Stu Clark New Venture Championships

• This competition is for full time or part time graduate level students enrolled in the current academic year.
• Teams are allowed to have 1 - 5 students. (Individual entries are allowed.)
• Students from all graduate programs (not just MBA's) and PhD's are eligible to participate.
• Remember – your team is representing your school, and therefore each team MUST have the endorsement of a faculty or staff advisor at their school and must provide contact information for the advisor regardless of whether the advisor will participate with the team at the NVC.
• The faculty advisor may be contacted to attest to the eligibility of the team and is responsible the participating team adheres to the rules and guidelines, and acknowledges potential penalties for violations and infractions.
• Undergraduate students are permitted to compete on the team as long as the majority of students are at the graduate level.
• In the scenario where a team consists of individuals from various universities, it is necessary to select the name of a single university to apply and present with.
• Students are encouraged to bring new ideas to the NVC, there may be an opportunity to bring a previous venture if progress has been made and the venture did not qualify for the championship round. Please reach out to the event organizer if this is your case. 
• All members of the team must have been students at some point during the current academic year, which is most Universities is September – August.

• Final Decisions: Not every circumstance can be anticipated therefore The NVC Competition Director reserves the right to disqualify or penalize any team that violates the rules, regulations, or the spirit of the competition. Any unique circumstance regarding applications or the competition will be adjudicated by the NVC Competition Director.
• Penalty for Team Withdrawal: In the event that a team decides to withdraw from the competition prior to March 25th, 2025, the university will face disqualification from participating in the NVC for a duration of one year. Additionally, a formal notification will be sent to the Dean and faculty advisors to inform them of this breach.
• Use of Materials: The Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship may use photocopies, photographs, video recordings including business plans, video pitches for promotional and educational purposes only, and by participating in the NVC you are giving your explicit permission for this.
• Privacy Policy: As some aspects of this competition are open to the public, data or information discussed or divulged throughout the competition is considered information that will enter the public domain, therefore teams requiring non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s) should not participate. The NVC Judges are also prepped to not share or distribute any information or ideas they review. Any footage of the event can be used to marketing, PR and promotional materials.
• Nature of Ventures: Ventures must intend to be operating companies with corporate structures and financial statements that reflect real operation revenues and expenses. This is intended to exclude investment vehicles, partnerships, franchise, licensing and other pass through entities where returns are measured for investment value versus operating earnings.
• Other: The competition focuses on new, independent ventures in the seed, startup or early growth stages. Ventures cannot be buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, roll-ups, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchise-based outlets, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area and spin-outs from existing corporations.
• University Licensed Technology: Licensing technologies from universities or research labs is encouraged assuming there has been no previous commercialization. The key to this type of technology is demonstrating significant added value to the technology.
• Faculty Advisor: The faculty advisor may be contacted to attest to the eligibility of the team and is responsible the participating team adheres to the rules and guidelines and acknowledges potential penalties for violations and infractions.
• Special Notices: If a team needs to request approval for a special situation or exception to these rules or guidelines, the team point of contact should submit in writing explaining the situation to amy.jones@umanitoba.ca for review.
• Eligibility Questions: Teams that have any questions about their eligibility should contact amy.jones@umanitoba.ca.

Teams will submit a written business plan, which will be provided to the judges before the event. The same judges who review the written business plan will also evaluate the live business plan presentation at the competition.

At the NVC, teams will pitch their business plan with a slide deck in front of their judging panel. Teams will be required to send their slide deck to Amy, prior to the competition. 

Reminder: During the presentation teams should clearly articulate the ASK (what you are seeking from the judging panel). This could be a financial request or another specific need. Remember you are pitching to secure something. You can also mention how you would use the prize money as part of your ASK.

Business Plan Pitch Format:

• Semi-Final Round:
  • 15 minute presentation
  • 10 minute Q & A from the judges
  • 5 minute feedback
• Championship Round:
  • 15 minute presentation 
  • 10 minute Q & A from the judges
• All times strictly enforced - once the buzzer sounds, teams and judges immediately stop talking. 

More Guidelines

• Written business plans from accepted teams are due on the date listed above amy.jones@umanitoba.ca 
• Please carefully review the official rule document under the Rule tab, for all the rules 
• Cover page to include venture name, student names and university
• Cannot be longer than 21 pages following these limitations:
  • 1 page - Cover page
  • 1 page - Table of contents
  • 1 - 2 pages - Executive summary
  • Up to 10 pages - main report
  • Up to 6 pages - appendices
  • 1 page - citations

Additional Resources:

• Click here to view the NVC Business Plan Rubric that will be used at the competition.
• To help get you started on a business plan check out these templates on the Tory Burch Foundation website 
• For further guidance on business plan development, download What to Include in a Business Plan 

The purpose of a video pitch is to succinctly and effectively communicate a compelling message about a product or service within one minute. It serves as a concise and persuasive summary that grabs the attention of the judges and leaves a lasting impression. The goal is to convey key information, generate interest, and initiate further conversation or engagement. 

NVC participants will send in a video prior to the competition. All the video pitches will be shown in a video montage at the Welcome Reception at the competition in April.

Video Pitch Rules 

• Remember first and foremost it's about your content.
  • Are you clearly stating your problem, solution and is there a market?
  • Are you leaving the judges wanting to know more?
• Secondly it's about creativity. 
  • You can get creative by using images, videos, prototype demonstrations, music, testimonials etc.
• Time Limit:
  • 1 minute pitch hard stop. Any additional footage extending past the one minute mark will not be viewed by the judges.
• Format: 
  • Video must be shot in landscape format and in .mp4 or .mov file format. 
• Student Involvement:
  • It is required to visually show at least one student in the video speaking about the venture. Additionally, a team with multiple members speaking is also permitted. 
• No Voiceovers:
  • Judges must be able to visually see a student and voiceovers are not allowed. 
• Professional Attire:
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​While not mandatory, dressing in business attire is recommended to present a professional image during the elevator pitch.

Additional Resources:

Video Pitch Evaluation Rubric

Privacy Notice: This event may be recorded for documentation and promotional purposes. By attending the event, you acknowledge that you may appear in such recordings, and grant permission for them to be used by the event organizers. Please inform the organizers if you do not wish to be recorded. Additionally, please be mindful of any personal information you choose to share during the event and take appropriate precautions to protect your privacy. Teams requiring non-disclosure agreements (NDA's) should not participate. 

Please ensure to read the whole NVC Official Rule Document.

For any questions please contact amy.jones@umanitoba.ca 

The Stu Clark New Venture Championships was started in 2005 and has handed out over $1, 500,000 in cash prizes to entrepreneurs from around the world.

Access the complete Stu Clark New Venture Championship Hall of Fame

Access the Undergrad New Venture Hall of Fame (2013-2021)