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  • Business Plan Contest
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Instructions

Eligibility

The WPI Venture Forum Business Plan Contest is open to technology-based, pre-start, startup, and on-going businesses located in the Northeast. Students are eligible. The venture must involve the development of a new product, a new application, or process in an existing business or the start-up of a new technology-based business.

Upon receipt of application and accompanying executive summary, applicants that meet the criteria compete through three rounds of judging – First Round, Semi Finals, and Final Competition. Those advancing beyond the first round are eligible for coaching and mentoring.

Deadline, Application and Fee - deadline extended!

Applications and executive summaries are due by 5:00 P.M. Thursday, October 6, 2011. Applications are online; please fill in and submit. contest application Please email the executive summary to ventureforum (at) wpi.edu and call +1-508-831-5761 for payment if paying by credit card.

First-Round Presentations

First-Round presentations take place for all qualified entrants on Saturday, October 15, 2011 in the WPI Campus Center. We provide a projection system and laptops with the most current version of Microsoft Office software. Presenters will receive an email indicating the presentation time. Times and dates cannot be changed once set. This round is not open to the public.

Each first-round team will have fifteen minutes to make a presentation to a group of judges in the format of their choice. We do not provide a template for presentations. Prototypes in any stage of completion are heartily welcomed. Judges will have fifteen minutes to ask questions. To learn more about the competitive scoring that will be used to rank each presentation, please see the Ranking Criteria [PDF]. Please check for updated versions as the ranking criteria may change before the judging takes place. Full business plans are not submitted for First Round competition.

October 15, 2011 First Round Presentation details:

8:30 A.M. TO 12:00 P.M.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Campus Center, Odeum A, B, and C.

Attire: Business casual

Parking: Higgins House parking lot

Food: Morning coffee and muffins. On-premise food court will be closed.

AV: We advise against setting up your Mac computers as it will eat into your presentation time.

Photo: We will take your photo.

Payment: Please bring a $50 check or your credit card to the registration table.

Business card: please provide two at check-in.

Please provide your cell number in advance to: gbetti (at) wpi.edu.

Web site: We will post presenters on our web site with the team photo we take. At some point before or after this Saturday, please email a one paragraph description in which you state the $ funding sought, web site URL, and contact information (name, phone, and/or email).

Final Presentations

Finalists will be notified by email when they need to submit a full business plan. Finalists will present to a panel of judges and the WPI Venture Forum audience at the WPI Venture Forum Business Plan Competition final round on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 in the WPI Campus Center Odeum between 6:00-9:00 PM. Finalist presentations are public. The winner will be determined at this event and announced at the conclusion of that program.

Mentoring

Finalists are provided complimentary mentoring. The mentoring is provided by qualified professionals and experienced entrepreneurs.

Judging

Judging occurs over the first round and a final round. All qualified entrants will be judged in the first round and can expect feedback from the judges personal comments and questions. Presentation details will be provided in ample time prior to each event. The final round winning team will be the venture that the judges feel has the best chance for success. Judges decisions are final. This is supposed to be a valuable learning experience for applicants.

Scoring

Score sheet 

Process	Date	Who
Application and Executive Summary due	September 26, 2011	Northeast technology-based startups
First round presentations at WPI	October 15, 2011	All eligible entrants
Notification of  first round cuts	To be announced	All first round presenters
Semi-final web conference round	To be announced	Winners from first round
Notification of advancement to finals	To be announced	Semi-finalists
Semi-finalists deliver Business Plans	To be announced	Winners from second (Semi-final) round
Final Competition - open to the public	November 8, 2011 at WPI	Winners from semi-finals

The Prize

The winning business receives a prize comprising cash and professional business services donated by the sponsors. We are currently in fundraising mode, but have raised $25,000 in cash and in-kind.

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Last modified: October 26, 2011 16:06:57