Business Design Competition

The Business Design Competition is part of a broader academic curriculum that helps students learn to collaborate across disciplines to create business models around a proposed innovation. The academic goal is for students to apply the theories and concepts from their entire academic plan in an environment that simulates a real startup company.

• This is not a business plan competition. Teams are not expected to develop financial models, revenue projections, operational costs, or try to predict the future. Teams are designing business models. The team's goal is to demonstrate research that supports a proposed business "premise." Supporting materials may include items such as physical prototypes, market research, external studies, demographic analysis, and so on.
• Any team that has a viable business model could be funded. A strong case to make is what the team needs to achieve the next set of milestones, such as further research, further R&D, marketing, or partners.