Central Michigan launches New Venture Competition

Central Michigan University has launched its fifth annual New Venture Competition (NVC) with a NVC StartUp event on September 9, 2014. The competition’s first Ideation Boot Camp is held on Friday, September 12.

The launch event welcomed Ken Kousky, president of BlueWater Angels, as a speaker, alongside representatives from Central Michigan University Research Corporation.

The competition will not be judged until late March 2015, and during the eight months of the competition participating startups will be able to take part in workshops, recdeive coaching, and benefit from networking. More than $75,000 in prize money are up for grabs, spread out across several categories with Best Overall Venture offering the largest sum at $30,000.

To be eligible, startups must have been launched by current students at Central Michigan University, although the competition does not discriminate certain sectors.

Deb Zellner, executive director for the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship, said: “That is really to enable the students to learn more, what … the New Venture Competition [is] all about. They get to hear from students who have competed in the past – what they have gained from it, what hurdles they went through. Most businesses take quite a long time from idea to actual commercialisation, so they will be able to develop their ideas further, meet some customers and get some feedback about their business idea, build a prototype, learn from experts.”