JUDGING

CRITERIA

All Invent Oregon teams will be evaluated by an independent committee of judges. We strive to include judges with diverse backgrounds and experience in business and technology.

 

When evaluating teams, judges consider both a team’s physical prototype (as demonstrated at their booth) and a three-minute pitch.*

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Invent Oregon is first and foremost a prototyping competition. We consider prototype development to be as important as business development (market opportunity, business model, and commercial potential). Accordingly, our scoring is weighted based on the following criteria:

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  1. Prototype (50% of overall score)

    • Scoring should consider the current state of the prototype: Is the prototype innovative? Is the prototype skillfully constructed? Is the prototype functioning? 

  2. Pitch (20% of overall score):

    • Scoring should consider the team’s ability to clearly present the problem, solution, and the market/business opportunity in their pitch. Also considered: presentation style, stage presence, and visuals (slides/images).

  3. Progress (20% of overall score):

    • Scoring should consider the progress the team has made since beginning the competition. What progress has been made? Did the team accomplish stated goals? 

  4. Impact (10% of overall score):

    • Scoring should consider the ability of team’s solution/prototype to have a substantial and scalable positive environmental and/or social impact.

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Semifinals*

Teams are judged at semifinals on the above criteria based on their ability to discuss and demonstrate strengths in each category through their 3-minute pitch.  We recommend teams include photos or videos of their prototypes in their pitch or other visuals that convey progress made to judges. We recognize that not allowing prototypes at semifinals creates challenges for judges to evaluate teams’ progress and/or functionality of a prototype. However, it is very difficult and often costly for teams to transport and rebuild prototypes. In order to provide teams an equal opportunity, we asked teams not to bring their prototypes. We asked them to share in their pitch (through visuals, videos, or verbally) the state of their prototypes and the progress they have made since joining the competition.