The preliminary review of YZU Startup Challenge 2026, the first Yuan Ze University innovation and entrepreneurship competition, was carried out online as a document review from Mon 26 Oct to Fri 30 Oct 2026 and has now been completed. Each team was scored separately by two or more reviewers. The preliminary review results are announced below.

1. Number of finalists and allocation of places

As decided by the judging panel, a total of 20 teams advance to the final this year. Under section 8.2 of the Competition Guidelines, finalist places are allocated in proportion to the number of registrations in each track: Idea Track, 15 teams (58 teams registered) and Venture Track, 5 teams (18 teams registered).

2. List of finalists

In both lists, teams are ordered by team name, with English names first, followed by Chinese names in order of number of strokes. The order does not indicate ranking.

Idea Track (15 teams)

Venture Track (5 teams)

3. Guaranteed places for first-year teams

This year, at least 3 first-year teams in the Idea Track are guaranteed to advance. These places are added on top and do not take ordinary finalist places. After ranking by preliminary score, the 15 Idea Track finalists already include 3 or more first-year teams, so the guarantee is met and no further teams are added.

4. What finalist teams need to do

After advancing, a team may remove members but may not add them. Each team must still have at least 3 members after any removal.

5. Changes to the schedule

Under section 15, items 1 and 3 of the Competition Guidelines, the following changes apply this year:

1. Proposal Clinic: originally scheduled for Wed 11 Nov 2026 as a required session (section 8.4, item 1 of the Competition Guidelines), it will instead be held on the evening of Wed 18 Nov 2026 and is now optional. Not attending does not affect a team’s place in the final.
2. How places are confirmed: teams now confirm their intention to compete through the online “Final Confirmation Form”. A team that does not complete it by the deadline is treated as having given up its place.
3. Mentor matching: originally scheduled for Wed 4 Nov to Tue 10 Nov 2026, it will instead be arranged according to the mentoring needs each team states in the confirmation form. Teams will be notified separately.
4. Venue and time of the final: originally YZU Social Innovation Base, 13:00 to 17:30. The venue is now provisionally Rooms 104 and 105, Building 6, and the time and running order will be announced separately.

6. Reviewer comments and certificates of participation

1. Each team’s preliminary review result notice, reviewer comments and certificate of participation (teams that did not advance included) will be emailed to the team leader, with a copy to the team members, in stages following this announcement. If a finalist team has still not received its notice by Thu 5 Nov 2026, please check your spam folder first and then email the Center.
2. Preliminary review scores this year are used only to decide finalists and substitutions. Individual scores and rankings will not be provided.
3. Teams that did not advance and wish to apply for U-start or FITI application mentoring should reply to the notification email by Fri 20 Nov 2026, stating which programme they intend to apply for.
4. Team names, proposal titles and member names in the lists follow the registration data. If there is any error, the team leader should email the Center to have it corrected.

7. Appeals

Any team that objects to the procedure or the eligibility determination behind the finalist list should send an email in the team leader’s name to Email住址會使用灌水程式保護機制。你需要啟動Javascript才能觀看它 between Wed 4 Nov and Fri 6 Nov 2026, stating the grounds and basis of the appeal and attaching supporting documents. A reviewer’s score itself, given on professional judgement, may not be appealed. The Center does not accept appeals by telephone.

Congratulations to the finalist teams, and thank you to every team that took part.

Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Yuan Ze University
3 November 2026