Judging Process

HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2023

 

Judges

  1. The Judges shall be experienced entrepreneurs, investors, academics and industrial professionals appointed by Entrepreneurship Center.
  2. HKUST and the Judging Panel reserves 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

13 April 2023

Deadline of Application with 5-page Pitch Deck

14 April 2023 - 24 April 20223

Evaluation of All Entries

24 April 2023

Deadline of 1-min Product Introduction Video

26 April 2023

Result Announcement of Round 1 Assessment

 

  1. Round 2 Assessment

2 May 2023 - 2 June 2023

Video Q&A Activity

22 May 2023

Deadline of Short Business Plan Submission

30 May 2023

Pitching Assessment

31 May 2023

Result Announcement of Round 2 Assessment

 

  1. Final Round Assessment

6 June 2023

Deadline of Full Business Plan Submission

7 June 2023 

Final Round Business Plan Presentation and Award Ceremony

 

Judging Process of Each Round

(A) Round 1 Assessment: 5-page Pitch Deck

The core assessment of the entries will focus on the innovativeness, the proof of feasibility, viability and commercial potential of the proposed product.

  1. All Round 1 entries are required to submit a 5-page Pitch Deck.
  2. Each pitch deck will be assessed by 3 or more independent judges formed by experienced entrepreneurs, investors, academics and industrial professionals. They will make their evaluations and score the teams according to a common judging criteria based on “5-page Pitch Deck Guidelines”. Top 25 with highest scores will enter the Round 2 Assessment.

(B) Round 2 Assessment: 5-minute Pitch

The core assessment of the entries will focus on the market strategy and impact of the product/services you are providing.

  1. The 5-minute Pitch will take place on 30 May 2023 in HKUST CWB Campus.
  1. Each Team is required to make a 5-minute pitch in front of a Judging Panel of 3 to 5 Judges.
  2. Each Team is required to submit a 5-min Pitch Deck. The submitted version will be sent to the judging panel for background study before the Pitch. Teams not meeting this deadline may be disqualified.
  3. The Judging Panel will make their evaluations and score the teams according to a common judging criteria based on “5-min Pitch Deck Guideline”.
  4. The winner of the "Impact Sustainability Award" will be decided by this Judging Panel. Judging criteria of the award can be found here.

 

(C) Final Round Assessment: Full Business Plan Presentation

Business Plan Presentation

The Final Round Business Plan Presentation will take place at June 2022. The full business plan should explain the practicability of the plan execution and fundability potential.

  1. Each team will conduct a 8-minute, uninterrupted Business Plan presentation in English followed by up to 15 minutes of Q&A by the Judging Panel of 3 to 5 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 “Full Business Plan Guideline”.
  3. The winner of the "Innovation Award" will be decided by this Judging Panel.

Shortlisted teams in the Final Round will have a chance to give an elevator pitch in the Award Ceremony to compete for the Elevator Pitch Award. The Pitch should be done by one of the HKUST members in the team.