The UW Business Plan Competition is an opportunity to make serious headway on that great idea you've been tossing around for months (or years!). And if you're already working on your start-up, it's an excellent way to gain visibility from the community - we have over 350 members of the Seattle entrepreneurial and investment community involved in judging and coaching our competition. The competition is also full of networking opportunities - both with other competitors and the wider Northwest entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Now in its 14th year, the UW Business Plan Competition is designed to bring interdisciplinary teams of students together to promote student start-up ideas and venture creation. Any degree-seeking college or university student in the state of Washington can submit his/her 5- to 7-page executive summary to the BPC.
The Grand Prize is $25,000, and in total the BPC awards $140,000 each year to student teams to fund their companies. 87 student teams have received funding to date, many of which are still going strong, including: Contour, Nanocel, Epic Seats, Athleon, NanoString Technologies, Giant Campus, Brass Media, and Impel Neuropharma, just to name a few.
The competition takes place in spring quarter, and the deadline to enter is Wednesday, April 6, 2011. Right now we're also offering Resource Nights to help students prepare to enter the competition. These workshops provide an opportunity to learn first-hand from local entrepreneurs the essentials of business planning and what it really takes to get a company off the ground. The nine sessions run each Thursday night, January 6 through March 3, from 6-7:30 pm.
You can learn more about the Business Plan Competition and the Resource Nights on our website. If you have any questions about the UW Business Plan Competition or the Resource Nights, please contact Sarah Massey, manager of the competition, at masses@uw.edu or 206.685.9868.
