The New Venture Championship (NVC) is one of the preeminent graduate investment plan competitions in the world. NVC has a long history of fostering innovation on the University of Oregon’s campus. In 2010, Forbes rated the University of Oregon’s NVC as one of the top 15 big-small business competitions in the United States, placing it among nationally ranked business schools such as UC Berkeley, MIT and NYU.
The core mission of Oregon NVC is to develop skilled and knowledgeable entrepreneurial leaders who will successfully confront the ever-changing business environment with creative and innovative solutions. This graduate investment competition provides a unique opportunity for new, independent ventures, in the seed, start-up or early growth stages to accelerate their launch processes.
The NVC attracts teams of graduate students from around the world who submit their business plans in pursuit of turning their ideas into successful ventures. Last year’s competition included a number of international teams — some coming from as far away as Hong Kong and Thailand.
At the Embassy Suites Hotel in Portland, Oregon from April 4-6, 2013, NVC will host 16 teams pitching business plans to more than 60 judges. Teams compete to win the grand prize of $25,000 in investment funding and an automatic berth in the 2013 Venture Labs Investment Competition. Venture teams present and defend their business plans before panels of judges consisting of entrepreneurial business leaders, angel investors and venture fund executives.
A total of 16 teams are selected to compete through NVC’s six rounds of competition. These six rounds of diverse and exciting activities include a trade show for competitors to showcase their ideas, a quick, challenging “60-second elevator pitch” round, two formal presentations and a fast-paced lightning round.
NVC offers over $50,000 in cash prizes for winning teams and every venture that makes it to the semi-final round takes home investment funding to help grow their venture. More than helping teams secure possible seed funding for their ventures, Oregon NVC prides itself on the quality of personal interaction and networking opportunities it provides participants. NVC leads in helping teams propel their ventures beyond the competition by providing in-depth, invaluable feedback after each round of competition. Teams that challenge themselves by being selected for NVC won’t just leave with a cash prize – they will acquire information and relationships that will move their ventures down the launch pathway.
If your idea is ready to be put to the test, place NVC at the top of your list. It provides a competitive, critical arena where teams can grow business plans into successful ventures. For more information on NVC and how to best prepare, please browse our website and follow the action on our blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
