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One
of nation's top business plan competitions launches today at
UC Berkeley's business school
08
Nov 2000
By
Ute Frey, Media Relations
Berkeley
- The Haas School of Business at the University of California,
Berkeley, announced today (Wednesday, Nov. 8) the launch of
its third annual UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition. The
competition has quickly grown to be one of the leading competitions
hosted by business schools. Last year, it attracted 182 registrations
and the support of over 60 leading venture capitalists and
entrepreneurs serving as mentors and judges. Teams from the
first two competitions have raised $91.85 million dollars.
Student
organizers and participants celebrate the launch of the 2001
competition tonight at 6 p.m. at the Haas School's Arthur
Andersen Auditorium. Judges, sponsors and previous competition
participants will introduce those interested in participating
to the do's and don'ts of the competition. The event is followed
by a networking reception, allowing entrepreneurial hopefuls
to match up with business plan teams or identify additional
talent for their ventures. Tonight's event is open to the
public.
The competition is open to UC Berkeley students and alumni
as well as to members of the public, as long as one member
of the team is a UC Berkeley student or graduate. To enter
the competition, teams must register and submit an executive
summary no later than January 22, 2001. Final business plans
must be submitted by April 3. Finalist teams will give public
presentations, and the winners will be announced on Wednesday,
April 25, 2001.
The 2001 competition will award $90,000 in prize money: a
$50,000 first prize, $25,000 second prize, $10,000 third prize,
and $5,000 People's Choice award. Sponsors supporting the
2001 competition include Commerce.net, IBM, campsix, Sevin
Rosen, ComVentures, Motorola, Skyflow, and Electronic Advisor.
"Entrepreneurs
at universities like UC Berkeley have become core to the advancement
of business and technology," said Michael Rolnick, a partner
at ComVentures. "As a venture capital firm, we believe that
this sponsorship is another way of encouraging new ideas to
advance our society and economy. For us, it is an honor and
privilege to be part of it.
"The
competition thrives on the scientific research being conducted
at UC Berkeley and, in the past, many teams were formed across
academic disciplines. Last year's winner, Skyflow, which provides
hosted ASP (application service provider) services to portals,
was founded by Nibha Aggarwal, who received his MBA from the
Haas School in 1991, and Anthony Joseph, an assistant professor
at UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. Skyflow received
seed funding shortly after the competition and has since then
secured an additional $3.5 million round of investment led
by Information Technology University Ventures (ITU).
Participants from the first competition in 1999 who drew top
funding include:
*
AudioBasket, which creates customized audio content - $29
million
*
ZipRealty, the first nationwide full-service online real estate
agency - $27.7 million
*
Alloptic, creator of high-speed fiber optic solutions - $19.7
million
###
Business
Plan web site
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