OtherYoung Entrepreneurs to Compete in UO’s New Venture Championship April 4-6

Contributed by Geneva Turrini, University of Oregon Journalism Student 

The Oregon New Venture Championship, which will be held April 4-6 in Portland, is a graduate-level entrepreneurial competition – one of many in fact. However, this specific competition strives to set itself apart from its own competition. There are certain goals, values, and ideals that the NVC works to uphold throughout the year, before, during, and after the event itself. As a facet of the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business, the NVC event wants to reflect the ideals that are an everyday part of the school as a whole.

Innovation is a mantra often heard within the confines of both the Lundquist College of Business and the University of Oregon. Students and staff alike work to strive a certain level of success while remaining innovative and fresh in all their ventures. The NVC competition attracts graduate-level teams from across the country as well as globally to Portland in the hopes of pitching their own version of innovation. Our competition becomes the playground for entrepreneurs, startups, and business-minded individuals. In addition to receiving professional feedback during every step of the competition process, winning teams win cash prizes towards funding their ventures. The grand prize is $25,000 and automatic berth for the 2013 Venture Labs Investment Competition. Runner-ups also receive cash prizes as well as teams awarded the Best Written Business Plan and Elevator Pitch awards.

The teams that come ready to win have ideas for ventures that span across markets – although the majority of them are related to the sciences. The winning team from the 2012 competition was LifeLine Innovations LLC from Arizona State University, which strives to provide much needed vaccines for deadly diseases at a fraction of the cost using biotechnology to develop the vaccines themselves. Second place winner was Boston Mountain Biotech LLC from University of Arkansas, which developed new ways to purify the proteins used in pharmaceutical work.

The Oregon New Venture Championship strives to bring together like-minded individuals who are invested in spreading new ideas – students, startups, and industry professionals. We base our competition on the ideals of innovation and finding new ways of thought that can help people all over the world.

Find out more at our website and follow us on Twitter @oregonnvc