1776 and Revolution are shifting the Challenge Cup finals to DC

The final two phases for the latest edition of the 1776 Challenge Cup are set. In a shift, the competition is culminating next year in D.C.

1776 and Revolution announced on Thursday that the semifinals of the worldwide startup competition will take place from Jan. 13-17, 2018, and will be held virtually via the UNION platform (which spun out of 1776 as part of its recent merger deal with Philly-based Benjamin’s Desk).

That’s where 75 startups chosen at regional pitch competitions in cities around the world (including Philly and New York as well as D.C. and Crystal City) will vie to make it to the next round. Representing the D.C. area will be D.C. mobile passport app Airside Mobile and Arlington, Va., traffic data platform Mogol.

Then, the finals of the competition will be held March 22, 2018, at The Anthem, a concert hall located at the District Wharf. Revolution is planning to write a $100,000 check to the winner.

Additional partners on the newly-scheduled finals include 3 Pillar, Uber, HiMMS, Global Entrepreneurship Network, Washington D.C. Economic Partnership, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech.

Big news! Announcing #1776Challenge Global Finals, powered by UNION. We’ll see you there, along with @1776, @Revolution, @3PillarGlobal, @Uber, @HIMSS, and @virginia_tech! https://t.co/kFkw3FsIyi pic.twitter.com/8AtXXIhqJE

— Union (@JoinUnion) December 14, 2017

That’s a change from original plans that had the finals as part of a multi-day festival taking place at 1776NY at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in November. That event was not held. While regional competitions have continued in the fall, a couple of things have happened since those plans were made.

First came the 1776 and Benjamin’s Desk merger, which kept the 1776 name for the combined company and spun out UNION as a separate company.

Then, as Technical.ly Brooklyn reported, the Brooklyn incubator was shut down in November after the landlord said it needed temporary space. 1776NY was expected to reopen at new space within the same facility in 2018, our sister site reported.