Innovation Challenge: Judges & Judging Criteria
The sponsors or their representatives, plus industry experts invited by the sponsors to provide special expertise, will serve as judges for the competition.
The decision of the judging panel is final. Judges reserve the right to alter prize amounts. Judges will determine placing based on quality of the business plan and its presentation.
Judges will assess each business in terms of feasibility of its survival and prosperity. They will favorably view technology based on ideas developed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and will look for teams that demonstrate a significant commitment and ability to take an idea forward.
Elements that typically play key roles include: market, financial, technological and risk assessment, and comprehensive business planning in support of a viable start-up venture. Judges will also be looking at factors including originality and creativity.