Criteria

Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated based on the 6 categories below:

• Strength of the Startup: team, traction, customer data, product / technology strength, uniqueness / IP, product-market fit
• Strategic alignment of the proposed collaboration with LG: good fit for LG, strength of collaboration thesis, how likely is the collaboration to actually succeed, team commitment to the collaboration (excited, proactive, etc.)
• Business potential of the collaboration: product-market fit, market size, business model
• Key differentiators for the collaboration: enduring competitive advantage and key differentiators from competitors such as team, IP, business model, prospective partnerships, LG strategic partnership
• Transformational impact: technology innovation, overall strategic benefit, goal: “transformational” not “incremental”
• Investability and scalability: input from capital partners on the prospective partnership and its ability to scale, funding received to date, investors to date

Eligibility

1. Entity Type.  The MFTF is open to all types of applicants, including any of following, as long as the applicant meets the eligibility requirements in section 2.:
   • Individuals or individual Entities: Companies of any size, academic researchers, research institutions, accelerators, incubators, technology transfer firms, consultants, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and inventors.
   • Team Entries:  Teams and collaborative groups of one or more individuals or entities (each, a “Team”) provided that (i) the Entry Materials submitted for the Team designates a primary point of contact (“Team Contact”) to engage with LG NOVA; (ii) LG NOVA shall not be responsible for communicating with any Team members other than the Team Contact; and (ii) LG NOVA shall not be held responsible for or be deemed a party to any teaming agreements, verbal, written or implied, formed between members of the Team. 
2. Eligibility Requirements.  To be eligible for the MFTF:

1. You or, for Team Entries, a member of the Team, must have developed, or be in the process of developing a product or service based on a new or innovative technology, or an innovative application of an existing technology developed by you or, for Team Entries, a member of the Team (“Innovation”).
2. The Innovation developed or under development has the potential to address one of the following five key focus tracks:
   • Digital Health
   • Cleantech
   • Future Tech
   • Smart Life
   • Open Innovation
3. You comply with Section I of this Agreement, the Search Guidance, and if selected as a Qualifier, Section II of this Agreement.
4. There are no restrictions on your future funding or, for Team Entries, the future funding of any member of the Team, based on your or the Team’s funding as of the date of its Entry Materials submission.
5. To the extent you or any Team member (for Team Entries) is a legal entity, neither you nor the Team member (A) is organized under the laws of a country which is not an Excluded Country (as defined herein), or (B) has any subsidiaries or affiliates located or incorporated in any Excluded Country. 
6. At least one of the following is true:

   (A) If you are an individual submitting an Entry to the MFTF, you are a legal resident of any country other than an Excluded Country and you are at least eighteen (18) years of age as of the date of the Entry Materials submission.

   (B) If the entrant on whose behalf you submit an Entry is an entity, at least one of entity’s founders or executives is a legal resident of any country other than an Excluded Country and is at least eighteen (18) years of age as of the date of the Entry Materials submission.

   (C) If the entrant on whose behalf you submit an Entry is a Team, at least one of your Team members or a founder or executive of a Team member is a legal resident of any country other than an Excluded Country and at least eighteen (18) years of age as of the date of Entry Materials submission.

7. You are not, and no officer, director, manager, or employee of the entity on whose behalf you submit the Entry, or, for Team Entries, no Team member (or officer, director, manager, or employee of any Team member) is subject to sanctions in the United States or listed on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List or the Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions Lists, which may be found here.
8. You do not have, and no officer, director of the entity on whose behalf you submit the Entry or, for Team Entries, no Team member (or officer, or director, of the Team member) has, any familial or financial relationship with LG NOVA or any Judge.  If you become aware of any fact or circumstance that any such relationship exists or has developed prior to the judging of the MFTF, you agree to notify LG NOVA immediately.  LG NOVA reserves the right in its discretion to exclude any entrant due to other potential conflicts.
9. Excluded Countries: Each of the following is an Excluded Country: Crimea – Region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), Sudan, Russia, Belarus, and Syria.