2015 MassChallenge
MassChallenge recently visited Babson to share what their competition and accelerator are all about. MassChallenge is the world’s largest startup accelerator and competition and the first of its kind to support high impact, early stage entrepreneurs with no strings attached. They give entrepreneurs everything that they need to succeed for example they provide resources for marketing, media, operation and even to strategic problem. The MassChallenge application opened February 11.
There are several stages to actually join MassChallenge. After you submit the application (due on April 1) there are two rounds of judging. In this judging stage, the judges are not only entrepreneurs but they are business professionals from all different the industries. Some of them are lawyers, some of them are tech experts and some of them are even architectures. After that, the next round is May 13 which is preparing finalists for accelerator. On June 22 the accelerator finalists are announced and on October 15 there is final judging. The final ceremony takes place on October 28!
MassChallenge is a very competitive program. There are about 30 universities engaged with MassChallenge, including Babson. MassChallenge is well-connected with the startup community, they have over 40 venture capitalists and angel funds involved as sponsors. There are about 617 startups that originated from MassChallenge and out of these startups, 86% are still active.
During this event, we had the pleasure of hearing from a MassChallenge alum. He said that the best part was having a mentor and the relationship that he had with his mentor. The mentor was able to lead him to the right direction and motivate him to focus on his business.
MassChallenge is open to entrepreneurs from all over the world. Find out more about MassChallenge on their website or contact apply@masschallenge.org if any questions!