Run a Pitch Competition
That Lands the Decision On Stage.
HackHQ handles the parts that come down to the wire: weighted rubrics, mobile scoring, and live ranked results that decide the awards on stage. Built for accelerators, business schools, and entrepreneurship centers.
What goes wrong during pitch nights
Real situations from accelerator program managers and competition coordinators.
Tallying scores while the next team is pitching
Judges fill out paper rubrics. A volunteer collects them. A coordinator types numbers into a spreadsheet at the back of the room. The first round is over before the second one is calculated, and the winner is announced fifteen awkward minutes after the last pitch.
Investor judges with twenty minutes between meetings
Judges fly in, sit through pitches, leave for another meeting. A platform that asks them to install an app, set a password, or learn a tool kills the panel. They want to score and go.
The audience pick nobody actually got to vote on
You wanted a People's Choice award. The platform asks every audience member to make an account or scan a QR to a flaky form. By the time half the room has finished signup the pitch is over, the vote is dead, and the award gets announced based on a show of hands.
Configure your rubric before judging starts
Set criteria and weights up front. Judges score against the locked rubric. HackHQ computes the weighted total automatically. Try the sliders below to see how the math works.
Computed automatically from each judge's submitted scores. No tallying, no spreadsheet, no formula errors.
In a real event, you lock the rubric before judges score. The slider here is a planning tool, not a results editor.
Panel, audience, and sponsors in the same event
A pitch competition rarely has just one moving piece. HackHQ runs the panel rubric, public audience voting, and per sponsor Challenges side by side in the same event.
A rubric your panel actually wants
Configure the criteria, weights, and method. Weighted score criteria, top picks, or approval voting, whichever fits your panel. Locked before judges start scoring.
Public voting through a single link
Toggle audience voting on and share one link. Anyone with the link votes from any device, no signups. Audience votes contribute to the same leaderboard as the panel, broadening participation without splitting the math.
Challenges with their own award track
Opt in Challenges per sponsor. Sponsor judges score only the submissions opted into their challenge. Independent leaderboards, independent awards.
Keep your demo day ticketing. We handle the judging.
Most accelerators and business schools already run demo day RSVPs on Luma or Eventbrite. HackHQ slots in for finalist intake, the investor rubric, and the live leaderboard during the ceremony.
Ticket your demo day in the tool you already use.
Finalists submit their pitch deck and supporting links.
Investor rubric, mobile scoring, audience pick in parallel.
Leaderboard ready before the last pitch ends.
What a pitch competition looks like on HackHQ
Weighted rubric judging built around investor criteria
Custom criteria with custom weights: Team, Market, Product, Traction, Pitch. Score on a 1 to 10 scale with optional comments. Lock the rubric before judges start scoring.
Investors score on their phone, before the next pitch starts
Personal scoring links by email. Mobile first interface. No accounts, no app, no password. Judges score one team and the next slate is already loaded.
Live ranked leaderboard, ready before the last pitch ends
Real time weighted averages. The moment the last judge submits, the winner is decided. Project the leaderboard, or keep it private and announce on stage.
Run the demo day as a team
Invite your accelerator or program staff to the same workspace. Multiple admins can configure the rubric, manage the finalist roster, and brief the panel together. Demo day is rarely a one person job.
Public pricing, no procurement, no quote
Free for under 10 finalists. $199 Starter for up to 50. $599 Pro for up to 200. No sales call, no annual subscription, no per seat fees. The price is the price.
Finalist certificates that hold up on a founder LinkedIn
Every finalist gets a verifiable LinkedIn certificate with a public verification page. A real badge for the winners and the runners up, generated automatically.
For accelerators and entrepreneurship centers
Make Your Next Demo Day Land the Decision On Stage.
Start free, no credit card required. Live in 30 minutes, with weighted rubric judging out of the box.