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Request for Volunteers for the $50,000 2026 University of Montana Ruffatto Startup Challenge (Please Share!)

February 15, 2026/

Ruffatto
Friends,
Thank you for your past support of the Ruffatto Startup Challenge at the University of Montana.  This year, we expect to receive 75-100 total submissions from student teams across the state.  We would be absolutely thrilled if you might be able to serve as an evaluator, judge, and/or mentor for this upcoming 2026 competition. Our 12 selected finalists will be given the opportunity to connect with 2-3 mentors to help them prepare for final presentations and the live pitch competition on April 17th, 2026.  The mentors will be matched with finalists the week of March 23rd, 2026, and may provide mentoring remotely as needed. More information about the UM Startup Challenge is available here: https://www.umt.edu/startup/ .
 Here is a quick summary of the timeline for evaluation, judging, and mentoring:
–Online evaluation of Initial Written Submissions (remote/online evaluation will take place March 13th-19th, 2026). Each evaluator will be asked to score 5-7 submissions using the Submittable scoring platform (time commitment 1-2 hours).
–Mentoring for 12 Selected Finalists.  Mentoring will take place from March 23rd – April 16th, 2026; mentors will be able to serve remotely/virtually (recommended 2-3 meetings, for a time commitment of 2-3 total hours).
–Daytime Judging for Finalist Presentations and Pitches on April 17th, 2026 (Note: requires being on-site in Missoula).  Time commitment: 7:30am-2pm on Friday, April 17th.  Given the demand for daytime judging, we unfortunately cannot guarantee a spot for Friday’s event, and will reach out to selected judges as soon as possible—we apologize for this inconvenience.
 A quick survey for those interested in participating—and more information about the 2026 event—is available here:
 https://umschoolofbusinesss.submittable.com/submit/2fecae81-133c-4e8a-b5f4-4efc0573e2cc/2026-judge-evaluator-and-mentor-form 
Please share this link with others who might be interested in helping this year! Please also feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected] to express interest and/or request more information about the 2026 Challenge.  I will be reaching out to participants from last year in another email to see if you might be interested in joining us again this year.
Thank you again for your invaluable support of our student entrepreneurs and the UM Ruffatto Startup Challenge.
Erik
Erik E. Guzik, Ph.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship
University of Montana College of Business

Gallagher Business Building 328

32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812

[email protected] | 406-243-6053


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