MSU $50K Venture Competition
The 2021 event is planned as a virtual event on April 7-8, 2021. Details below.
Virtual Event Details
The MSU $50K Venture Competition will be a two-day virtual competition taking place Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8. Winners will be announced on Friday, April 9. These events are open to the public for viewing.
Eligibility
This competition is open to all MSU-Bozeman students (undergraduate and graduate), MSU-Bozeman faculty and staff, and recent MSU-Bozeman alumni (10 years or less). Venture Award winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd place) from previous MSU $50K competitions are not eligible to complete. The venture must not have received any institutional funding (Venture Capital or Angel) at this time, but grants such as SBIR/STTR or MSU funding is allowed.
*If you do not qualify to compete in this event, we have other services available and would love to connect with you. Please contact us at [email protected] or click here to schedule a meeting with the LaunchPad.
Timeline
March 7: Application Submission deadline
Finalists will be notified the week of March 15
Application Items
To apply, please fill out the application via the link above which will include several questions and these two key items:
- A slide deck presentation submitted as a pdf or pdf summary highlighting these areas: company purpose, problem, solution, why now, market size, product/service, team, business model, competition, and high-level current financials and projections (more details provided in the application)
- A link to a 1-2 minute video that summarizes your Venture. This video does not need to be edited or professionally created, and can simply be a smartphone video of you explaining your Venture
Prizes
This unique event will feature $50,000 in prize money as well as access to established area entrepreneurs, investors, and numerous network resources.
Upcoming Info Sessions
Wednesday, February 24th, 4 pm - 4:30 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErdeiopjgvH9dImmFW5iUWHmwjUKh_WEjz
Thursday, February 25th 12 - 12:30 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qde6orDkuGtfTjJncL8Y0a2SuktjGTj3b
Need Assistance?
Schedule an appointment with the LaunchPad for venture coaching: https://www.montana.edu/launchpad/schedule.html
Questions? Contact the LaunchPad: [email protected] or 406-994-4383.
PAST EVENTS:
Winning Ventures:
Traditional Venture Track:
1st Place: OptimaLabs -- $15,000
2nd Place: NanoMagnetic Solutions -- $6,000
3rd Place: Agile Focus Designs -- $4,000
Social Venture Track:
1st Place: Freats -- $14,000
2nd Place: The Ant Network -- $6,000
3rd Place: Turtle Island Tales -- $4,000
Judges Choice Award: PATH -- $1,600
*official winners announcement: http://www.montana.edu/news/20038/
Click here for more information about this year's winners.
Finalists
Our 14 finalists: Agile Focus Designs, The Ant Network, Authors A.I., CuraVoice, Dugal Health, Freats LLC, Make Kin Milkweed Apparel, Nanomagnetic Solutions, Optima Labs Inc., PATH, SkyCivic, Sky Oro, Success Prints, and Turtle Island Tales. Click here for the full announcement.
