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2013 Connecticut Collegiate Business Model Competition

Sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, Warbros Venture Partners, Connecticut Innovations, LaunchCapital, Angel Investor Forum and the Entrepreneurship Foundation

 Updated 4-30-13


NEW: At the suggestion of investors, the Connecticut Consortium of Entrepreneurship Educators (CCEE) has voted to incorporate the principals of Business Modeling into the competition. This new emphasis on research, verification of assumptions and substantiation of claims is manifested in a few new or revised questions. Since Business Modeling also encompasses post-launch pivots (reacting to market realities) we have added a new spring category for companies in the market.

2013 Spring Winners and Finalists

2013 Spring Winners
Personal Business Category   Company Type of Business Connecticut University
First Place    CineGame  

Cinema Marketing Platform

Central Connecticut State University

Second Place and Best Written Executive Summary   Pancake Power 

Gateway Community College

A food truck serving healthy gourmet pancakes

Best Oral Presentation  IGreekU 

Social media network for Fraternity and Sorority life

Quinnipiac University

 
Venture Business Category   Company Type of Business Connecticut University
First Place    Sea Green Organics 

Organic liquid seaweed-based lawn fertilizer

University of Connecticut - Stamford

Second Place and Best Written Executive Summary   Pulse.ly 

Mobile phone-based customer feedback at the point of sale

Yale University

Best Oral Presentation  WattMarket

Connecting investors with clean energy projects through the web

Yale University


2013 Spring Finalists
Category Company Name CT University & Advisor Team Leader
Personal Business    Barkin' Green and Clean
All natural pet shampoo 

Gateway Community College
Advisor: Mike Roer

Megan Eaton

Personal Business

Cafe Colette
Restaurant and Wine Bar

University of Connecticut - Stamford
Advisor: TIm Dowding

Michael Halim

Personal Business

Castle Weddings in the Park
Wedding ceremony coordinator

Central Connecticut State University
Advisor: Drew Harris

Tabitha Arce

Personal Business

CineGame
Cinema Marketing Platform

Central Connecticut State University
Advisor: Drew Harris

Rob McGrath

Personal Business

Crepe Escape Cafe
Affordable creperie geared towards college students

University of Connecticut - Stamford
Advisor: Tim Dowding

Brandie Heydt

Personal Business

IGreekU
Social media network for Fraternity and Sorority life

Quinnipiac University
Advisor: Dave Tomczyk

Marc Vandal

Personal Business

Pancake Power
A food truck serving healthy gourmet pancakes

Dr. Michael Okrent
Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU)

Chris Warner

Personal Business

Utune Guitar
Portable guitar-wood fingerboard and guitar strings with LCD screen

Dr. David Tomczyk, Prof. Brett Orzechowski

Quinnipiac University

Khemmaraks Srey

Personal Business

White Grape Catering
A catering company that also offers event planning services

Dr. David Tomczyk, Prof. Brett Orzechowski

Quinnipiac University

Nora Gonzalez

Venture Business

BuyLocally
Mobile-based consumer-to-consumer application to buy/sell goods
    

University of New Haven
Advisor: Mary Miller

Gary L. Crawford III

Venture Business

Good To Go
Nightlife application that promotes nightly deals

Fairfield University
Advisor: Jeffery Roseman

Gabriel Garcia

Venture Business

Grow It LLC
Spray Gun with Integrated Multi-Application Cartridge

Central Connecticut State University
Advisor: Drew Harris

John Filippides

Venture Business

Pulse.ly
Mobile phone-based customer feedback at the point of sale
    

Yale University
Advisor: David Cromwell, Maureen Burke

Wayne Smith

Venture Business

Sea Green Organics LLC
Organic liquid seaweed-based lawn fertilizer

University of Connecticut - Stamford
Advisor: Tim Dowding

Timothy Hidu

Venture Business

The Community
Branding real-time high school sports to raise sponsorship
    

University of Hartford
Advisor: Irina Naoumova

Andrew Slaiby

Venture Business

TradespersonConnection.com
Tradesperson Connection is an online community for tradespeople
    

Gateway Community College
Advisor: Mike Roer

Frank Kuchinski

Venture Business

Truly Protect
Software that protects digital intellectual property from piracy  
  

Yale University
Advisor: David Cromwell, Maureen Burke

Maria Polo

Venture Business

WattMarket
Connecting investors with clean energy projects through the web

Yale University
Advisor: David Cromwell, Maureen Burke

Truman Mak

 

 

Finals (3-minute PowerPoint pitches plus Q&A. Students may not interact with judges or distribute materials until the timer starts.) Parents and friends welcome to attend.
Spring Semester: Friday, April 26 2013. Personal Businesses at 10 am. Ventures at 1:30 pm. New Haven Lawn Club.

Business Plan Competition Prizes:
Business Plan Competition Prizes: All entrants will receive candid feedback from a business financing expert on their on-line executive summary. Press releases announcing the finalists and winners will be sent to the media. Cash awards are granted to the student companies; trophies are awarded to the schools. Checks will be made out to the company and winners will need to provide an FEIN or SSN of the team leader.


Morning presentations (10:00 am)     
   Personal Business Model (not yet in the market) - $1000 **
   Personal Business Model (in beta testing or with actual sales) - $1000 **
   Personal Business Oral Presentation - $500
   Personal Online Submission (written Executive Summary) - $500
   Best Community College Business Model - $500

Afternoon presentations (1:30 am)     
   Venture Business Model (not yet in the market) - $1000 **
   Venture Business Model (in beta testing or with actual sales) - $1000 **
   Venture Oral Presentation - $500
   Venture Online Submission (written Executive Summary) - $500

** Personal businesses are typically small, serve a limited market, and serve small businesses or consumers. Venture enterprises are generally higher risk, take longer to start up and require more capital but have higher potential returns. This is often a judgment call as many businesses have characteristics of both. The decision of the judges is final.


Eligibility Requirements:
The team leader and primary presenter must be a student at a Connecticut college or university during the current academic year. (Entries may be submitted by individuals or teams.) In keeping with the spirit of the competition to foster entrepreneurship, neither plans written for outside companies as student projects nor plans written on behalf of a company not student-owned and conceived are eligible.
Teams must have a faculty adviser (from the submitting institution) who sanctions the entry.



Competition administered by the Entrepreneurship Foundation
Email: Roer@EntrepreneurshipFoundation.org     T: (203) 540-5903