New York Business Plan Competition: Capital Region

To apply, please visit the New York Business Plan Competition website.

Capital Region Competition

Monday, March 27 - Deadline to submit application for the Capital Region Semi-Final

Saturday, April 1st: Capital Region Semi-Finals – In-Person at UAlbany ETEC 10 a.m to 4 p.m.

Thursday, April 6: 1st and 2nd place track winners provided judge feedback to prepare for State Competition

State Competition

Round One: (Asynchronous and Online)

April 18: Student deadline to submit materials for the state Finals.

April 19-24: First round judges will review submissions.

April 24: Judges will deliberate and choose the top teams from each track to move onto Round Two.

April 24: Students moving onto Round Two will be informed, as well as what time they will be scheduled to pitch on April 27.

Round Two: (Live and In-person)

April 27, 2023 - 9 a.m. - Noon: The top teams from each track will pitch live to judges. Pitches will be eight minutes and followed by six minutes of Q&A.

Noon: Track winners announced live. The top team in each track will move on to the Grand Prize Finals.

Round Three: Grand Prize Finals (Live and In-person)

April 27, 2023: The Grand Prize Finals will take place as part of Upstate Capital’s event, Venture NY.

Location: Syracuse, NY. The event can be attended in-person or online for guests. All student competitors will pitch in-person.

Specific dates are available on the New York Business Plan Competition website. We also communicate dates through emails and during conference calls.

Early January

• Student and judge applications open

Beginning of March

• Final track definitions and special prizes announced

March - April

• Regional competitions take place

Beginning of April

• Regional winners shared with state finals organizers
• Final prizes and prize money awards announced

Mid April

• Round One for NYBPC Finals held online. Refer to the New York Business Plan Competition website for specific submission deadlines
• Track winners announced

 Late April

• Round two and Grand Prize Finals held in-person
• Grand prize awarded to top track winner

The NYBPC consists of two levels of competition. Regional competitions are generally held in March/April in all ten regions across New York. The winners of these competitions move on to the statewide finals. All regional competitions follow this rulebook and scoring rubric, but format and timing of the regional competitions vary.

Students are assigned to one regional competition based on the location of their school. If the team has members in different regions, the first student listed is considered primary and the team will compete in the associated region.

All students fill out the NYBPC central application to begin. The application opens in January and can be found through the New York Business Plan Competition website. Check the website for the deadlines specific to each regional competition.

The teams finishing in first and second places within each track at regional competitions are invited to compete in the statewide final competition, provided the regional judges deem the teams prepared for statewide competition. All student competitors are invited to attend the finals to build their networks and knowledge of entrepreneurship. Finalists submit their pitch videos and slide decks approximately two weeks prior to the first round of the finals competition.

The NYBPC Final Competition has three parts:

• First Round: The first round of finals is held online in mid-April. Up to twenty teams in each of six tracks are judged asynchronously online over the course of several days, by business and industry professionals. The top teams advance to the next round.
• Track Winners: For the second round, the top teams in each track are invited to pitch live to a panel of judges, with live Q&A on April 27. The track winners are announced the same day.
• Grand Prize Finals: First place track winners are invited to compete for the NYBPC Grand Prize, live and in-person on April 27 in Syracuse, NY, as part of Upstate Capital’s Venture NY event. Timing and location details will be published on NYBPC.org.

All students are invited to the NYBPC Finals event to cheer for their teammates, meet mentors, attend workshops and gain exposure to entrepreneurial resources from across New York. The in-person NYBPC Grand Prize pitch will be limited in attendance, but will be streamed online.

Each region is invited to send two teams per track. No alternate teams are invited to compete. Regional coordinators must email a list of winners and team contact information to [email protected] within 48 hours of the completion of their competition and no later than April 14.

Once those lists are received, eligible teams will receive instructions for submitting their final presentations.

In order to be eligible to apply for and participate in the NYBPC, all teams must meet the following criteria:

1. “Students” are any graduate, undergraduate, and/or community college students enrolled part- or full-time in a micro-credential, certificate, or degree program in accredited New York colleges and universities during the current academic year (defined as August - July). Students who graduate during the Fall semester are eligible to compete in the competition during the Spring semester. All students are eligible, including exchange students.
2. Presenters must be eligible students in all stages of the competition.
3. Teams may compete in only one region per year.
4. Students may participate on only one team per year.
5. Grand prize winning teams from previous NYBPC competitions are not eligible to compete again. They are encouraged to participate as speakers, mentors, volunteers, and judges. Individual members of winning teams may return with new teams in subsequent years.
6. Cumulative public and private capital raised may not exceed $100,000. This does not include research funding that may have supported the development of the technology in an academic laboratory.
7. Ownership: For business ventures that are incorporated, majority student-owned (more than 50%). For teams that are unincorporated, the majority of contributions need to come from students, such that should an organization become incorporated, the organization would be majority student-owned.
8. Teams do not need to have incorporated legal entities to compete. The NYBPC reserves the right to withhold prizes from winning teams who do not comply with the eligibility requirements.

The competition is divided into categories, called tracks, at all levels of competition. Students are assigned tracks by the NYBPC organizers based on their self-identification for their venture and their team. Self-identification is done by selecting multiple tags, or words that accurately relate to the nature of the venture and/or the team. Tracks are determined and defined by clusters of tags that are related.

To keep pace with our rapidly changing world and to provide a balanced competition, track definitions are finalized after reviewing incoming applications in early March. Students do not select tracks on their applications, but do select one or more category tags. These tags may also align with special prizes. They could relate to the type of business, attributes of the team, the type of product or service, or target markets or customers. Tracks are defined by industry, innovation and technology themes that emerge based on category tags.

The list of tags will not be finalized until the student application opens in January. Here is a sampling of tags that have been included historically: agtech, athletics, clothing, college students, education, entertainment, environmental impact, fintech, food, government, medtech, mental health, military, under-resourced, software, travel, utility, veteran-owned and social impact.

The NYBPC organizers assign tracks to teams. Student teams will be informed of their track assignments prior to the regional competitions. Teams in each of the tracks may represent for-profit or non-profit ventures. All tracks are judged according to the same criteria and rubric.

The presentation format for the regional semifinal and statewide final competitions may vary. Please reach out to the organizers of your regional competition to ensure that you understand the requirements.

Presentation Format & Submission Requirements

For the statewide final competition, each team will be given the opportunity to submit a link to a pitch video, a slide deck and brief written remarks to be shared with the judges. Final submissions must be submitted by the deadline posted on the website. No new presentations or updated versions will be accepted after that date and time.

Video pitches should be no more than eight (8) minutes long. Judges are asked to ignore anything past the eight (8) minute mark. Videos should only include the slide deck and presenter – no demos or footage of the product/service in use in the field, including software demos. Screenshots and photos are welcome and encouraged. Videos that do not match submitted slide decks will risk disqualification. To best align with judge expectations and the judging rubric, students should focus on creating a simple and clear presentation rather than a fancy video production.

Slide decks must be in PPTX format. No specific version of Powerpoint or Adobe software is guaranteed, so students should plan accordingly, focusing on simplicity and content to guarantee universal accessibility.

Additional remarks are limited to 200 words and will be shared with the judges along with the pitch video and slides.

For round two and the Grand Prize Finals, student teams will pitch live for eight (8) minutes and have six (6) minutes of Q&A with a panel of judges.

Presentation Content

The NYBPC Presentation Suggestions Slide Deck Template is available for reference. It is recommended that you seek to address the following questions in your presentation.

Business Model and Team

1. General Description: What problem are you solving? What is your business model? Describe how your venture makes money and how it will assure long-term sustainability.
2. Financials: What are the unit economics of your product or service? How much does it cost to get started? What are the projections for sales and ongoing expenses?
3. Value Proposition: What is your key value proposition (e.g. lowest cost, highest reliability, best performance, etc.)?
4. Structure: What is the structure of your organization? Do you have the team members that you need to start and grow? How will the structure change with growth?

Products/Services

1. Product/Service: What is your product/service offering? How does your product/service work
2. Customers: Who are the specific customers that you are pursuing or will pursue? Do you have any validation of interest such as letters of interest or early sales? What kind of customer discovery have you conducted to find out about people who want what you are offering?
3. Benefits: Define and quantify key benefits (e.g. cost, performance, etc.)
4. Development Stage: Where is the product/service in its evolution (e.g. idea/conception, proof of concept, fully tested prototype, etc.)?

Competitive Position

• Competitors: Who is your competition? What makes your solution better?
• Right to Win: Is your competitive position sustainable? How will you protect proprietary information such as intellectual property?

Markets

1. Target Market: What markets and market segments are you targeting? How big are these markets and how can you sustainably capture them?
2. Barriers to Entry: What are the key market barriers and how will they lend to your success?

Example Presentations

• Photonect: Juniyali Nauriyal and Sushant Kumar, University of Rochester (2022 Grand Prize)
• Bio-Spire: Tiana Salomon, University of Rochester (2022 1st Place Track Winner)

Prizes, recognitions and cash awards will be announced by the end of March. First, second, and third place prizes will be awarded for each of the six tracks. A Grand Prize winner will be selected from among the first place teams from each track. Winners will be selected by judging panels.

Special prizes may be awarded singularly or across the tracks. Examples of past years special prizes included concept stage, minority founders, female founders, and other special prize awards. Criteria and amounts will be announced by the end of March. Winners may be selected by their respective prize sponsors in conjunction with NYBPC judges. Teams should select as many tags as possible in filling out the NYBPC application to be considered for various special prizes.

Evidence of incorporation is required for dispersal of prizes over $2,500, and incorporation may be done using prize money funds. Incorporation may take any form related to a business entity including a local DBA or state-level corporate structure such as an LLC, C-corporation, etc. Reach out to us at [email protected] if you need help navigating this process. W9 forms are required for all cash prizes.

All winning teams will meet with a mentor to establish milestones prior to receiving prize money. Prizes of $5,000 and higher will be dispersed in multiple milestone-based phases. The first payment will be made based on milestones established in a post-event mentorship meeting. Additional payment(s) will be made based on achieving agreed-upon milestones or at the discretion of the NYBPC organizers based on mentor feedback.

Prize money awards are viewed as investments for student-led ventures to move forward, although they are not expected to be repaid as debt, nor are they equity investments. The maximum cash award for teams who are not planning to move forward with an entrepreneurial venture in the near-term is $500, regardless of their placing.

All prizes must be claimed within twelve (12) months of the date of the competition or they will be forfeited. Cash prizes are taxable according to state and federal tax law.

Prizes, recognitions and cash awards will be announced by the end of March. First, second, and third place prizes will be awarded for each of the six tracks. A Grand Prize winner will be selected from among the first place teams from each track. Winners will be selected by judging panels.

Special prizes may be awarded singularly or across the tracks. Examples of past years special prizes included concept stage, minority founders, female founders, and other special prize awards. Criteria and amounts will be announced by the end of March. Winners may be selected by their respective prize sponsors in conjunction with NYBPC judges. Teams should select as many tags as possible in filling out the NYBPC application to be considered for various special prizes.

Evidence of incorporation is required for dispersal of prizes over $2,500, and incorporation may be done using prize money funds. Incorporation may take any form related to a business entity including a local DBA or state-level corporate structure such as an LLC, C-corporation, etc. Reach out to us at [email protected] if you need help navigating this process. W9 forms are required for all cash prizes.

All winning teams will meet with a mentor to establish milestones prior to receiving prize money. Prizes of $5,000 and higher will be dispersed in multiple milestone-based phases. The first payment will be made based on milestones established in a post-event mentorship meeting. Additional payment(s) will be made based on achieving agreed-upon milestones or at the discretion of the NYBPC organizers based on mentor feedback.

Prize money awards are viewed as investments for student-led ventures to move forward, although they are not expected to be repaid as debt, nor are they equity investments. The maximum cash award for teams who are not planning to move forward with an entrepreneurial venture in the near-term is $500, regardless of their placing.

All prizes must be claimed within twelve (12) months of the date of the competition or they will be forfeited. Cash prizes are taxable according to state and federal tax law.

The New York Business Plan Competition is New York State's premier collegiate business plan competition, attracting entrepreneurial-minded college students from throughout the state. Celebrating its 13th year, the Capital Region regional qualifying event will generate proceeds to support ongoing student programming, to ensure access to the best entrepreneurial education.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Presenting Sponsor: $5,000

• Opportunity to welcome the group 
• Inclusion in all media releases, web articles and other promotional materials related to the event noting your company as the Presenting Sponsor  
• Company name/logo listed on event website and program 
• Thank you & recognition during and post-event 
• Exclusive opportunity to join program director in check presentation to winner 
• Display a sign or banner at the event  
• Opportunity to distribute a gift appropriate to the event

Lunch Sponsor: $2,500

• Inclusion in all promotional materials related to the event noting your company as a Lunch Sponsor  
• Company name/logo listed on event website and program 
• Thank you & recognition during and post-event 
• Display a sign or banner at the event  
• Opportunity to distribute a gift appropriate to the event

Partner Sponsor: $1,000

• Inclusion in all promotional materials related to the event noting your organization as the Partner Sponsor  
• Company name/logo listed on event website and program 
• Thank you & recognition during and post-event 

Friend of the Competition – $500

• Company name/logo listed on the event website and program

How to Sponsor

For more information contact [email protected].

The NYBPC is New York’s intercollegiate entrepreneurship competition that, since 2010, has provided a platform for training New York’s next generation of entrepreneurs and launched new ventures, commercializing innovations developed on college campuses across New York.

Statewide competition with 500+ competitors on 200+ teams from 50+ colleges and universities, since 2010.

• Over 30% MWBE participation last year
• Over $150M+ economic impact including follow-on funding for 100+ startups
• From community colleges to ivy league schools, teams come from across the state to compete and win

For more information, please visit the NYBPC site.