The Challenge Festival is a week-long conference and competition in the US Capital focused on bringing together entrepreneurs, executives, policymakers, investors, social innovators, technologists, and creatives who are tackling the grand challenges facing our world. The Festival is a series of hundreds of distributed events powered by the community complemented by our core conference programming and parties. The centerpiece of the Festival is the Challenge Cup, a global competition to identify the most promising startups tackling our greatest challenges. Over the course of the week, 64 startups from around the world will compete to determine the winner of the Challenge Cup.

1. The Challenge Festival
May 10-17, 2014

2. Produced By

3. The Challenge Festival is a week-long conference and competition in the US Capital focused
on bringing together entrepreneurs, executives, policymakers, investors, social innovators,
technologists, and creatives who are tackling the grand challenges facing our world.
The Festival is a series of hundreds of distributed events powered by the community
complemented by our core conference programming and parties.
The centerpiece of the Festival is the Challenge Cup, a global competition to identify the
most promising startups tackling our greatest challenges. Over the course of the week, 64
startups from around the world will compete to determine the winner of the Challenge
Cup.
DCWEEK 2012—the predecessor to the Challenge Festival—included over 10,000
attendees from around the world and was presented by Ford.
Overview

4. 1776 and the
Challenge Cup

5. What is 1776?
A few blocks from the White House, 1776 is an incubator focused on startups tackling grand challenges in
education, health, energy, transportation, and cities. Launched in April 2013, we have exploded to include
over 190 incredible startups who collectively generated over $126 million in revenue in 2013.

6. What is the Challenge Cup?
Starting in September 2013, we took our movement on the road. We travelled to 16 startup hubs around the
world, searching for the most promising startups tackling our biggest challenges. At the end of our journey,
more than 3,000 attendees watched over 480 startups compete (out of over 1,200 applications).

7. What is the Challenge Cup?
At the Challenge Festival in May 2014, the 64 best startups in education, health, energy, and smart cities will
come to Washington, DC to compete for the Challenge Cup. Joining them will be corporate executives,
investors, policymakers, and media from their countries.

8. Who are these entrepreneurs?
Brilliant, inspiring women and men like these—veterans, surgeons, teachers, engineers, students—changing
the world with their creativity, passion, and perseverance.

9. The Challenge Festival

10. The Opening Night party will make DC rock by showcasing emerging DC bands. At DCWEEK 2012, 22,000 fans
voted over 45,000 times to select the 8 hottest bands to perform.
OPENING NIGHT PARTY – May 10 from 7pm until the wee hours

11. CHALLENGE FESTIVAL CONFERENCE – May 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 from 11am to 2pm
Lunchtime throughout the week will feature panels and talks by global leaders. Each day will focus on a
different sector of the economy: Startups, Corporations, Social Ventures, Capital Markets, and Government.

12. THE CHALLENGE CUP COMPETITION – May 12, 13, 14, 15 & 17 from 3pm to 6pm
Each day a different category of startup competes: Education, Health, Energy & Smart Cities. It all comes
together Saturday with the Elite Eight competing to win the Cup.

13. EVENING GALAS – May 12, 13, 14 & 15 from 7pm onward
Each evening will feature a party at signature venues like the Mansion at O Street. Each party will integrate
demos from startups competing in each challenge area: Education, Health, Energy, and Cities.

14. KEYNOTES – May 16 from 7pm to 9:30pm
On Friday night, the Challenge Festival will feature keynote addresses by some of the leading thinkers in the
world in Education, Health, Energy, Transportation, Cities, Entrepreneurship, and Public Policy.

15. CLOSING NIGHT BASH presented by iStrategyLabs – May 17 from 7pm until whenever
The Challenge Festival will wrap up with an epic Closing Night Bash presented by iStrategyLabs. The DCWEEK
2012 closing night party drew over 3,000 people!

16. Challenge Festival Schedule
Confidential and Trade Secret
Saturday
May 10
Sunday
May 11
Monday
May 12
Tuesday
May 13
Wednesday
May 14
Thursday
May 15
Friday
May 16
Saturday
May 17
Morning
Before 11am
Community
Events
Community
Events
Community
Events
Community
Events
Community
Events
Community
Events
Community
Events
Community
Events
Lunchtime
11am to 2pm
Community
Events
Community
Events
Conference:
Grand
Challenges: The
Rise of Startups
TBA
Conference:
The Corporate
Revolution
IdeaSpace
Conference:
Accelerating
Impact
TBA
Conference:
Returns on
Capital
Union Market
The Startup
Government
The Hall of
Flags at the
US Chamber of
Commerce
Community
Events
Late
Afternoon
3pm to 6pm
Tournament:
Education
Studio Theatre
Tournament:
Energy
Studio Theatre
Tournament:
Health
Studio Theatre
Tournament:
Smart Cities
Studio Theatre
Tournament:
Challenge Cup
Finals
TBAVIP Reception
TBD
Evening
7pm onward
Opening Night
Party
1776
VIP Pizza Party
Challenge Cup
Finalists
US Chamber of
Commerce
Education
Gala
Meridian
International
Center
Energy
Gala
Philips
Collection
Health
Gala
Mansion at
O Street
Smart Cities
Gala
Dock5 at
Union Market
Keynotes
Lincoln Theatre
iStrategyLabs
Closing Night
Bash
TBA

17. Conference Schedule
Confidential and Trade Secret
Monday
May 12
Tuesday
May 13
Wednesday
May 14
Thursday
May 14
Friday
May 15
Theme Grand Challenges:
The Rise of the
Startups
The Corporate
Revolution
Accelerating
Impact
Returns on Capital The Startup
Government
Focus Startups The corporate
community
Foundations and non-
profits
The capital markets Policymakers and
government
Topics Rethinking education
for lifelong learning
Personalized
medicine: the digital
revolution
The future of energy:
distributed
production,
distributed behavior
Cities, sensors, and
empowered citizens
How corporations are
tackling grand
challenges
Evolving approaches to
corporate R&D
Successful models for
corporate-startup
cooperation
Open innovation and
changing corporate
culture
Foundations and
impact investing
What non-profits are
learning from startups
Foundations as startup
investors
How startups, social
ventures, government,
and foundations can
collaborate to
maximize impact
Evolution of venture
capital and angel
investing
The rise of the crowd
Social impact bonds
Evolution of impact
investing and
conscious capitalism
Federal policies to
accelerate innovation
Policy implications of
“over the horizon”
innovations
How cities can grow
their startup
ecosystems
Startups disrupting
cities
What government
agencies can learn
from startups

18. Challenge Festival Badges
Badge Benefits Cost
VIP Platinum benefits plus invitation to VIP reception prior to keynotes. By Invitation
Platinum Access to opening night party, closing night party, evening galas, conferences, keynotes,
Challenge Cup category finals, and the Challenge Cup global finals. Access for one guest to
opening party, galas, and closing party. Line cuts at keynote night, opening party, and closing
party. Access to all community events.
$500
Gold Access to opening night party, closing night party, conferences, keynotes, the Challenge Cup
Category Finals, and the Challenge Cup Global Finals. Line cuts at keynote night, opening party,
and closing party. Access to all community events.
$200
Silver Access to opening night party, closing night party, keynotes, Challenge Cup Category Finals,
and the Challenge Cup Global Finals. Access to all community events.
$75
Bronze Access to community events. Free
A La Carte Opening party
Conferences
Startup Government Conference
Keynotes
Challenge Cup Category Tournaments
Challenge Cup Global Finals
Closing Party
Evening Galas
$20
$20
$30
$20
$25
$30
$20
By Invitation
We have a variety of Badges available to attend the Challenge Festival. Purchase your Badge at:
challengefestival.eventbrite.com.

19. The Legacy of
DCWEEK

20. DCWEEK 2012 Metrics
Attendees: 12,400
Entrepreneurs: 3,394
Bloggers: 2,505
Creatives: 2,404
Developers: 4,222
Makers: 451
Investors: 205
Female: 45%
Average Age: 33
DC, Maryland & Virginia: 95%
Bay Area and NYC: 514
Origins of Foreign Attendees:
Japan, Mongolia, China, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, Morocco, Brazil, and several EU countries
What was DCWEEK?
Produced by iStrategyLabs and TechCocktail in 2010, 2011, and 2012, DCWEEK was a week-long festival each
fall that celebrated creative endeavors across Washington, DC. With parties, conferences, community
events, and hackathons, DCWEEK engaged significant audiences in the region and nationally.

21. What was DCWEEK?
Every year, DCWEEK owned the buzz cycle leading into a week of amazing events.

22. Why has DCWEEK merged into the Challenge Festival?
For 2014, 1776, iStrategyLabs, and TechCocktail decided to bring the Challenge Cup and DCWEEK together
into the Challenge Festival, bringing a more global and entrepreneurial focus to the week.
12,000+ attendees
Touring the world

23. The 1776 Community

24. How do people hear about us?
In less than nine months, 1776 and the Challenge Cup have generated significant buzz across the DC region
and globally. We receive regular coverage in publications like PandoDaily, the Washington Post, and
Bloomberg.

25. How do we connect with communities around the world?
1776 has a global network of community partners that help us to connect and promote the Challenge
Festival within cities around the world—from organizations like the Global Accelerator Network and Global
Entrepreneurship Week to leading incubators like 1871, Capital Factory, Digital October, and Betahaus.

26. Sponsors

27. Who is already sponsoring the Challenge Festival?
The Challenge Festival is attracting a marquee group of sponsors including the US Chamber of Commerce,
the City of DC, Microsoft, Pearson, Booz Allen Hamilton, and American Airlines.

28. The Challenge Festival is run by seasoned entrepreneurs, marketers, and product
developers, accustomed to building digital and experiential campaigns for some of the
world’s biggest (and smallest) brands.
Our a la carte and custom sponsorship packages are provided for your consideration—we
prefer to tailor each sponsorship to meet your brand’s needs. From branding opportunities
for less than $1,000 to a Festival-wide “presenting sponsor” opportunity for $125,000, we
have a variety of ways to engage.
Just get in touch and we’ll explore how best to help you leverage the Challenge Festival.
Email partnerships@1776dc.com and we’ll get back to you immediately.
Sponsorship Opportunities

29. The Challenge Festival
http://challengecup.1776dc.com/festival