Business Plan Competitions
Participating in business plan competitions is an excellent way to get practice for pitching your idea to investors and organizing your start-up business model. More importantly, it's a great way to generate much needed capital to further develop your product or service. Below are a few competitions that you may want to participate in:
Regional Business Plan Competitions
4th Annual CUNY Wide Entrepreneurial Concept Competition
The Annual Entrepreneurial Concept Competition (ECC) is a CUNY wide competition and joint initiative between the Black Male Leadership and Mentoring Program at The City College of New York and the New York City Louis Stokes Alliance. The initiative serves to benefit the CUNY student body considering the global shift towards entrepreneurial thinking.
The ECC takes place in the Fall Semester and is open to current CUNY students (graduate and undergraduate) of all majors with a special focus in the STEM disciplines. Since its inception in 2010, the ECC has had modest success with over 90 team projects making it to the final presentation for review and evaluation by our judging panel, composed of CUNY faculty and staff as well as entrepreneurs and professionals from the business and legal sectors. Student teams upload a video pitch of their business model, attend a series of on-campus workshops, submit an executive summary of their idea/concept and finally, present their material before ECC judges for the Grand Prize of $4,000.
Registration is currently open and the competition will officially begin on September 9th, 2013. The Award Ceremony and final team presentations are scheduled for December 14th, 2013 in the Great Hall at the City College of New York.
For more information on past competitions and future events, please visit: www.cunyecc.orgLaunch NY and Bright Buffalo Niagra - Call for Presenters
The 2013 Bright Buffalo Niagara venture forum will be held on October 1 in downtown Buffalo, with VIP activities on September 30. This year’s venture forum will partner with Launch NY's business plan competition, a global contest with $5 million in prizes that opens for applications this fall and culminates in spring 2014.New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition
The New York Public Library is the sponsor of the annual New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition for New York-based startup entrepreneurs with cash prizes totaling over $30,000.
The competition gives aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to bolster their business acumen. Entrants gain practical insights about starting and growing a business, while learning about the comprehensive small business resources at NYPL’s Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL).Sustainable Business Plan Competition
NYC Next Idea Business Plan Competition. For the past ten years, the William James Foundation has managed sustainable business plan competitions. They work with a network of mentors and sponsors to provide constructive feedback (an average of 20 pages per plan per round) and prizes (an average of more than $150,000 per year) to the entrepreneurs. They manage other competitions, as well as provide back-end services for other organizations.
This Business Plan Competition invites the best talent from both U.S. based and non-U.S. based colleges and universities to develop innovative business ventures that can be launched and operated in New York City. Administered in part by New York City Economic Development Corporation (“NYCEDC”), the Competition seeks to showcase NYC as an international platform for innovation and entrepreneurship and to encourage international parties to start businesses in NYC.NYC Next Idea
NYC Next Idea Business Plan Competition invites the best talent from both U.S. based and non-U.S. based colleges and universities to develop innovative business ventures that can be launched and operated in New York City. Administered in part by New York City Economic Development Corporation (“NYCEDC”), the Competition seeks to showcase NYC as an international platform for innovation and entrepreneurship and to encourage international parties to start businesses in NYC.New York State Business Plan Competition
The New York Business Plan Competition is a venture creation and innovation competition that was established in 2009 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship throughout New York’s colleges and universities.The Philips Innovation Fellows Competition
Philips is partnering with Indiegogo to host the Philips Innovation Fellows Competition and help bring your ideas to life through crowdfunding, including $100,000 from Philips. The Innovation Fellows competition will recognize the best products, services and tangible ideas that address the key innovation opportunities of Living Well, Being Healthy, and Enjoying Life. Starting June 18, 2013 interested participants can register here. Upon registration confirmation by Philips, you can begin building your pitch on Indiegogo. Submission deadline is August 15, 2013.
Once the Innovation Fellows projects go live on Indiegogo, we invite you to promote and support the projects that have the greatest potential. By the middle of October, Philips will announce five finalists of the Innovation Fellows competition as determined by the Philips Steering Committee. Philips employees will vote among the finalists to select the ultimate grand-prize winner, which will be announced by October 30.
One grand-prize winner will receive a $60,000 cash prize, plus an all-expenses-paid trip to Philips' US headquarters to meet with executives and relevant business line leaders. In addition, the other four finalists will receive a $10,000 cash prize.
Other Financial Resources
NYC Entrepreneurial Fund
The City created the $22 million New York City Entrepreneurial Fund – the first of its kind outside Silicon Valley – to be managed by FirstMark Capital to provide promising New York City-based technology startup companies with early-stage capital. Companies can receive up to $750,000.New England Venture Summit
If you are a startup seeking capital and/or partnerships, submit your plan for the opportunity to present at The 8th Annual New England Venture Summit, the premier venue connecting emerging growth companies with active Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors, Corporate VCs and Investment Firms. Presented by youngStartup Ventures, The 2013 New England Venture Summit provides an unparalleled opportunity for startups to meet, network and showcase their innovative investment opportunities to a leading group of investors.Start Up Labs Syracuse
Startup Labs Syracuse is a three week program providing seed capital, mentorship and technical support to teams in an effort to help validate their team and business model to later stage investors. Syracuse is the first US city to host Startup Labs’ intense 22-day program. Only five other cities have hosted the program worldwide including: Istanbul Turkey; Taipei, Taiwan; Mexico City, Mexico; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; New Delhi, India. The goal of the new competition is to support the region’s entrepreneurs and accelerate their ideas to the marketplace.
Startup Labs is partnering with CenterState CEO and Excell Partners to bring its competitive program to Syracuse. Each partner invests an initial $50,000 to start the program. An additional $200,000 of support is provided by the competition’s lead sponsor, National Grid and ten private sponsors including: Eric Mower and Associates, Bristol-Myers Squibb, M&T Bank, Bousquet Holstein, Fust, Charles and Chambers, Hancock Estabrook, Harris Beach, pathfinder Bank, Professionals Inc., and Seneca Data.