The Contest
DEADLINE TO ENTER CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO JANUARY 25, 2008
The Incubicity County Elevator Pitch Contest Format
Each county will have a designated area to compete with only individuals and/or companies from their county. During the day of these events, networking opportunities will be offered with local officials, successful local entrepreneurs and investors.
The county competition will be an elevator pitch only, two minutes or less in front of judges comprised of local officials, entrepreneurs, and investors.
The judges will use a scoring system developed for quick grading of each presentation under a set criteria on a scale of 1-10 with the winning presentations having the highest cumulative scores.
The criteria to compete in the County Elevator Pitch Competition includes the following:
- Participants must be 18 years old or older
- The idea and/or business model should be innovative with commercial potential
- A business plan is not required
- Entrants or businesses must reside in Montgomery, Fulton, Benton, Tippecanoe, Cass, Carroll, Tipton, Wabash, Howard, White, Warren, Clinton, Miami, or Fountain counties
- If a county has less than 10 submissions to participate in the County Competition, applicants will be directed to participate in an adjacent county competition
- All industry sectors will be considered in this competition. However, special attention will be given to generating entries that are within or support the emerging North Central Indiana industry clusters outlined below:
- Business and Financial Services
- Transportation and Logistics
- Arts and Entertainment
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Agribusinesses
- BioMed and BioTech
- Defense and Security
- Information Technology and Telecommunications
- Apparel and Textiles
Awards & Prize Money. Prizes at the county-wide level will be monetary only, with $1,000 for first place, $500 for second, and $250 for third. The top three winners will be eligible to qualify for the Business Plan competition (more details below.)
Incubicity Qualification Round
In order to compete at the Incubicity Business Plan Competition Summit scheduled for May 2, 2008, participants must be among the top 3 competitors (1st, 2nd, or 3rd place) at the 14 “County Elevator Pitch Competitions.” These 42 winners will then become “candidates” to participate in a qualification round. These candidates will submit their executive summary to the Incubicity judges by March 17, 2008. A team of judges will evaluate the summaries on a specific set of criteria and will choose the top ten companies to compete at the final Business Plan Competition.
The Top 10
Each of the top 10 companies will be assigned a mentor by Incubicity staff to assist them with the development of their business plan and their presentation for the final competition at the Summit.
The Summit and Final Competition
All 42 of the candidates (the finalists from the County Elevator Pitch Competitions) will be offered table tops/booth space at the Summit to demonstrate and promote their business, and will be invited to participate in additional education and networking opportunities throughout the course of the period of the Initiative.
The ten finalists will present their “business pitch” in front of a team of judges separate from those who judged the written plans. This pitch will be limited to a five minute presentation followed by a 10 minute period of questions by the judging panel. In fairness to all competitors, these presentations will take place in front of all attendees with the exception of other competing companies yet to present. The pitches will be “judged” on specific criteria developed by the IVC. These pitches will form a portion (10-25%) of the overall score used to determine the winning Business Plan.
Following a review of the business plans and the scoring of the pitches, the top three winners will be announced.
Awards & Prize Money
The grand prize winner will be awarded $25,000. Second and third prize winners will receive $10,000 and $5,000 respectively. Other in-kind prizes will be offered to the winners Additional in-kind services will be given.