Top student startups from Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University are preparing to compete at Arizona Collegiate Venture Competition where the winning startups receive a chunk of $30,000 in funding and mentoring. The third annual Arizona Collegiate Venture Competition (ACVC) is set for March 27th, with twelve teams from Arizona’s three public universities competing for $30,000 in seed funding, mentorship and institutional bragging rights.
The competition fosters collaboration and friendly competition among the state’s universities and highlights the statewide entrepreneurship ecosystem that is growing in Arizona.
“We are thrilled to host ACVC, one of the most exciting student entrepreneurship competitions in the country,” said Mitzi Montoya, vice president and university dean of entrepreneurship and innovation at ASU. “Arizona is home to one of the most thriving student entrepreneurship communities in the country and ACVC offers an opportunity to showcase the new entrepreneurial talent coming out of our public universities.”
At ACVC, student teams pitch their startups to a panel of judges that include Kyle McIntosh from MAC6, Bob La Loggia from AppointmentPlus, Jonathan A. Coury from Hool Coury Law, PLC, and Mario Martinez from MRTNZ Ventures. Each startup is evaluated on seven criteria: problem and proposed solution, strength of team and advisors, market opportunity, go-to-market strategy, budget, progress made toward launch, and overall quality.
The grand prize winner will take home $10,000 in funding and secure the Startup Territorial Cup for its university. Two first runners-up will each receive $7,000, and the following three 2nd runners-up will each receive $2,000. A hosted reception will follow the pitch competition. Hool Coury Law Group and MAC6 generously sponsor the Arizona Collegiate Venture Competition by providing $15,000 each in prize money to ACVC winners.
Michael Hool of Hool Coury Law said, “Student startups are a critical part of the continuum of launching companies in any ecosystem. In this particular competition we want to develop and showcase (though a real life competitive process) the very best of start up teams our universities can produce. The winner of the Territorial Cup will be showcased as the best student start up in Arizona for the year. We want to bring greater visibility to the cool companies that are being formulated in our robust state university entrepreneurial programs so investors and other potential partners take notice of the types of technologies and teams that are being produced here.”
Arizona Collegiate Venture Competition
When: March 27, 2015
Where: ASU SkySong, 1365 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85257
Time: Welcome (12:00 – 12:45pm) Pitches (1 – 3:30pm) Awards and reception to follow
Check out last year’s ACVC by clicking here
This article has been updated from its original post