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UC Berkeley
Venture Capital Investment Competition

About the VCIC


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The UC Berkeley VCIC is, in essence, a "reverse business plan competition".

Compared to a traditional business plan competition, where teams participate as entrepreneurs seeking venture capital funding, student teams in the VCIC assume the role of venture capitalists and evaluate and "fund" investment opportunities.  Select teams evaluate real business opportunities presented by entrepreneurs currently seeking funding, while being judged by experienced venture capitalists.

It is a three-tiered progressive competition, where winning teams progress upon success at the Berkeley competition to the VCIC Regional competition in February, where they compete to represent the Region at the VCIC International competition in North Carolina in April. 

The purpose of the UC Berkeley VCIC is two-fold: to educate future VCs and entrepreneurs, and for these people to experience the VC process firsthand, by working directly with venture capitalists instructors and judges.

The first goal of the VCIC is to educate and expose MBA students to the venture capital process and the intricate selection requirements of a VC-fundable business opportunity. By exposing future VCs and entrepreneurs to the venture capital process early on, the competition aims to enhance both their appreciation of opportunity recognition and entrepreneurs' levels of sophistication in VC interactions.

Potential venture capitalist candidates have limited opportunities to experience the "day in the life of a VC" because of the selective nature and criteria of VC recruiting. This competition aims to allow students to apply the art and science of venture investing to try their hand at selecting real business opportunities using strategic investment criteria, valuation, capitalization tables, term sheets, and other tools of the trade.

By stimulating deep student understanding and appreciation for VC, the competition also aims to foster interaction and communication between the next generation of business leaders and VCs in Silicon Valley who would like to "give back" to the student community.

The Berkeley VCIC is hosted by the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley and administered by MBA students from the Haas School of Business.  VCIC ® is a trademark of the University of North Carolina.


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