February 6, 2009
4th Annual Tuck Private Equity and Growth Ventures Conference
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

On behalf of the Tuck Private Equity Club and the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, we are pleased to announce the 4th Annual Tuck Private Equity and Growth Ventures Conference to be held in Hanover, New Hampshire on Friday, February 6th, 2009.

The conference is designed to enhance the Tuck network in the private equity industry, to educate and enlighten Tuck students and alumni on trends in the private equity industry, and to facilitate networking. The conference will provide participants with an opportunity to address the relevant issues and trends in both the venture capital and buyout industries. We will host panels on:

• Venture Capital - Financing Innovation LBO Industry - Present & Future Hedge Fund Investing Limited Partners - Supporting PE Industry Growth Hard Assets - Real Estate and Energy

• Entrepreneurship - Growing a Company

Additionally, we will hold two small venture capital and buyout roundtable sessions where students will be able to speak with professionals about best practices for entering the private equity industry from Tuck.

View the 2008 conference schedule»

February 13, 2009
Rice University Business Plan Competition
Intent to Compete Deadline

The 2009 Rice Business Plan Competition will take place on April 16 - 18, 2009.  The competition, hosted by Rice Alliance, has grown to become the largest and richest intercollegiate MBA/graduate-level business plan competition in the world, with more prize money, more teams competing, and more judges than any other competition. The 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) awarded more than $675,000 in cash and prizes at an awards banquet on Saturday, April 5, which nearly doubled the prizes compared to last year’s competition. The banquet marked the conclusion of the three-day RBPC, the largest and richest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world.

The 2009 competition will welcome some of the worlds' top MBA/graduate schools to compete at Rice University in Houston, Texas, in front of a judging panel of over 150 venture capitalists, investors, and business executives.  The competition will conclude with an Awards Banquet that over 500 business leaders and executives will attend.

Learn more about the competition »

February 2009
University of San Fransisco Int'l Business Plan Competition
Executive Summary Deadline

The USF International Business Plan Competition is one of the world's Premier Graduate Student Entrepreneurial Events.  All Graduate Students from every nation are invited to submit business plan proposals for participation.

Total Awards for the 2008 Competition will total approximately $25,000; however, the real prize is the chance for your students to offer their business proposals before dozens of leading Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists and Chief Executives. Judges from our previous competitions have included venture capital partners with: Kleiner Perkins, Crosslink Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, De Novo Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Nth Power, Garage Technology Ventures, Globespan Capital, and many more.

February 2009
Venture Challenge
Entrepreneurial Management Center (EMC)
San Diego State University
San Diego, California

Event Participation Form Deadline
Business Plan Submittal Deadline


This annual new venture competition gives graduate students from around the world an opportunity to seek investment capital for their business ideas and audience members the chance to learn from community experts what investors want to see in a new company presentation. The international event draws top student teams from universities and provides them with a forum to present to potential investors and compete for over $20,000 in prizes. A distinguished panel of experts from entrepreneurial companies, venture capital firms, investors and service providers judge the entries over the three day competition and provide valuable feedback to the teams as well.

Learn more »

Cleantech Venture Challenge
Leeds School of Business
University of Colorado at Boulder
Boulder, Colorado

February 2009
Final Business Plan Revise Deadline
Teams Selected To Attend

The Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Leeds School of Business welcomes you to the Cleantech Venture Challenge 2009 (CVC). With the support of our affiliate sponsor, The Cleantech Network™ LLC, we have named and designed the Cleantech Venture Challenge as the premier student competition showcasing emerging opportunities in the cleantech sector.

The prestigious G. Chris Andersen Award of $25,000 will be shared among the four finalist teams. Additionally, the top-ranked team with a clean energy technology business plan, will be invited to present its business plan at the 22nd annual National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Industry Growth Forum in November 2009. The NREL forum is widely recognized as the premier investor venue for the clean energy industry. Also, Investor’s Circle (IC), angel investors who support early stage sustainable companies, will circulate the first place team’s executive summary to investors. Student teams are invited to submit business plans that:

• Demonstrate venture-grade, for-profit business models, practices, and/or technologies with high growth potential; and
• Provide innovative solutions, services or products in the cleantech sector that reduce environmental impacts or improve ecological sustainability.

Learn more »

February 2009
Ignite Clean Energy Business Presentation Competition 2008
ICE 2009 Registration/Application Deadline

Are you an engineer with a great technology, a marketing expert with a novel business concept, or just have a lot of enthusiasm for working in a startup company? Get the edge you need to succeed by registering for ICE 09!

Stellaris, a renewable energy startup out of DARTMOUTH took first prize in ICE 2006 with awards totaling $47,500 in cash and services.

Just announced is the new grand prize award called MIT Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Prize awarded by NSTAR and U.S. Department of Energy for $200K in cash to the winner, plus more!

Learn more about the competition »

Fubruary 28, 2009
Babcock Elevator Competition
Business Plan Competition
Competition for Social Entrepreneurship
Babcock Graduate School of Business
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Semi-Finalists Selected and Notified

Financiers are notorious for short attention spans, and the quality of an entrepreneur's pitch - measured in both succinctness and appeal - is often the difference between funding and rejection. Competing for the chance to win $5,000 in cash, $40,000 in professional services and face time with potential investors, MBA student teams from around the world pitch their business ideas during a two-minute elevator ride with a venture capitalist.

In addition to its traditional MBA business plan competition, Wake Forest's Elevator Competition will also hold a business plan competition for social entrepreneurs. Through for-profit, non-profit or hybrid enterprises, social entrepreneurs identify gaps within current social systems and create innovative solutions in society. These entrepreneurs measure their success based on the triple bottom line - economic, environmental and social - but still rely upon the same business fundamentals as any for-profit venture.

Learn more about the competition »