Business Plan Competition Rules
Teams in the Business Plan Competition must comply with the following criteria to be eligible for the competition.
- Eligible students can form a team with non-student business community members or alumni, but there are restrictions to this involvement (see below).
- Student teams entering the University of Washington's Business Plan Competition must be full-time or part-time
students who are enrolled in degree seeking programs at an accredited college or university in Washington state.
- The business plan must be developed during the student's tenure at the university. Students working with outside entrepreneurs must create
an original business plan.
- Students must have an ownership stake in the business or the potential for equity or employment.
- Actual annual company revenues cannot exceed $500K.
- In the Investment Round, no more than four team members, including both students and non-students, can present the new business
concept to the judges. In the Sweet Sixteen and Final Rounds of the competition, only student team members will be allowed to
make presentations to the judges.
- Only student team members are eligible to earn prize money. No payments will be made to non-students.
Note: The Director of the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship reserves the right to make the final determination of the eligibility of submitted business ventures.
Confidentiality
The UW Business Plan Competition considers all submitted business plans as confidential and treats all team matters accordingly. However, we cannot guarantee complete confidentiality for proprietary matters.
Therefore, we strongly encourage any team with concerns regarding intellectual property, copyright, or patent confidentiality to either contact their University’s intellectual property office (for University-developed discoveries) or competent legal counsel (for non-University related discoveries). The University of Washington, the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, the UW Business School, and the organizers of the competition are not responsible for any proprietary information and/or intellectual property included in a submitted business plan.
Ultimately, protection of sensitive materials is the sole responsibility of the individual or team participating in the competition. |
