Business Plan Competition
- 1st Place $10,000
- 2nd Place $5,000
- 3rd Place $2,500
- 4th Place $1,000
Stu Clark New Venture Championships: Undergraduate Edition
The Stu Clark New Venture Championships: Undergraduate Edition is open to all post-secondary schools in Manitoba and students can apply individually or as a team. This competition is an excellent opportunity to bridge classroom learning to real life experience as students pitch their ideas in front of judges and gain valuable feedback.
On this page
2021 Championships
Dates
April 16 & 17, 2021
Location
Delivered virtually on Zoom
Overview
The competition is for graduate students to gain real experience while developing and growing new ventures based on the student created, managed or owned ventures. Teams will also receive expertise and feedback from our leading industry expert judges including Stu Clark himself.
Throughout this 2-day competition teams will compete in an Elevator Pitch and Business Plan Presentation for and will evaluate the feasibility, market opportunity and business model of a new venture.
Important dates
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Deadline to apply (11:59 PM CST)
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Teams advised of acceptance
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Business plans due (11:59 PM CST)
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Elevator pitch due (11:59 P.M. CST)
Prizes
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Elevator Pitch Competition
- 1st Place $1,000
- 2nd Place $750
- 3rd Place $500
- All prizes are in Canadian dollars.
Schedule
April 16 & 17, 2021
Note: All 16 teams are competing in the semi-finals on Friday April 16, however this round is not open to the public to watch. Teams will find out live Saturday morning at 9:30 am who the final 4 teams are. Format for the live presentations are: 15 minute presentation then 10 minute Q&A from a panel of expert judges.
Friday, April 16, 2021
*All activities on Friday are closed to the public. All times in CST.
- 8:00 AM — 10:50 AM Semi-Final Round Track 1
- 10:50 AM – 1:40 PM Semi-Final Round Track 2
- 1:40 PM – 4:30 PM Semi-Final Round Track 3
- 4:30 PM – 7:20 PM Semi-Final Round Track 4
Saturday, April 17, 2021
*All activities on Saturday are open to the public. All times in CST.
- 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM Welcome & Introduction of Teams
- 8:45 AM – 9:30 AM Elevator Pitch Competition & Finalists Announced
- 9:45 AM – 12:05 PM Championship Round
- 12:05 PM – 1:05 PM Judges Deliberation
- 1:05 PM – 1:30 PM Awards Ceremony
- 1:30 PM – 1:45 PM Winners Circle
Sign up to watch the elevator pitch competition and championships round by clicking here
Eligibility
Presenting Team Composition
- Individual students qualify as a team entry
- Teams must be 1 - 5 students
- This competition is for full time or part time undergraduate level students enrolled in the current academic year
- Students must be enrolled in a post-secondary institution in Manitoba.
- If the business is a joint venture, the competing student must be a significant contributing factor to the business and not just a spokesperson
Other
- Entries cannot duplicate or copy an already existing/recognized business or franchise
- The competition requires students to participate in both events: Business Plan Presentation, and Elevator Pitch.
- Participants should dress is business or business casual attire
- All teams must attest to all rules and guidelines
- This document sets out guidelines to capture these goals and not every circumstance can be anticipated. The Competition Director reserves the right to disqualify or penalize any team that violates the rules, regulations or the spirit of the competition
How to apply
Steps
- Fill out an application.
- Create a 1-2 page executive summary
- Submit an application form and executive summary via Startup Tree by Wednesday March 17, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
Application requirements
Executive summaries should include:
- 1 - 2 pages in length
- PDF format
- 1.5 spacing with 12 point font
- Magnitude of the problem
- Outline of the solution
- Market validation
- Financial projections
- Scalability
Rules and guidelines
The Stu Clark New Venture Championships: Undergraduate Edition is an exciting competition open to all undergraduate students in Manitoba!
Throughout this 2-day competition individually or as a team, students will compete in an Elevator Pitch and Business Plan Presentation for a generous prize purse!
Business plan presentation rule
Application and executive summaries are due Wednesday March 17, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
- 15 minute presentation hard stop
- 10 minute Q & A hard stop
- 5 minute feedback
- Only team members who present are able to participate in the Q & A portion
- PowerPoint (prezzi, google drive etc) will already be loaded on the computer provided by the venue
- Teams will be required to send amy.jones@umanitoba.ca their complete PowerPoint presentation by Friday April 9, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
- Props (prototypes, iPhone apps etc.) are allowed in the presentation
- Teams may only videotape or record their own presentation
- Only members who actively present are able to participate in the Q & A discussion
Elevator pitch rules
- 1 minute pitch hard stop
- 1.5 minute Q & A hard stop
- No visual aids, cue cards or props are allowed
What is an elevator pitch? One presenter pitches their business venture in a concise but thorough and engaging way.
Written business plans rules and guidelines
Teams will be chosen and notified by Wednesday March 24, 2021 regarding their acceptance.
Written business plans from all teams are due to lindsay.friesen@umanitoba.ca by Friday April 9, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
Rules
- Received by Friday April 9, 2021 (11:59 PM CST)
- Submitted in PDF format
- Number all pages
- Cover page to include venture name, student name(s) and University
- Cannot be longer than 21 pages following these limitations below
- 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
Guidelines
- Executive summary
- Standalone overview of the business plan
- Magnitude of the problem
- Is this a major problem?
- Is it local, national or global?
- Outline of the solution
- Does the product solve the problem
- Is the product protected (IP)
- Status (proof of concept / prototype)
- Market validation / competition
- Is there a clear market need?
- Will customers pay a premium?
- Competitive landscape
- Operational plan
- Actual intent to set up operations
- Viable plan to set up operations
- Ongoing operational capability
- Marketing and distribution
- Effective marketing strategy
- Effective advertising strategy
- Clear distribution channels / strategy
- Management team
- Is team experienced and capable?
- Able to overcome risks and changes
- Proper board or advisory board
- Financial viability / scalability
- Attractive revenue / expense margins
- Realistic start-up costs
- Scalable product or service
- Financial projections / returns
- No cash flow or balance sheet issues
- Realistic funding / capital structure
- Attractive investor returns
- Others
- Intellectual property
- Timeline for implementation
- Realistic
- Professional
- Convincing strategy
Privacy disclaimers
As this competition is open to the public, data or information discussed or divulged throughout the competition is considered information that can enter the public domain therefore teams requiring non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) should not participate.
Any footage of the event will be used for marketing, PR, promotional materials.
Prize awards
All prize money is in Canadian dollars and will be distributed after the competition.
Contact us
Lindsay Friesen
Program Coordinator
Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship
Room 212 Drake Centre
181 Freedman Crescent
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
204-371-1069