 17, 2018 after the exhibition.

1. Each Team is required to make a 90-second elevator pitch in front of a Judging Panel of 3 Judges.
2. The Judging Panel will make their evaluations and score the teams according to a common “Elevator Pitch Judging Criteria”.
3. The center will do video recording during the Elevator Pitch for online voting. The voting (http://onemilliondollar.ust.hk/pitch_voting) for the Elevator Pitch will be open to public from April 23, 2018 to May 27, 2018.
4. Elevator Pitch Award will be decided based on scores given by:
   1. Judging Panel (90%); and
   2. Online Voting (10%)

(iii) Short Business Plan

1. The core assessment of the shortlisted plans will focus on the value proposition of the product / services that the plan provides.
2. The selected entries in the Round 2 Assessment will be evaluated by a Judging Panel who will use a common “Executive Summary Judging Criteria”. 12 Finalist Teams will be selected base on the scores from:
   1. Short Business Plan (80%)
   2. Exhibition (20%)

(C) Round 3 Assessment : Full Business Plan

(i) Business Plan Presentation
The Round 3 Business Plan Presentation will take place on Jun 7, 2018. The 12 Teams will be divided into 2 groups of 6 teams. The full business plan should explain the practicability of the plan execution and fundability potential.

1. Each team will conduct a 10-minute, uninterrupted Business Plan presentation in English followed by up to 10 minutes of Q&A by the Judging Panel of 3 Judges. It is not compulsory for all team members to speak in the presentation. But the whole team should be there for the Q&A section, the judging panel would ask questions to specific members of the team as per their role and expertise inside the team.
2. The Judges will make their evaluations and give their scores by using a common “Business Plan Judging Criteria”.
3. The 3 top scoring teams from each group will enter the Final Round Presentation (with Exhibition scores).

(ii) Final Round Business Plan Competition

1. The final round Business Plan Presentation will be judged by a new set of judges.
2. The 6 highest scoring teams will make the Business Plan Presentations. Each team will conduct a 10-minute, uninterrupted Business Plan presentation in English followed by up to 15 minutes of Q&A by the Judging Panel. It is not compulsory for all team members to speak in the presentation but the whole team should be there for Q&A.
3. The Judges will adopt the common “Final Round Presentation Judging Criteria”.
4. Three winning teams will be decided after a joint deliberation of the Final Round Judging Panel.
5. The winner of the “Innovation Award” will be decided by the highest score after a joint deliberation of the Judging Panel.