V. Dale Cozad New Venture Competition

The Cozad New Venture Competition (CNVC) is designed to encourage students, researchers, and community members to create new sustainable businesses in the Champaign-Urbana area. The competition encourages the development of the entrepreneurial spirit through teamwork and competition. Teams are invited to create a business plan around a topic of their choice. Assistance is available in the form of mentors, workshops, and courses to guide teams through the phases of business plan creation.

Three competitive divisions provide for a wide range of opportunities for different ventures:

Commercial Venture Division: Viable ventures with high commercial potential.

Social Venture Division: Profit or non-profit ventures, with an emphasis on creating and sustaining social value. This may include introducing new entrepreneurial concepts, programs or initiatives within existing organizations.

Green Venture Division: Viable ventures with a focus on innovative products or processes that address ecological or conservation concerns.

There is no limit to the number of teams that can enter the CNVC. Teams may not enter in more than one division. Students, however, can serve on multiple teams, in multiple divisions. The Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC) will work with judges to determine three finalist teams for each of the three divisions, for a total of nine teams that will present their business plan at the finals event. Teams in the final round will compete for an estimated $60,000 in cash, plus valuable in-kind prizes. Finalists and winners will have the opportunity to meet with venture capitalists, early stage investors and successful entrepreneurs who will serve as judges for the finals round.

• Alan Singleton wrote (2 weeks ago):

  Don't forget to address intellectual property issues from both 1) a freedom to operate perspective (will someone else's IP rights prevent you from doing what you want to do)and from 2) a gaining a competitive advantage perspective (do you have IP rights that will prevent competitors from copying your product or service).

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• Cassandra Clark wrote (1 month ago):

  ATTN those who uploaded an Intent to Compete form and have been moved on to the next round: Please fill out your OPBP and indicate your availability for the Elevator Pitch Round at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/7122581 Thanks!

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• Cassandra Clark wrote (1 month ago):

  I have saved the OPBP as a .doc and uploaded to the submissions guideline site. Perhaps you can open this one.

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• Mustafa khan wrote (1 month ago):

  The Link sent to the OPBP DOES NOT OPEN. I've tried opening it on a MAC and a PC, but it does not work. Please help with this problem.

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• Ashton Clark wrote (1 month ago):

  How can I upload the OPBP? The system says I can only upload one document. I uploaded my Intent to Compete last week. What should I do?

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