University of Toronto Fintech Pitchathon Official Rules – (the “Official Rules”) 

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.  

Event Name: University of Toronto Fintech Pitchathon

Pitchathon Website: https://uoft-fintech-pitchathon.devpost.com

You must complete registration via this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScOtytA-gLke8yEiG1K4C4fO_8H3he9kukHt8nonEZPmchJsA/viewform 

1. POSTER & ADMINISTRATOR

Poster (the “Poster”): Investment Society and Management and Technology Association ("IS and MTA"), 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, ON M1C1A4 CA. 
The Poster is the sponsor and entity responsible for the Pitchathon.

Administrator (the “Administrator”): Devpost, Inc. (“Devpost”), 222 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10038. 
The Administrator is responsible for the rules, administration, and operation of the Pitchathon. 

 

2. DATES AND TIMING  

Pitchathon Registration-Only Period: March 12, 2021 (9:00am Eastern Time) – March 21, 2021 (10:00am Eastern Time) (the “Pitchathon Registration Period”)

Pitchathon Submission Period: March 21, 2021 (10:00am Eastern Time) – March 27, 2021 (11:59pm Eastern Time) (the “Pitchathon Submission Period”) 

Judging Period:  March 28, 2021 (10:00am Eastern Time) – March 31, 2021 (5:00pm Eastern Time) (the “Judging Period”)

Winners Announced: April 1, 2020 (Time: TBD)  

Administrator will be the official timekeeper for the Hackathon. 

 

3. ELIGIBILITY 

A. The Hackathon IS open to:  

  • Individuals who are enrolled in an accredited Canadian post secondary program (“Eligible Individuals”). 
  • Teams of Eligible Individuals (“Teams”)
    (the above are collectively, “Makers”) 

An Eligible Individual may not join more than one Team and an Eligible Individual who is part of a Team may not also enter the Hackathon on an individual basis.  

If a Team is entering the Hackathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission, on their behalf. The Representative must meet the eligibility requirements above. By entering a Submission on the Site on behalf of a Team you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your Team.

PLEASE NOTE: It is your sole responsibility to review and understand your employer’s policies regarding your eligibility to participate in trade promotions, including this Hackathon. If you are participating in violation of your employer’s policies, you may be disqualified from entering or receiving prizes. Poster and Administrator disclaim any and all liability or responsibility for disputes arising between an employee and their employer related to this matter, and prizes will only be awarded in compliance with the employer’s policies. 

B. The Hackathon IS NOT open to:    

  • Individuals who are not registered in a Canadian post-secondary program. 
  • Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry. 
  • Government entities, including sovereign states and all governmental entities as well as quasi-Governmental entities, including but not limited to Government corporations, state-owned or state-controlled enterprises, regional transportation authorities, or state-owned universities or hospitals (“Government Entities”).
  • Any Judge (defined below), or company or individual that employs a Judge 
  • Any other individual or organization whose participation in the Hackathon would create, in the sole discretion of the Poster and/or Administrator, a real or apparent conflict of interest 

 

4. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 

A. How to Enter 
Makers must do the following to participate in the Hackathon: 

  • Register for the Pitchathon on the Pitchathon Website by clicking the “Join this Hackathon” button. To complete registration, sign up to create a Devpost account, or log in with an existing Devpost account. There is no charge for creating a Devpost account. This will enable you to receive important updates and access the “Enter a Submission” page. 
  • Complete an IS x MTA registration form by filling out the below required form managed by the Administrator: Click Here to Access the Form  
  • Build an application prototype that is relevant to the fintech industry and a 5 minute pitch about the application. The application should be functional.  
  • Create a video (not to exceed 5 minutes) that includes footage that clearly explains your application’s features and functionality through a comprehensive demonstration. 
  • Provide details outlining a high-level overview of the tools used within the application.
  • Complete and enter all of the required fields on the “Enter a Submission” page of the Hackathon Website (each a “Submission”) during the Hackathon Submission Period, and follow the requirements below. 

A. Language Requirements  
All Submission materials must be in English or, if not in English, the Maker must provide an English translation of the demonstration video, text description, and testing instructions as well as all other materials submitted. 

B. Application Requirements

(i) What to Create: Makers must build or update an application prototype with a design software such as Figma, Proto.io etc., that is related to the fintech industry. The application should be functional.  (each an “Application”). 

(ii) Functionality: The Application must be capable of being successfully run consistently on the platform for which it is intended, and must function as depicted in the video and/or expressed in the text description.

(iii) Platforms: A submitted Application must run on at least one of the following: 

  • a smartphone or tablet  (iOS or Android) 
  • a web browser (mobile or desktop) 
  • a desktop computer (Windows PC, Mac Desktop) 
  • other hardware (including, but not limited to, wearable technology, open source hardware, or proprietary hardware)

(iv) New: Applications must be either newly created by the Maker. 

(v) Testing: The Maker must make the Application available free of charge and without any restriction, for testing, evaluation and use by the Poster, Administrator and judges during the Hackathon and until the Judging Period ends.  

(vi) Multiple Submissions: A Maker may submit more than one Submission, however, each Submission must be unique and substantially different from each of the Maker’s other Submissions, as determined by the Poster and/or the Administrator. 

(vii) Intellectual Property: Your Submission must: (a) be your (or your Team’s) original work product; (b) be solely owned by you, your Team with no other person or entity having any right or interest in it; and (c) not violate the intellectual property rights or other rights including but not limited to copyright, trademark, patent, contract, and/or privacy rights, of any other person or entity. A Maker may contract with a third party for technical assistance to create the Submission provided the Submission components are solely the Maker’s work product and the result of the Maker’s ideas and creativity, and the Maker owns all rights to them. A Maker may submit a Submission that includes the use of open source software or hardware, provided the Maker complies with applicable open source licenses and, as part of the Submission, creates software that enhances and builds upon the features and functionality included in the underlying open source product. By entering the Hackathon you represent, warrant, and agree that your Submission meets these requirements. 

(viii) Financial or Preferential Support: An Application must not have been developed, or derived from an Application developed, with financial or preferential support from the Poster or Administrator. Such Applications include, but are not limited to, those that received funding or investment for their development, were developed under contract, or received a commercial license, from the Poster or Administrator any time prior to the end of Hackathon Submission Period. The Poster, at their sole discretion, may disqualify an Application, if awarding a prize to the Application would create a real or apparent conflict of interest. 

 

C. Text Description, Image, and Video Requirements  

(i) Text Description: The text description should explain the features and functionality of your Application. 

(ii) Images: The image(s) should be photographs or screenshots of your working prototype.  

(iii) Video: The required video portion of the Submission:  

  • should be between three (3) to five (5) minutes in length; 
  • must include footage that clearly explains the Application’s features and functionality through a comprehensive demo of the software;  
  • must be uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook Video, and a link to the video must be provided on the submission form on the Hackathon Website; and 
  • must not include third party trademarks, or copyrighted music or other material unless the Maker has permission to use such material.  

D. Submission Modifications 

i. Draft Submissions: Prior to the end of the Submission Period, you may save draft versions of your Submission on Devpost to your portfolio before submitting the Submission materials to the Competition for evaluation. Once the Submission Period has ended, you may not make any changes or alterations to your Submission, but you may continue to update the project in your Devpost portfolio. 

ii. Modifications after the Submission Period. The Poster may permit you to modify part of your Submission after the Submission Period for the purpose of removing material that potentially infringes a third party mark or right, discloses personally identifiable information, or is otherwise inappropriate. The modified Submission must remain substantively the same as the original Submission with the only modification being what the Poster permits.  

 

5. SUBMISSION RIGHTS 

A. Maker Rights: Subject to the licenses described below, any applicable intellectual property rights to a Submission will remain with the Maker. 

B. Poster Rights:  By entering the Hackathon, you grant to the Poster, Administrator, and any other third parties acting on the Poster’s behalf, a royalty-free, non-exclusive, worldwide perpetual license to display publicly and use for promotional purposes the Submission, in perpetuity. This license includes, but is not limited to, posting or linking to the Submission on Poster’s, Administrator’s, and partners’ websites and applications, including the Hackathon Website, and display and promotion of the Submission in any other media, worldwide. 

C. Submission Display: The following Submission components may be displayed to the public: name, description, images, video URL, website URL, team members, the Submission category and platform, and submitter type. Other Submission materials may be viewed by the Poster, Administrator, and Judges for screening and evaluation. 

D. Makers represent and warrant that the Poster, Administrator, and Hackathon partners are free to use Makers’ Submission in the manner described above, as provided or as modified by the Administrator, without obtaining permission or license from any third party and without any compensation to Makers. 

 

6. JUDGING 

A. Judges: Eligible Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges selected by the Poster (the “Judges”).  Judges may be employees of the Poster or external, may or may not be listed individually on the Hackathon Website, and may change before or during the Judging Period. Judging may take place in one or more rounds with one or more panels of Judges, at the discretion of the Poster. 

B. Criteria: The Judges will score eligible Submissions using the following weighted criteria (the “Judging Criteria”): 

(i) Implementation of Idea: Includes how well fintech ideas were leveraged and executed by the team. 

(ii) Potential Impact: Includes extent to which the solution can be widely useful. 

(iii) Quality of the Idea: Includes creativity and originality of the idea. 

(iv) Quality of the Pitch: Includes how clearly the information is conveyed.

 

C. Stages: Submissions will be evaluated by the Judges in one stage: 

Stage 1: During the Judging Period, Judges will score each team based on the Judging Criteria and select the Prize winners. 

 

D.  Submission Review: JUDGES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO TEST THE APPLICATION AND MAY CHOOSE TO JUDGE BASED SOLELY ON THE TEXT DESCRIPTION, IMAGES AND VIDEO PROVIDED IN THE SUBMISSION.