Applications are now open for the 2016 Tulane Business Model Competition. The Tulane Entrepreneur Association and the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the A. B. Freeman School of Business will award over $40,000 in cash prizes to college and university entrepreneurs.
The competition is seeking early-stage ventures that can demonstrate a market-tested ability to adapt to customers’ needs. Instead of intensive library research, student entrepreneurs will get out in the field and prove their assumptions.
At the 2015 competition, John Lewandowski presents the winning business model to judges for Disease Diagnostic Group. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology-based company, which produces a device that can accurately diagnose malaria for one-tenth the cost of current techniques, won a $25,000 grand prize. (Photo by Cheryl Gerber)
The process is open to teams led by at least two and no more than five students.
“Tulane University has a rich history of supporting entrepreneurship and promoting an interdisciplinary, market-focused approach to new venture creation,” said Sherif Ebrahim, director of entrepreneurship and innovation education at the Freeman School.
“The Tulane Business Model Competition is a way for us to recognize and foster high-potential ventures that have demonstrated an ability to test their assumptions in the field and then pivot based on that market feedback.”
Six semi-finalists will be selected to receive mentoring and network with startup experts, as well as pitch, on March 14 during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW). From there, three finalists will move on to the grand prize opportunity of $25,000.
Teams must submit applications by Friday, January 29.