Get ready for spring 2020 competitions
2020 is the year for clear vision. If you’re starting the new decade by working on something new and bold, the spring semester at SU offers a number of opportunities for student innovators to pitch good ideas for early stage seed funding. Here is a quick recap of the competitions slated for the spring semester:
- Panasci Business Plan Competition (sponsored by Martin J. Whitman School of Management): Applications are being accepted through January 24, 2020 from Syracuse University and SUNY ESF students. Semi-finalists and finalists will compete on campus April 10-11. The prize package is more than $42,000.
- ACC InVenture (sponsored by LaunchPad/Libraries): Syracuse University teams can apply for the campus competition, to be held on February 21, 2020, to represent the University at the ACC competition in April in Raleigh, NC. The campus award package is $5,000, thanks to generous sponsorship by M&T Bank. The finals package is $30,000.
- Student Startup Madness: Teams will compete in this nationwide tournament for digital media startups, culminating in national finals in March 2020 at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, TX. Applications are now closed, but three SU teams have made it to the first round of 64: CLLCTVE, Promptous and Visos.
- Compete CNY (sponsored by LaunchPad/Libraries): The regional qualifier for the NY Business Plan Competition is on March 27, 2020 for Central New York college students. Winners will move on to compete in the New York State Business Plan Competition May 1 in Albany, NY.
- RvD iPrize (sponsored by School of Information Studies with the LaunchPad/Libraries): Teams can apply by March 13 to the Raymond vonDran (RvD) iPrize competition, open to all SU undergraduate and graduate students. The campus completion will be held March 27, 2020, concurrent with Compete CNY. The award package is $40,000.
- Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award (sponsored by School of Information Studies with the LaunchPad/Libraries): Created to recognize Syracuse University students who have demonstrated passion and enthusiasm for their ventures or ideas, this award is presented during the RvD iPrize business competition. The competition is held on March 27, 2020, concurrent with the RvD iPrize. The award package is $10,000.
Syracuse University teams have won nearly $3.4 million in business plan competitions in the past three years, dominating regional, state and global competitions. The Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at SU Libraries coordinates many of the campus qualifying competitions that lead up to these prestigious events.
Applications for some of these competitions now use a common on-line app that requires a one page executive summary of a venture idea.
For news about all competitions, e-mail LaunchPad@syr.edu