Rensselaer Business Plan Competition
Where Innovation Meets Motivation!

Welcome to the Rensselaer Business Plan Competition website. There are many competitions that student entrepreneurs can take part in; get the preparation you need by taking part in this on-campus competion. The goal for the Rensselaer Business Plan Competition is not only to provide teams with prizes of cash and in-kind services, but also to provide student entrepreneurs with the opportunity to improve their business plan through workshops, coaching and judging feedback sessions in preparation for the myriad of competition opportunities held annually each spring across the nation.

The winners are:

Qualification Criteria

Teams

1. This competition is open to graduate and undergraduate students.
2. Each team must be made of at least half RPI students.
3. All students must be enrolled for the Spring '12 semester.
4. RPI students must play an integral role in each team.
5. If the competition is split into graduate and undergraduate tracks, teams must enter in the division dictated by the highest education level of all the team members. This decision will be made after all submissions are received.

Business Plans

1. Plans can be for a product, service, process or technique.
2. The submission must be unique to the market.
3. Your submission does not have to be technology-driven.

Submissions

Intent to submit is a simple email sent to SCTE@rpi.edu that should include: Team Name, each Member's Name and grad status (UG or G), 1-2 sentence description of your innovation and the team's primary contact person.

The 2-page submission, due by January 27th 5:00 PM, should describe your business idea without revealing any proprietary information. We don't want to know what your secret sauce is. Part of this process is learning how to write and present your innovation in an intriguing manner without revealing your intellectual property.

Presentations

If chosen and notified, teams will be asked to present their business plan to a panel of judges on February 7th for Round One. Each presentation is limited to 10 minutes. This time frame will be strictly enforced by a time keeper. Teams are allowed to use visual aids as they see fit. At the end of the 10 minutes, the judging panel will have 5 minutes to ask questions and provide feedback and coaching. Teams are encouraged to evaluate and/or incorporate the judges' feedback in preparation for final presentations on February 8th. Final presentations will follow the same format as Round One.

Presentation guide available here.

Judging

Judges will consist of community members, faculty, staff and alumni with varying backgrounds in entrepreneurship and business. Each team will also be judged by a technical judge in the field relating to their submission. Round 1 judges will assist the team in fine-tuning and clarifying their presentations before moving on to round 2. Round 2 judges will evaluate presentations and determine the winners.

Prizes

Over $15,000 in cash and in-kind services are available this year. If awarded a prize, the money will be distributed in increments based on achieved milestones.

Sponsors

Center for Future Energy Systems

Rensselaer's Center for Future Energy Systems is the Energy Center for Advanced Technology (Energy CAT) in New York State and is funded by NYSTAR (New York State Office of Science, Technology and Innovation) and industrial partners. CFES conducts fundamental and applied research to accelerate the development of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies.

Heslin, Rothenberg, Farley & Mesiti, P.C.

The law offices of Heslin, Rothenberg, Farley & Mesiti, P.C. have graciously donoted in-kind services to the first place team(s). Heslin, Rothenberg, Farley & Mesiti, P.C. is the largest law firm in New York's Tech Valley, devoted exclusively to intellectual property law. The firm handles all aspects of acquiring and enforcing intellectual property rights, both domestic and foreign, including licensing and litigation.

Rensselaer's Center for Automation Technologies and Systems

The Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS) provides an effective interface to leverage a broad range of research resources in automation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with highly trained technical staff to provide project management that matches industrial requirements and schedules. Our unique combination of leading research, excellence in theory and analysis, practical design and process implementation has paid off for numerous industrial partners.

Rensselaer CATS is a NYSTAR-Designated Center for Advanced Technology.

CornerStone Telephone

CornerStone Telephone is the single source of advanced communication and networking systems for businesses of all sizes. If you are a business owner or IT manager, we will empower you with functionality and control, so you can increase the productivity of your people. Whether you want to better manage growth or consolidate voice and data services, CornerStone has multiple configuration options that can be customized to meet your specific needs.

Were you looking for the High School Student Business Plan Competition page? Click here.