Late last week, 25 teams of entrepreneurs were selected as semifinalists in the Wharton Business Plan Competition, part of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs. The semifinalists now will battle it out for more than $73,000 in prizes and the opportunity to present their business plans at the annual Venture Finals, to take place in late April.
Among the concepts advancing to the semifinalist round are a “better Botox,” namely an injectable toxin beauty aid with better cosmetic results and fewer side effects; a zebra fish risk assesment tool in which the changing color of live fish shows water pollution; an online platform that facilitates donations to public school teachers who are spending money out of pocket to cover needed supplies; and an online medical scheduling service that notifies patients of last-minute appointment openings.
Participation in the Wharton Business Plan Competition, which launched more than a decade ago, increased nine percent this year over last. A total of 366 students competed in the early phases of the competition, most of them focused on Internet, biotech and IT concepts.
Notable this year was the increase in submissions aimed at finding a solution to social problems. Nearly 38 percent fell into this category. Among these, those selected by judges to advance to the semifinalist round primarily were ventures focused on serving specific market niches. The selection of Apples for Angels, the online donation platform for teachers, marks the first time in the competition’s history that a nonprofit concept was selected as a semifinalist.
The 25 semifinalist teams will now compete for eight finalist positions in the Venture Finals, which will take place on April 29, 2009. The finalist teams will face off against one another, each giving a 20-minute presentation of its business plan to competition judges.
Those judges – distinguished members of the business and venture capital community – will then evaluate the persuasiveness and viability of each business plan to determine how to award the more than $73,000 in cash prizes and in-kind awards. A $20,000 grand prize will be awarded to the winning team.
The Venture Finals annually draw more than 200 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investment bankers, alumni, faculty and students. Past winners of the Wharton Business Plan Competition, which is open to any University of Pennsylvania student and managed by Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs, have gone on to establish successful businesses including PetPlan USA, PayMyBills.com, BuySafe and NetConversions, among others.
For more information about this year’s Wharton Business Plan Competition or past years’ participants, click here.
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