Competition
New Venture Challenge (NVC)
April 12, 2022
Since its inception in 2009, the New Venture Challenge (NVC) program and competition—run out of Innovation and Entrepreneurship—has been known as CU Boulder’s entrepreneurial “flight simulator.” NVC gives aspiring entrepreneurs the chance to build a startup through entrepreneurial events and programming, community support, mentorship and ultimately, funding.
Description
Registration to compete in NVC 15 will open on November 18, 2021.
Participants represent majors and departments from across the university. From undergraduates to graduates, PhD candidates to postdocs, and faculty to staff, everyone is invited to pitch their idea.
With a world-class community of entrepreneurs, startups, and established businesses in our backyard, Boulder is one of the best places to launch ideas because it resides at the intersection of a top research university, an internationally recognized startup community and one of the nation’s best cities in which to live.
Key Initiatives for NVC 15 & Beyond
Lift our funding prize pool for the NVC Championships to $500,000
Create a world-class mentorship program
Focus on collapsing the campus and getting all students involved
Creating a stronger pipeline of support for teams after the NVC Championships
Requirements
To compete in NVC, your team or venture must meet the following requirements:
One founding member of the team must be a current CU Boulder student, faculty or staff member who has a valid CU Boulder BuffOne Card.
Participating CU faculty & research staff members must certify that their Disclosure of External Professional Activities (DEPA) has been appropriately updated before registering.
Members of the non-CU community may join a team, as long as at least one member of the team has a valid CU Boulder BuffOne Card AND a significant role in the business creation.
The team must register for NVC by the application deadline (NVC 15 deadline coming soon). You can continue to add members to your team after registration is over.
IMPORTANT: Finalists competing in the NVC Championships will be required to have a legal entity to be able to accept the prize money as well as complete a founder's agreement.
If your startup team competed in a prior NVC year and advanced as a finalist to the Championships, then you may only compete again in NVC if it is a new idea. If you have any questions please contact us at cunvc@colorado.edu, as it is better to clarify than to miss the opportunity to participate.
Rounds
Round 1
More than 110 teams from across campus are expected to compete in this round.
Judges will have reviewed each team’s pre-submitted video pitch and executive summary before the event. Video pitches will NOT be shared live during this event due to the volume of teams for this round.
Each team will be scheduled for a 5-minute question and answer session with judges and will compete in virtual competition “rooms.”
Judges will select the top teams to advance to Semifinals. Each team that advances to Semifinals will receive $100!
This event is not open to the public and is only open to competing teams.
Semifinals
About 30 teams from across campus are expected to compete in this round.
In virtual competition "rooms," each team will share their video pitch (with ability to screen share), then judges will have 5 minutes to conduct question & answer session. We recommend having backup slides to reference if needed during your pitch.
Judges will select the top teams to advance to the NVC 14 Championships. Each team that advances to the Championships will receive $250!
This event is not open to the public and is only open to competing teams.
Championships
The top teams advancing from Semifinals will compete in this round.
In a virtual, livestreamed event, each team will share their video pitch (with ability to screen share), then judges will have 5-10 minutes to conduct a question & answer session. We recommend having backup slides to reference if needed during your pitch. Learn more about last year's judging panel for the NVC 14 Championships.
More than $100,000 in funding is up for grabs! Each team that advances to the Championships will receive funding of varying amounts.
This event is open to the public.
Awards
Teams that advance from Round 1 to Semifinals will receive $100.
Teams that advance from Semifinals to Championships will receive $250.
More than $100,000 will be awarded at the NVC Championships. Each team that advances to the Championships will receive funding of various amounts, and the $100,000 purse will be divided among the teams based on judge discretion.
Participants represent majors and departments from across the university. From undergraduates to graduates, PhD candidates to postdocs, and faculty to staff, everyone is invited to pitch their idea.
With a world-class community of entrepreneurs, startups, and established businesses in our backyard, Boulder is one of the best places to launch ideas because it resides at the intersection of a top research university, an internationally recognized startup community and one of the nation’s best cities in which to live.
Key Initiatives for NVC 15 & Beyond
Lift our funding prize pool for the NVC Championships to $500,000
Create a world-class mentorship program
Focus on collapsing the campus and getting all students involved
Creating a stronger pipeline of support for teams after the NVC Championships
Requirements
To compete in NVC, your team or venture must meet the following requirements:
One founding member of the team must be a current CU Boulder student, faculty or staff member who has a valid CU Boulder BuffOne Card.
Participating CU faculty & research staff members must certify that their Disclosure of External Professional Activities (DEPA) has been appropriately updated before registering.
Members of the non-CU community may join a team, as long as at least one member of the team has a valid CU Boulder BuffOne Card AND a significant role in the business creation.
The team must register for NVC by the application deadline (NVC 15 deadline coming soon). You can continue to add members to your team after registration is over.
IMPORTANT: Finalists competing in the NVC Championships will be required to have a legal entity to be able to accept the prize money as well as complete a founder's agreement.
If your startup team competed in a prior NVC year and advanced as a finalist to the Championships, then you may only compete again in NVC if it is a new idea. If you have any questions please contact us at cunvc@colorado.edu, as it is better to clarify than to miss the opportunity to participate.
Rounds
Round 1
More than 110 teams from across campus are expected to compete in this round.
Judges will have reviewed each team’s pre-submitted video pitch and executive summary before the event. Video pitches will NOT be shared live during this event due to the volume of teams for this round.
Each team will be scheduled for a 5-minute question and answer session with judges and will compete in virtual competition “rooms.”
Judges will select the top teams to advance to Semifinals. Each team that advances to Semifinals will receive $100!
This event is not open to the public and is only open to competing teams.
Semifinals
About 30 teams from across campus are expected to compete in this round.
In virtual competition "rooms," each team will share their video pitch (with ability to screen share), then judges will have 5 minutes to conduct question & answer session. We recommend having backup slides to reference if needed during your pitch.
Judges will select the top teams to advance to the NVC 14 Championships. Each team that advances to the Championships will receive $250!
This event is not open to the public and is only open to competing teams.
Championships
The top teams advancing from Semifinals will compete in this round.
In a virtual, livestreamed event, each team will share their video pitch (with ability to screen share), then judges will have 5-10 minutes to conduct a question & answer session. We recommend having backup slides to reference if needed during your pitch. Learn more about last year's judging panel for the NVC 14 Championships.
More than $100,000 in funding is up for grabs! Each team that advances to the Championships will receive funding of varying amounts.
This event is open to the public.
Awards
Teams that advance from Round 1 to Semifinals will receive $100.
Teams that advance from Semifinals to Championships will receive $250.
More than $100,000 will be awarded at the NVC Championships. Each team that advances to the Championships will receive funding of various amounts, and the $100,000 purse will be divided among the teams based on judge discretion.