Win Cash and Prizes at the Duke Start-Up Challenge - Elevator Pitch Competition

Do you have an idea for a startup? Can you explain it in two minutes?

If so, you can win cash and prizes at the Elevator Pitch Competition, part of the Duke Start-Up Challenge, from November 16th to November 20th.

Here's how it works

The Elevator Pitch Competition runs for from November 16th through 20th. Any Duke student (undergrad or grad), faculty, or post-doc can participate.

Everybody gets two minutes and can have one powerpoint slide (no animations). Each night there are different tracks that you can compete in.

Winners will be selected from each of the following tracks:

Monday, Nov 16 @ Bryan Center, Von Canon Rooms, 7pm

• Undergraduate-led Startups Track (must be led and pitched by an undergraduate)

Tuesday, Nov 17 @ CIEMAS, Schiciano Auditorium, 7pm

• Healthcare & Life Sciences Track
• Energy & Environment Track

Wednesday, Nov 18 @ Fuqua, Lilly and Dansby Classrooms, 7pm

• Women-led Startups Track (must be led and pitched by a woman)
• IT & Media Track

Thursday, Nov 19 @ Fuqua, Lilly and Dansby Classrooms, 7pm

• Social Enterprises Track
• Products & Services Track (for startup ideas that don't fit in other functional categories)

Those winners will advance to the Finals on November 20th

Friday, Nov 20 @ Fuqua, Geneen Auditorium, 5:30pm Networking Event, 7pm Finals

• Elevator Pitch Finals with special guest Bill Maris, co-founder of Google Ventures

Next steps: To compete, register here by November 11th at 5pm:

http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/how-to-get-involved/register-to-pitch

And send your powerpoint slide (no animations) to hwr2@duke.edu at the same time.

Questions? Contact Steve Pal, Duke Start-Up Challenge Co-President at steven.pal@duke.edu

More information on the Duke Start-Up Challenge at http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org

This event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, http://www.unleashingideas.org

NC IDEA Grant Program Reminder

Our friends over at NC IDEA reminded us of their grant program. Great opportunity for Duke start-ups to get funding.

===

www.ncidea.org

Grant Program Description

NC IDEA provides small grants to high-tech start-up companies to support business activities that validate potential markets, reduce risk of early failure, and advance projects to the point of self-sustainability at which time they are suitable for private equity investment.

NC IDEA considers awarding grants to technology based businesses with the potential to become high-growth companies. NC IDEA defines a high growth company as a fast growing startup with a significant market size that will consider equity financing as part of their growth strategy.

NC IDEA has awarded over $1.3M in grants to help thirty-seven start-up companies in NC since the program's inception. NC IDEA targets high-tech companies that need help crossing the chasm between initial product development and venture capital funding.

$ Amount of Grants

NC IDEA awards grants up to $50,000.

Grant Cycle Frequency

NC IDEA makes grant solications twice per year. The Spring cycle typically opens in early January with Pre-Proposal applications due in late January. The Fall cycle typically opens in late August with Pre-Proposal applications due in mid September. Please check the Grant Timeline for the current cycle schedule.

# of Grants Awarded

NC IDEA awards grants to 4-6 companies each cycle.

Presentation from DSC Kick Off Event And Match Night

The presentation includes an overview of the Duke Start-Up Challenge and one slide summaries of business ideas pitched at the event.

Kickoff Event & Match Night Program

View more documents from DukeStartupChallenge.

Dsc Kick Off Event And Match Night 20091001

View more presentations from DukeStartupChallenge.

Kickoff & Match Night Recap

The Duke Start-up Challenge (DSC) had a fantastic start to the 2009-2010 academic year. With 140 registered on facebook and over 160 attending (estimate) it was an energetic, lively crowd. After a solid overview by Shalav Gupta, co-president of the DSC, there was a welcome by Adam Mangone, co-president of the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, www.dukeEVCC.com.

Sponsors include Intersouth Partners, Wyrick Robbins, Hutchison Law Group, Hughes Pittman & Gupton, Square 1 Bank, iContact, and Palo Alto Software.

The main part of the night were the startup pitches, run by Katherine Ryzhaya, Team development lead for the DSC. There were over 30 startups that pitched, which ranged from:

• A few undergraduates including a freshmen at Duke who wanted to start a website that guided high school students on how to get into college.
• Several Fuqua MBA students pitching startups based on technologies and innovations, including a medical device for to treat urinary incontincence , as well as a nanotechnology innovation that has created the world's longest carbon nanotubes
• A Master of Engineering Management student located in the DUhatch Student Business Incubator
• A few Duke PhD students wanting to bring their technologies out of their lab, including one prosthetic arm innovation recently profiled on 60 Minutes
• A few members of Research Triangle Park community with innovations looking for students to help them launch.

The formal part of the Kickoff Event was closed by Steven Pal, co-president of the Duke Start-Up Challenge.

Though it was late in the night, a surprising number of people (estimate of 75) stayed afterwards for the matching event. Color coded dots on the name badges helped people with similar interests connect with one another. Several of the presenters reported making good connections at the networking session.

The Kickoff event has been a part of the Duke Start-up Challenge in various forms, depending on the year, sometimes including pitches, sometimes not. I think tonight's formula, with the mix of introduction, pitches, and networking, was a solid formula and is worth repeating in future years.

The Duke Start-Up Challenge was conceived of in 1999 and the first academic year of the competition was 2000-2001.

Photos and videos of the event will be available at www.picasaweb.google.com/eshipatduke and www.youtube.com/eshipatduke.