Rules

OFFICIAL RULES for Challenge Teams
Note: Applicants are required to adhere to all requirements/rules outlined on this page to have valid entries in this Challenge

Challenge Teams, Start-ups, and Equity

Entering Teams: Only entries that have the intent of creating a startup will be accepted into the Challenge
Equity: 2.5% equity in every winning startup created out of this challenge will be granted to one of the pharmaceutical companies supporting the Challenge; .5% royalty income will be provided to another one of our pharmaceutical companies
Board of Advisors: Additionally, a board of advisors seat will be awarded to this external company (no fiduciary responsibility)

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to participate in this Challenge, individuals and Challenge Teams must adhere to the following eligibility requirements:

Registration: Each Challenge Team member must execute a Letter of Intent (LOI) and be approved to proceed in the Challenge
Startup Intentions: Only entries that have the intent of creating a startup will be accepted into the Challenge

Age: Each Challenge Team member must be 18 years old or older

Location: Team members can be located anywhere in the world

Affiliation: No Challenge Team member may be employed by the United States government or The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI). Employees, officers, directors, representatives, and vendors or any company involved in promotion, administration or fulfillment relating to the Challenge and their immediate family members and persons living in their same household are not eligible to participate in the Challenge

University Participation: At least two members of each Challenge Team must be enrolled as active graduate or under-graduate students in a University, or, alternatively, can be enrolled in a post-doc university or non-university program, e.g., hospital and/or industry program such as Pfizer's. MDs in residency are also considered "University" participants
Team Members: Challenge Team members can be from the University faculty, University Technology Transfer, University alumni, the team can be from different universities and can also include business leaders in the community. Additional members can be anyone who the team believes will help them be successful as long as they adhere to the eligibility requirements and rules outlined in this Challenge
- Mentors/Advisors: Members of the team may participate as mentors/advisors and represent the disciplines outlined below; there are NO maximum number of mentors/advisors. It must be very clear how any identified mentors/advisors will contribute to the success of the Challenge Team and also what specific commitment they have to the Challenge Team in terms of hours of consultation, ability to evaluate for seed funding, etc.
- Collaborator: A collaborator is defined as an organization that agrees to help support the team: seed funding organizations, service companies (e.g., legal, financial, etc.)
- Disciplines: All teams must have at a minimum the following disciplines represented:
  1. Business: can be pursuing an MBA, studying business as an undergraduate or come from the business community
  2. Medical/Scientific: can be in medical school or graduate school, a post-doc, in residency or, alternatively, a medical doctor, graduate with a scientific degree, or someone in the medical/scientific profession working in the Life Sciences industry
  3. Entrepreneurship: our preference is a person who has had experience starting a biomedical company, e.g., therapeutics, vaccine, diagnostics, device or Heath IT organization more than once, e.g., the entrepreneur is a "serial entrepreneur" and has performed the foregoing more than once. We require that the entrepreneur has founded a Life Sciences, biomedical and/or health IT company; raised dilutive and non-dilutive capital for that company and have exited either successfully or unsuccessfully. We prefer entrepreneurs that have tenure of at least five years (a minimum of three years) in a start-up and also have had corporate experience
  4. At least one of your Core members MUST represent either a Business or Medical/Scientific discipline
  5. One person may represent a maximum of two disciplines
  6. The Core Team, Mentors, Advisors, and Collaborators may all represent any of the four discipline requirements
  7. Size: Each Challenge Team must have a minimum of three members; there is no maximum team size
  8. Role: Each member of the Challenge Team should have a defined role
  9. Team Changes: After Challenge Team members are submitted, CAI understands that in some cases, Challenge Teams may augment their team and/or change members of their team
- Team Changes: please inform of any changes to your team and have them fill the CDA
  - If Challenge Team member changes are to the core team or for any members of the team for which there is a mandatory discipline, please inform CAI. New members of the team must be submitted on the CDA form. CAI will approve the team change or get back to the Challenge Team with new requirements. If the Challenge Team is unable to fulfill the requirements, they may choose to no longer participate in the Challenge
Names: For team names and for required documents we require teams to stick to the guidelines for file naming conventions. However, we encourage teams to create alternate team names to show their spirit and creativity
Original Work: Challenge submissions must be the original work of the Challenge Team. Upon submission, each applicant warrants that he or she is the sole author and owner of the submission that the work is wholly original with the application (or is an improved version of an existing work that the applicant has sufficient rights to use – including the substantial improvement of existing open-source work) and that it does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which applicant is aware. Each applicant warrants further that the Submission is free of malware. Each applicant retains all rights in its Submission

Submission Requirements and Timing

In order for a Submission to be eligible to win in this Challenge, it must be provided based on the due dates outlined below:

Provide deliverables during the phases of this Challenge by their due date provided below. Please note: All dates are subject to change at the sole discretion of CAI. Notifications will be made two weeks prior to any date changes

Phase 0: Entering the Challenge: The Challenge will begin officially on October 12th, 2015 with the letter of intent phase. Acceptable LOIs will be approved on a rolling basis. LOIs will no longer be accepted when the CAI has received approximately 10 acceptable LOIs per invention. No LOIs will be accepted or approved after 11:59pm Pacific Time on March 14th, 2016. Final communication to prospective participants will be performed on March 15th, 2016. CAI will record the number of LOIs that have been accepted on the invention page of this web site - Please look here
Phase 1: Elevator Speech: Phase 1 of the challenge will begin on March 15th, 2016. The deliverables for Phase 1, including the 2 minute elevator speech and the 350 word executive summary, are due on April 17th, 2016. From April 18th 2016 - April 22nd 2016, the deliverables will be posted online for public access and voting. The last date to vote will be on April 22nd at 11:59am. Finalist announcements will be made by April 25th, 2016
Phase 2: Business Plan: The official business plan phase will begin on April 25th, 2016, promptly after the ending of Phase 1. Teams are welcome and encouraged to begin their deliverables for Phase 2 earlier than this date. Business plan documentation/deliverables are due on June 26th, 2016. Live pitches will be conducted from June 27th to July 1st, 2016. Finalist and Winners will be announced by July 18th, 2016
Phase 3: Start-up: The start-up phase will begin on July 19th, 2016. The target end date is August 28th, 2016. Challenge teams are encouraged to finish all deliverables as soon as possible. More guidance will be provided during the course of the start-up phase of the Challenge

Challenge Deliverable Requirements

Nanotechnology and Cancer Focus: While some inventions in this Challenge can be applied to various indications, all deliverables must represent a clear focus on how the invention will create new biomedical solutions in cancer utilizing nanotechnology

OVERALL: All Challenge Team members (including mentors/adivsors) must complete a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) and submit their resumes; please find guidance, examples, and links to these forms here

Phase 0 : Entering the Challenge

Invention selection
Entrepreneur selection
Letter of Intent: statement of intent to participate
CDA Form: agree to the Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA)
Resumes: team member information with resumes and rationale for team members selected
Optional Forms: Stakeholder Analysis and Collaborators Form
Note: All Entries must show intent of creating a startup through this Nano Startup Challenge in Cancer. If your team has no intention of forming a startup, your team may be rejected from entering

Phase 1: Elevator Speech

2 minute "elevator speech" pitch video
350 word executive summary

Phase 2: Business Plan

10 page business plan with dilutive/non-dilutive funders or potential licensees (appendices are optional as supporting material for your business plan)
Supporting financial model
Pitch deck that has a maximum length of 10 pages
20 minute virtual pitch via WebEx
Optional: Business model Canvas
Optional: Additional Appendices to your business plan

Phase 3: Start-up

Start-up company incorporation
Start-up licensing application
Documentation preparation for dilutive/non-dilutive funding
Management team selection and Board of Advisors selection

Additional Information:

All Entries must show intent of creating a startup through this Nano Startup Challenge in Cancer. If your team has no intention of forming a startup, your team may be rejected from entering
Deliverables submitted must not use any organization logos unless written permission is provided from the organization that owns the logo
Deliverables may not state that there is endorsement by NIH or CAI
NIH Licenses are not guaranteed to teams and their selected invention. Negotiations will need to occur in order to receive a NIH licensing agreement.
One Team Leader will serve as the point of contact for all deliverables and communications (this is in grey in the team leader section of the Core Team Letter of Intent form)
The Team Leader must fill out and agree to a CDA form and LOI form on behalf of the entire team. The implication is that the Team Leader must have an agreement amongst team members that he/she is signing on behalf of all team members

Submission Rules

All Submissions must comply with the following rules:

The Challenge is void wherever prohibited or restricted by law. NIH and CAI collectively reserves the right to disqualify any applicant to the Challenge

This Challenge is subject to all applicable United States federal, state and local laws and regulations. Participation constitutes applicant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor, NIH and CAI decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Challenge. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein

In the case of Federal grantees, Challenge Teams may not use federal funds to develop submissions for this Challenge unless permitted under the terms of their grant award

In the case of Federal contractors, Challenge teams may not use federal funds from a contract to develop submissions for this Challenge or to fund efforts in support of this Challenge

By participating in this Challenge, Challenge Team members agree to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and its related entities, CAI, except in the case of willing misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from a Challenge team's participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise. By participating in this Challenge, Challenge Team members agree to indemnify the Federal Government and CAI against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities

Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, or property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, Applicants are not required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial responsibility in order to participate in this Challenge
Challenge Logos/Website:
1. Challenge Team members agree that they will not use the name or the logo or trademark or other mark of “The National Institutes of Health," "The Center for Advancing Innovation," or any variation, adaptation, or abbreviation thereof, or the name of any of their respective trustees, officers, faculty, students, employees, or agents, or any trademark owned in any advertising or publicity (including but not limited to advertising or publicity on your organization’s website) without first seeking and obtaining the prior written permission of NIH and/or CAI, as applicable
2. Not withstanding the foregoing, Challenge Team members agree to acknowledge the support provided by CAI in all brochures, website postings, informational and marketing materials, annual reports and publications describing the Challenge programs and activities you have funded or otherwise supported and to use the format agreed upon by the CAI
3. In addition you agree to allow The Center for Advancing Innovation to post your organization’s logo and a link to your organization’s website on the main Challenge website nscsquared.org. CAI will not use the logo or link beyond the Challenge website

Information Sharing

Information sharing is fundamental to the attainment of the Challenge’s goals of collaborative innovation among the Participants. However, information sharing during the time frame of the Challenge is for the limited purpose of creating business plans and live pitches, including commercialization plans, development plans, regulatory strategies, intellectual property strategies and such other deliverables as the Challenge Teams believe are critical for the business plan of the Challenge. Details for the Challenge can be found on the Overview Page.

Accordingly, the Challenge Teams shall only use Confidential Information for the Challenge. In addition, the Challenge Teams will keep all Confidential Information they receive directly or indirectly from any other Participant strictly confidential and, except as permitted herein, shall not disclose, reveal or share any portion of the Confidential Information to or with any individual or entity.

As used herein, “Confidential Information” means any and all information that is presented or disclosed by a Participant to any other Participant(s) in written, electronic, visual or oral form or in any other tangible medium during meetings, communications, or other information exchanges held in connection with the business plan of the Challenge. Confidential Information shall include, but not be limited to, unpublished data, research results, unpublished proprietary methods, financial/valuation models, business plans, business model canvases, theories, drawings and figures or visual depictions of research data or results regardless of format. Confidential Information also includes anything disclosed by a Participant (the “Disclosing Participant”) to another Participant that the Disclosing Participant marks in writing as “Confidential.”

“Confidential Information” shall not include, and the obligations contained herein shall not extend to, any part of the Confidential Information: (a) that can be demonstrated to have been in the public domain or publicly known at the time of disclosure; (b) that can be demonstrated to have been in the possession of or that can be demonstrated to have been readily available to Signatory from another source prior to the disclosure; (c) that becomes part of the public domain or publicly known by publication or otherwise, not due to any unauthorized act by Signatory; (d) that can be demonstrated as independently developed or acquired by Signatory without reference to or reliance upon such Confidential Information; or (e) that is required to be disclosed by law.

Additional Information

Taxes: You are responsible for all taxes and reporting related to any award you receive as part of the Challenge
General Conditions: NIH and CAI reserve the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify elements of the Challenge, for any reason, at NIH, and CAI's joint discretion. Participation in this Challenge constitutes an applicant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by the Challenge's Official Rules found within this webpage

Privacy Policy: Challenge.gov collects personal information from you when you register on Challenge.gov. The information collected is subject to the Challenge.gov privacy policy located at https://www.challenge.gov/privacy-policy/
Press: All Challenge Teams, as a condition of participation in the Challenge, will be required to participate in media and press opportunities related to the Challenge at the request of CAI. CAI may, for example, request that the team:
1. Prepare a 100-150 word description of the invention the Team is working on as well as the Team’s commercialization and development strategy that will be made available to media and may be released publicly, either in part or in its entirety
2. Speak to the media during Challenge-related interviews
3. Provide quotes and/or content for any Challenge-related press release
Participation in media and press opportunities in no way requires Teams to disclose any proprietary or otherwise confidential information related to their businesses. Upon request CAI will provide consultation to any team to avoid such disclosures while participating in press related opportunities

CHALLENGE WEBSITE: The Challenge website will serve as a resource for information about the Challenge, including rules, timelines and contributors. The Challenge website will not be used for fundraising or for the advertising or marketing of non-Challenge related events or activities. The Challenge website is the sole property of CAI