Silicon Valley Boomer Business Plan Competition

Who is it for?

Anyone 18 years or older from around the globe with a business plan that shows the 45-plus market as the primary market for the product or service. Current annual revenues must be no more than $1 million.

How to enter?

Executive summary submissions are due via YouNoodle

Deadline: April 23, 2010

Link to competition: Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit – Business Plan Competition

Cisco I-Prize

Who is it for?

Anyone 18 years of age or older submitting an idea or proposal that falls into one of these categories:

• The Future of Work: New solutions that accelerate and change the way we do business
• The Connected Life: Technological inspirations that dramatically improve living conditions and disseminate culture
• New Ways to Learn: Next-generation solutions that transform when, where, and how people learn.
• The Future of Entertainment: New solutions that change how people play together

How do you enter?

Register here

Deadline: April 30,2010

Link to competition: Cisco I – Prize

Conoco Phillips Energy Prize Contest

Who is it for?

Legal residents of the 50 United States and District of Columbia who are at least 18 years of age or older at the time of entry.

Each individual entrant or team of entrants must submit a comprehensive proposal (no more than 2,000 words) for a Concept, which for purposes of this Contest is defined as follows: a technology, process or method that identifies a new alternative and/or renewable energy source or a new way to develop an alternative and/or renewable energy source; determines a way to use any type of energy source more efficiently; and/or combats climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

How to enter?

Enter online – http://www.contesttechnology.com/energyprize10/

Enter by mail – send your Submission and Registration Information to:
Conoco Phillips Energy Prize Contest Entries
P.O.Box 9302
Medford, NY 11763-9302

Deadline: May 21,2010

Link to competition: Conoco Phillips Energy Prize Contest

Clean Tech Open Business Competition

Who is it for?

United States residents, citizens, or legal aliens looking to turn their clean tech idea into a thriving business can apply. Teams must consist of one Team Leader and at least one other team member (two people total). All entries must meet one of the competition’s six clean technology category definitions and be a startup with less than $500,000 from outside funding (some exceptions apply).

How do you enter?

Register here

Deadline: May 22,2010

Link to competition: Clean Tech Open

IBM SmartCamp

Who is it for?

SmartCamp is open to early stage companies. Early stage means a company not more than 3 years old as of March 1st, 2010 with a maximum turnover of USD $1,000,000 in the last 12 months. Companies invited to the interview stage or beyond must be able to produce a current tax clearance certificate.

How do you enter?

Applying to Smart Camp could not be simpler! Simply visit http://smartcamp.seedcamp.com and register your company.

Deadline: Registration opens March 18, 2010 – 5 companies from each participating city will be announced June 3, 2010.

Link to competition: IBM Smart Camp

WJF Socially Responsible Business Plan Competitions

Who is it for?

Any business that:

• Is for-profit
• Is less than one year from your first revenue (or not have launched at all)
• Cannot have accepted more than $20,000 in equity or debt investment from individuals who are not part of the day-to-day management team.
• Seeks both financial viability and a defined social and/or environmental goal. Our baseline for financial viability is a firm where managers make at least a middle-class living, employees make at least a living wage and vendors and customers are generally satisfied with their interactions with the firm.
• Can be described in English. (We hope to remove this requirement eventually.)

How do you enter?

To submit your executive summary, send it by email to competition@williamjamesfoundation.org Entries must be readable by Microsoft Word 2003 or Adobe PDF reader.

Deadline: June 4th, 2010

Link to competition: WJF Business Plan Competition

MassChallenge

Who is it for?

Anyone (although they say their goal to support high-potential seed and early stage start ups) that has:

• Less than $500K of aggregate investment to date (grants not included, except for non-profit entrants)
• Less than $1M in revenue over last 12 months

How to enter?

Register here

Deadline: Mid-June 2010

Link to competition: Mass Challenge

Shopify Build a Business Contest

Who is it for?

Anyone with a Shopify online store, winner will be judged on two highest months of online store revenue

How to enter?

Create a Shopify store account online

Deadline: Competition runs through June 30, 2010

Link to competition: Shopify – Build a Business

NYC Next Idea 2010

Who is it for?

Graduate Track:

• Teams with 2-5 participants
• Team members must be graduate students or alumni of a participating university
• Each team must have at least one full time or part-time graduate student
• Preference for business ideas in: Financial Services, Green, Not-for-profit, Bioscience, Fashion, and Media and Technology
• Business plans must have a NYC operational and/or marketing component

Undergraduate Track:

• Teams with 2-5 participants
• Team members must be undergraduate students or alumni of a participating university
• Each team must have at least one full time or part-time undergraduate student
• Preference for business ideas in: Financial Services, Green, Not-for-profit, Bioscience, Fashion, and Media and Technology
• Business plans must have a NYC operational and/or marketing component

How to enter

Enter here -
NYC Next Idea 2010

Deadline: October 1, 2010

Link to competition: http://www.nycedc.com/BUSINESSINNYC/FORINTERNATIONALBUSINESSES/NYCNEXTIDEA/Pages/NYCNextIdea2010.aspx

LES Foundation 2011 Competition

Who is it for?

To participate entrants must submit a comprehensive business plan with a core intellectual property (IP) licensing component. Entries are evaluated by seasoned industry professionals, who provide valuable feedback to each team. Entries are judged on a variety of factors including attractiveness of the venture, quality of the product/service offered, market opportunity and investment potential.

How to Enter:

Contact Linda Chao at bplan@lesfoundation.org

Deadline: March 4, 2011

Link to competition: LES Foundation 2011 – Business Plan Competition