Business Competitions

The Lester Center supports four premier business competitions. Click on a link below for plan details, or click here for an overview of the competitions.

	The marquee entrepreneurship event at Berkeley (more)
	Catalyzes ventures that create and measure both social and financial returns (more)
	Showcases global business opportunities of new and innovative technologies (more)
	Allows students to apply the art and science of venture investing (more)

Partial list of external competitions

Overview of Business Plan Competitions

The Lester Center oversees two premier business plan competitions, both established by Haas students in the late 1990s.

The UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition is the vehicle that connects UC Berkeley’s best entrepreneurs and world class research with the Bay Area’s business elite to create viable businesses. Founded in 1999, the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition has become a leading Bay Area event and one of the nation’s foremost business plan competitions. The competition brings together entrepreneurs, students and alumni from across the greater UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco communities. Each fall, students organize teams through sponsored networking events, classes, and on their own in order to submit brief executive summaries shortly after returning from the UC winter break in January. Accepted competitors then refine their venture plans and presentations, which are later judged by Bay Area venture capitalists to determine the semi-finalists, finalists, and ultimately, the winner. Throughout it all, teams are matched with area mentor volunteers who provide guidance and help in developing a full-fledged business plan. Taken together, the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition is truly a unique offering made possible by leveraging all the assets of the Berkeley universe – its students, alumni, and location.

The mission of the Global Social Venture Competition is to catalyze the creation of social ventures, educate future leaders and build awareness of social enterprises, and the competition supports the creation of real businesses that bring about positive social change in a sustainable manner. Founded at the Haas School in 1999 as the National Social Venture Competition, it is the largest and oldest student-led business plan competition providing mentoring, exposure, and prizes for social ventures from around the world. It is co-sponsored by the Lester Center and the Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership. Haas manages the Global Finals & Symposium at UC Berkeley with the support of a leadership team of Haas MBAs and in partnership with Columbia Business School, London Business School, the Indian School of Business, and Thammasat University in Thailand. The competition is also supported by several Outreach Partners in the US, Europe, and Asia, and continues to grow in its scope and reach across the globe. Since its inception, the GSVC has awarded more than a half a million dollars to emerging social ventures and has introduced early-stage social venture entrepreneurs to the investment community.

In collaboration with Intel, the Lester Center hosts The Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley. The Challenge is where the best engineers and scientists present how they plan to make the world a better place through their innovations and entrepreneurial skills. The Challenge partners with the best research institutions around the world and affiliates with regional business plan competitions to find the technologies and teams that can have the greatest impact. Since its inaugural year in 2005, teams have come from Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Mexico, Russia, Singapore and the United States to compete.

The Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) is, in essence, a “reverse business plan competition.” Student teams assume the role of venture capitalists and evaluate and “fund” investment opportunities. Real business opportunities are presented by entrepreneurs currently seeking funding, while being judged by experienced venture capitalists. The competition is open to all UC Berkeley graduate students interested in trying their hand at being a venture capitalist for a day. There is strong interest in the competition each year, with a total of 31 teams having applied to compete in the 2009 UC Berkeley competition. Six teams were chosen from that pool to compete. The Karnak Capital team of Josh Ewing, Sean Dalziel, Rei Kasai, Victoria Liang and Jacob Rios won the UC Berkeley 2009 VCIC competition, held at Haas on Friday, February 6, 2009. Winners of the UC Berkeley competition go on to compete in the regional finals. Karnak Capital claimed the Entrepreneurs Choice Award at the Western Regional Finals of the VCIC held at USC’s Marshall School of Business on March 6, 2009. Regional winners progress to the grand finals at the University of North Carolina, where a Haas team took the national title in 2005.

VCIC is a trademark of the University of North Carolina.

Year after year, these competitions have helped to identify and promote promising business ideas through the education and exposure afforded by the competition’s events, mentors and judges.

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