Global Social Venture Competition

The First or Executive Summary Judging Round will take place at each Regional and Outreach Partner school or competition.  During this round, executive summaries will be screened by students and professional judges.  The professional judging panel for this round will consist of an appropriate balance of venture philanthropists, social venture investors, angel investors, venture capitalists and social venture entrepreneurs with 5 to 10 years of experience in the field. Judges will provide all teams with written feedback on their executive summary and business idea.

The Regional Semi-Finals Judging Round will take place at each Regional Partner school or competition. The judging panel for this round will also consist of an appropriate balance of experts in the social field with more than 10 years of experience and whose collective expertise spans a breadth of social, environmental and business subjects. Two finalist teams from each Regional Semi-Final Round will be selected to compete at Global Finals at UC Berkeley. All participating teams will receive extensive feedback on their business plans from the judges.

The Global Finals Judging Round will take place in April at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley in two consecutive rounds: Global Semi-Finals and Finals.  Each Global Finalist team will present to a panel of judges at the Global Semi-Finals, where the top teams will be selected to present the next day at the Global Finals round*.  All plans will be judged on how well they demonstrate potential for social and financial returns and the strength of their implementation strategy. The judging panels will consist of outstanding experts in the social field representing all sectors (venture philanthropists, social venture investors, international development experts, angel investors, venture capitalists and social venture entrepreneurs) and with more than 15 years of expertise. *Note that some or all of the presentations will be open to the public.

Judging Criteria

Plans will be evaluated against three equal sets of criteria...

1. Business potential (33%)

 Market & Competition:

• Business addresses a clearly-identified need and target customer
• Business is clearly differentiated from its competitors (both direct and indirect)

Products/Services (Offering):

• Solution is clearly defined with features and benefits 
• Offering holds substantial and lasting appeal to target

Financial Sustainability:  

• Business model is both financially feasible (value created is greater than costs incurred), fundable (attractive for future investors and donors), and scalable (replicable across regions, product categories, or impact areas)

2. Social impact potential (33%)

Social Value Proposition

• Business has a clearly-identified social value proposition that is supported by a well-articulated theory of change 
• Business generates social value above and beyond current state and/or next best available option

Quantification of Potential Social Impact

• Potential Social Impact projections are based on reasonable assumptions and credible data
• Plan has identified operational metrics (“social indicators”)  that strongly relate to desired social outcomes
• Plan recognizes potential unintended and/or negative consequences of the business

3. Likelihood of success (33%)   

Implementation

• Clearly defined vision and growth objectives
• Roadmap for implementation, including necessary connections/partnerships, customer acquisition strategy and demonstrated proof of concept
• Basic scenario planning to show adaptability in the face of hurdles or challenges
• Clear and feasible plan for impact measurement and evaluation, including ongoing monitoring of unintended and/or negative consequences of the business

Organizational Fit

• Social value proposition is central to the business model; impact scales as business scales
• Business has a comparative advantage to existing players addressing the same need

Quality of management team 

• Relevant and diverse domain & industry experience, business track record, education, access to resources, strong relationship with advisers
• Professional, persuasive and organized presentation