As the fall semester kicks off, be sure to bookmark this line-up of business plan competitions open to the Syracuse University community. Over the past two years, Syracuse University students and alumni have won nearly $750,000 in business plan competitions, providing critical early stage seed funding to help them work on customer discovery, prototypes, business incorporation and patents, as well as other product and business development needs on the road from concept to commercialization.
Download as a printable pdf here with more details: 2018 – 2019 Business Plan Competitions
See below for quick highlights, key dates, and links for more detailed information.
| 2018 – 2019 Business Plan Competitions | |||||
| Competition | URL | Coordinator | Eligibility | About | Key dates |
| ‘Orange Tank | https://whitman.syr.edu/programs-and-academics/centers-and-institutes/falcone/for-students/orangetank.aspx | Whitman School of Management | Open to Whitman alumni entrepreneurs and undergraduate majors from the Whitman School of Management. | $8,000 in prizes ($5,000 first prize, $2,000 second prize, $1,000 third prize). | Applications due late August. Competition October 19, 2018. |
| ‘Cuse Tank | Blackstone LaunchPad
Syracuse Libraries in conjunction with SU Parents Office |
Open to all Syracuse University students from every discipline who are working on developing new products, services or technologies. | $10,000 in prizes, as part of Family Weekend, with panel of distinguished parent entrepreneur judges. | Applications due October 1, 2018. Competition October 26, 2018. | |
| Student Startup Madness | http://studentstartupmadness.com/ | Founded by Sean Branagan, Director of SU the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, run independently as a national competition. | Open to college student teams with digital media startups (in concept, in development or in operation). | National “March Madness style” competition offering visibility and opportunity to pitch to investorsduring spring break in Austin, Texas in conjunction with SXSW Interactive Festival. | Applications open in September through early Dec. 2018. Semi-finalists announced in mid-January, finalists announced February. Finals during 2019 spring break. |
| Impact Prize | https://launchpad.syr.edu | Blackstone LaunchPad
Syracuse Libraries |
Open to Syracuse University students and SUNY ESF students taking entrepreneurship courses at SU, working ideas that solve societal issues, either as profit or non-profit entities. | $10,000 in prizes supported by donor gifts to the SU Libraries, with a goal of inspiring students to thing about big challenges in the context of social impact entrepreneurship. |
Applications due October 29, 2018. Competition November 15, 2018. |
| Panasci Business Plan Competition | https://whitman.syr.edu/programs-and- academics/centers-and- institutes/falcone/for- students/panasci/index.aspx | Whitman School of Management and the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship | Full-time or part-time matriculated undergraduate, or graduate students registered at Syracuse University or SUNY ESF. | $35,000 campus-wide student business plan competition, hosted by the Falcone Center and made possible by long- time Whitman supporter, the late Henry A. Panasci. | Applications due January 2019. Competition April 12-13, 2019. |
| Rice Business Plan Competition | https://rbpc.rice.edu | Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship;
Whitman School of Management campus coordinator |
Open to all colleges and universities. Primarily graduate students. Undergraduates can compete as long as a founder is a grad student. | Over $1 million in prizes. Teams competing at Rice guaranteed cash prizes. Minimum is $500 and grand prize is $300,000 (typically a convertible note). | Applications due February 2019. Competition April 2019. |
| ACC InVenture Prize | http://accinventureprize.com/ | SU campus competition coordinator is the Blackstone LaunchPad. ACC finals coordinator is Georgia Tech. | Open to full-time, undergraduate students or recent graduates of ACC universities | $30,000 divided between first, second and “people’s choice” awards. | Applications February 1, 2019. SU campus competition February 22, 2019. ACC finals at NC State April 15-18, 2019. |
| Hult Prize Regionals | http://www.hultprize.org/current/2018- challenge/ | SU campus coordinator is the Blackstone LaunchPad. | SU campus winners sent on to Hult Foundation for global competition. | $1 million grand prize. Teams that win regionals participate in a summer accelerator program at Hult Castle. | Campus competition December 6, 2018. Regional teams announced January 2019. Regional finals begin March 2019. |
|
Compete CNY |
Coordinated by the Blackstone LaunchPad |
Open to any undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in a Central New York college or university. | No prize funding. This is the regional qualifier for the NYS Business Plan Competition. |
Applications due March 2019. Competition March 29, 2019. |
|
| Raymond von Dran
iPrize |
https://ischool.syr.edu/academics/special- initiatives/iprize/ | Sponsored by the iSchool with support from the Blackstone LaunchPad. | Open to any undergraduate or graduate student at Syracuse University. | $40,000 is available for Syracuse students from the RvD iPrize – via the iSchool | Same dates as Compete CNY |
| HBW Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award | https://launchpad.syr.edu | Coordinated by Blackstone LaunchPad / SU Libraries with the iSchool | Open to any undergraduate or graduate student competing in the iPrize. | $10,000 is available via a gift to the iSchool from the HBW family fund. | Same dates as Compete CNY |
| New York Business Plan Competition | http://apply.nybplan.com/ | Sponsored by Upstate Venture Association, FuzeHub and NYS Economic Development Council | Open to any undergraduate or graduate student in a New York State college or university from 10 NYS Economic Development Regions. | Historically, between $50,00 to $150,000 in cash and in- kind prizes, based on sponsorships raised. | CNY teams submitted after Compete CNY qualifier.Competition in Albany, typically the last weekend in April. |
| EO GSEA
(Global Student Entrepreneur Award) |
https://www.eonetwork.org/EO-GSEA/
Be sure to select USA-Western NY. |
Global competition. Campus competition coordinated by Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University | Open to any undergraduate or graduate student who is a business owner, founder, or controlling shareholder. | Students compete in regional competitions to win cash prizes and advance to the National and Global Finals. | Applications due September 30, 2018. Regionals in Buffalo. November 8, 2018. Nationals in Denver. January 10-11, 2019. Global Finals in Macau, China, April 10-12, 2019. |