CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 Up-Start Competition

CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101About the Up-Start Competition

The Up-Start Competition is a business pitch competition open to participants in the CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 Lecture Series. Individuals, or teams of individuals, must give a ten minute presentation on an idea for a technology-based business or social venture (or combination thereof) that they wish to implement (or, if appropriate, for a business that they have already started). They are expected to apply the concepts that they have learned from the course to their business idea and to make a compelling case that this will lead to a very successful business. The individual presenting (or the designated head of a team) must be enrolled in the CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 Lecture Series and have attended a significant majority of lectures, either in person or online. The proposed venture must be a truly new seed venture that has not attracted investment from outside angels or other investors (personal investment from team members excepted). 

The competition will take place in two stages:

  1. Stage 1: Executive Summaries

    Entrants will be required to submit an executive summary of their idea, no longer than three pages, by Friday, February 5. The course co-ordinator will arrange an interview for each team with a MaRS Advisory Services advisor; this group will then select the best 12 summaries to continue to the next stage. Competitors will be notified the week of March 1 if they are proceeding or not .
     
  2. Stage 2: Presentations

    The 12 entrants selected to go forward will each give a 10-minute presentation, with a further five minutes for questions, to a panel of three judges on May 5th. Presentations will be made under cover of a non-disclosure agreement that all audience members will be required to sign. The judges will pick the winner on that day and the first prize of $10K will be awarded. (note that the prize will be paid out against an approved expenditure program that advances the business upon which the pitch was based).

    Those attending the pitch competition must sign an NDA. Download the NDA now >>

 

The Criteria

At both stages the following criteria will be used to judge proposals:

  • Has the summary / presentation clearly articulated the value proposition?
  • Has the summary / presentation demonstrated competitive differentiation / intellectual capital?
  • Has the summary / presentation demonstrated a business model that will make money, or, in the case of a social venture, will have the desired social impact? In either case, these must be sustainable businesses.
  • Has the summary / presentation demonstrated market awareness?
  • How effective was the overall presentation?
  • Would you invest or back this opportunity?
  • Entrants at the stage-two level will have the opportunity to use MaRS Advisory Services to mentor the development of their pitch.

How to submit:

 

2010 Results:

Winner: Shape Collage

Read the blog on the Up-Start highlights:
Competing for a $10,000 prize: Up-Start 2010
Read the blog about winner Vincent Cheung of Shape Collage:
Student entrepreneurship at its best

 

Past winners

 

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