Competition Rules

These rules apply to every competition on FounderDuels, including SeedBattle. Each competition page also publishes its own details: who can enter, application questions, dates, match length, how matches are decided, sponsors, organisers and any prize. Where a competition page sets a specific rule, it applies to that competition alongside these rules.

Competitions are also covered by the Terms of Service and the Community Guidelines.

• You need an active FounderDuels account with a verified email address. Suspended accounts can't apply or compete.
• In startup competitions, you apply with a startup you founded, and its profile must be approved.
• Each founder can hold one application per competition.
• Competitions may set extra requirements, such as a startup stage, a region or a category, published on the competition page.
• Judges can't compete in a competition they're judging.

• Applications open and close on the dates shown on the competition page. If no deadline is shown, they close when the bracket is drawn.
• Answers must be truthful. Misleading answers are grounds for removal, even after the competition has started.
• Every application is reviewed. You'll get an email when it's accepted or not selected.
• Competitions with a maximum field stop accepting entrants once it's full.
• You can withdraw your application until the bracket is drawn. After that, contact the competitions team.

Competitions use a single-elimination bracket: win and you advance, lose and you're out.

1. Accepted entrants are seeded by the organisers first, then by Founder Rating (highest first), then by application time (earliest first).
2. Seeds are placed in standard order, so seed 1 meets the lowest seed and the top seeds can only meet in later rounds.
3. The bracket size is the next power of two. If the field is smaller, the top seeds get a first-round bye and advance automatically.
4. Once the bracket is drawn, seeds and pairings don't change.

• Every match is an official, rated duel using the competition's duel type. Match results count towards your Founder Rating and record.
• Both sides submit an entry. Voting opens once both entries are in and runs for the match length shown on the competition page.
• Voters see the vote split after they vote. Voting rules, including one vote per person, are the same as for every duel.
• If only one side submits an entry before the deadline, that side advances. If neither does, the organisers decide how the match is resolved.

Where a competition uses judges, its page shows how their scores count.

• Judges score both sides of a match from 0 to 10, in half-point steps, while the match is live.
• Each judge scores a match once. Scores are final when submitted.
• A judge can't score a match they're competing in, and must declare any other conflict of interest and step aside from that match.
• In matches decided by judges and voters together, the result is the weighted combination of the community vote share and the judges' score share, using the judge weight published on the competition page.

A match can end in an exact tie, or as no contest if it doesn't receive enough valid votes (or judge scores) for a result. A bracket still needs someone to advance, so these matches go to the organisers, who decide who advances and record the reason.

That decision only moves the bracket forward. The duel itself keeps its recorded result, and no ratings change because of the decision. A winner is never picked at random.

• Vote manipulation in a competition match is handled exactly as on any duel: offending votes are removed and results corrected.
• Entrants who manipulate votes, submit work that isn't theirs, give false application answers or break the Community Guidelines may be removed from the competition.
• Every change to a match outcome, application decision or bracket is written to our audit log with its reason.

If you believe a match was decided incorrectly, contact the competitions team within 48 hours of the match ending, with the match link and what you think went wrong. We'll review votes, judge scores and entries, and reply with a decision. While a dispute is under review, the bracket may be paused.

• The winner of the final is the champion, and earns the permanent Champion achievement.
• Prizes are only those published on the competition page. Where no prize is published, the competition is played for the title and the achievement.
• Prize winners may be asked to confirm their identity and eligibility before a prize is delivered, and are responsible for any taxes on it.
• Prizes can't be transferred, and aren't exchanged for cash unless the competition page says so.

Competitions may be run with an organiser, such as an accelerator or university, and supported by sponsors. Sponsors are shown on the competition page. They have no influence over applications, seeding, judging or results, and paying to sponsor a competition never buys an entrant a place or an advantage.

We may change a competition's dates or schedule, and will tell entrants by email when we do. If a competition can't continue, we may cancel it. Duels that already finished stay on each founder's record with their results and rating changes.

These rules may be updated between competitions. A competition that has already started runs under the rules in place when its bracket was drawn.