$300,000 up for grabs for BC Entrepreneurs and Inventors
The 10th annual New Ventures BC (NVBC) competition begins April 19th and there is $300,000 in prize packages up for grabs for BC technology entrepreneurs and inventors. The five-month, four-round competition includes a unique mix of business education, networking and mentoring and is well worth entering if you have a tech startup idea percolating in your head.
“Our goal is to help very early-stage entrepreneurs to acquire the business skills they need to get their technology to market,” says Bob de Wit, executive director for NVBC. “And we’re succeeding. To date, 33 previous competition winners have raised more than $67 million to finance their business ideas.”
The competition is open to any BC resident, team or business with an innovative technology product or service that has not yet secured material financing.
Previous competition winners include 2001 winner AirG, now the world’s largest inter-operator mobile community with 40 Million unique users worldwide, and 2008 winner Saltworks Technology, which has raised more than $1 Million and is now selling its innovative, energy-efficient water desalination technology around the world.
Prizes to be awarded in the 2010 Competition include:
- $120,000 BC Innovation Council first-prize package
- $63,000 BC Innovation Council second-prize package
- $37,000 BC Innovation Council third-prize package
- $40,000 BC Hydro Sustainability prize
- $20,000 BC Bioenergy Network prize
- $20,000 BC Innovation Council Economic Impact prize
Competitors can participate in nine business-education seminars, which start April 6th in advance of the April 19th competition entry deadline. These seminars are also open to non-competitors who pay the $100 seminar registration fee.
