Business Plan Competition

The best annual entrepreneur meetup held in Bilbao, Basque Country

Intro

The Business Plan Competition is aimed to early stage startup companies or individual entrepreneurs from Basque Country and surrounding areas.

An early Round 1 will be carried out for initial applications* with the ultimate goal of selecting the Final 4 to present during the event.

In a Round 2, ten semi-finalists will be chosen from this pool of applications, to be considered for this competition. The Selection and rank of top 10 will conclude with the invitations to Final 4.

The final Round 3 will take place on the event day, 22^th of January, where an invited panel of judges will decide on the final winners.

* Expected Number of Applications: 100+-.

Application deadlines

Round 1: 15^th Nov 2014

Filter down to top 20. Additional materials can be requested (pitches, marketing materials) from top 20 applicants, to be submitted by Round 2.

Round 2: 31^st Dec 2014

Select and rank top 10 while extending invitations to Final 4 (and going down a waitlist accordingly)

Round 3: 22^th Jan 2015

Will take place during event on 22^th Jan

Final 4 candidates will present their BP to the entire audience for the opportunity to win cash prizes.

Process

Application to the Competition will take place at the moment of online registration to the event. It is a necessary pre-condition to have registered to the event to participate in the Competition.
There is no limit in the number of applications, apart from the capacity of the event (200 people approx.).
Once the Registration is confirmed (the individual concerned will be asked about the participation or not in BPC), the attendant will be able to attach the BP though the web.
The applicants must be present on the day of the event to participate and at the Awards Ceremony in order to win.

Each Final 4 team will have a total of 8 minutes which includes a 5 minute pitch + 3 minutes of Q&A from judges on the day of the competition.
Decisions of the judges and the BB Entrepreneur Meetup team are final and may not be appealed.
Contestants are expected to behave respectfully to all other contestants, sponsors, judges, volunteers, and audience members. Any behavior that is found to violate MBB Entrepreneur Meetup’s ethical and behavioral standards will result in automatic disqualification.

Application form submissions

The Business Plan must answer all the following questions

1. What problem(s) are you trying to solve? Limit: 150 words
3. What are the biggest risks to your business and how do you hope to address them? Limit: 100 words
5. Who are your team members? What experiences or qualifications do they bring to your team? Limit: 150 words

2. What is your solution to this problem? Limit: 150 words
4. Please explain your business model (i.e. how will you deliver on your value propositions)? Limit: 200 words
You may download the Business Plan Application guide here

Eligibility

All registered attendees of the BB Entrepreneur Meetup whose BP is to start up in the Basque Country and surrounding areas are eligible to apply, and both companies and individuals are welcome to participate.

If the applicant is a company, it must have been founded after the 22^th of January of 2013 (lifespan shorter than 24 months).

Awards

These are the awards for the four winners of the Business Plan Competition

Rank	Award
First Award	5,000€
Second Award	3,000€
Third Award	1,500€
Fourth Award	500€

Criteria

Business plans will be evaluated on five, equally-weighted categories

1. Market

Is there a large, attractive market opportunity? What are the critical points and are they clearly identified? Which is your target market?

2. Product/Technology

Is there a clear overview of product/service offered? Is the solution offered convincing? Is there a strong value proposition for the end-user/consumer?

3. Business Strategy

What is the quality of the business plan and strategy? Does the company have a defensible strategy against potential competitors? Have the key risks/mitigations been well-identified?

4. Competition

Is there a solid competitive analysis? Does the company have a strong advantage over its competition?

5. Team

Is there a well-rounded team that has the right skillset to be successful in this business? What are the qualifications and strengths of the team?

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