PROVIDING STARTUP Grants and Support Services sincE 1997
Bridgeport $50,000 Business Plan Challenge
FINALS October 20, from 6 pm to 8 pm at Housatonic Community College
in Events Center on second floor of Beacon Hall (assuming protocols will permit in person); otherwise Finals will be conducted live online via Zoom.
Entry Deadline: October 13
Finalists will be notified Friday October 15
QUESTIONS? Contact Mike Roer at Roer@EntrepreneurshipFoundation.org
TRAINING and PRACTICE PITCHING
September 29 - Training Session + Speed Mentoring at MOCO, 211 State Street, 3rd Floor,
6 pm to 8 pm. Dinner provided.
Practice Pitching and Mentoring at Entrepreneurs Society Event via Zoom.
Tuesday, October 19, 6-8 pm. Register at Efound.Eventbrite.com
See also saved webinars on startup topics at https://www.cedf.com/
AWARDS
Grants will be awarded for both new business concepts and for plans to expand an existing business. Within these two stages, we will also allocate encourage grants for both ...
A. Venture Enterprise. Scalable, capital intensive, large market.
B. Personal or Service Business. Limited market, small cap.
In other words, a proposal to open a sub sandwich shop will not have to compete with a plan to build real submarines (which we actually did in Bridgeport).
Additional Awards as Service Vouchers for Selected Finalists:
Vouchers for 6 months at an incubator or co-working space for the price of one month at MOCO
JUDGING CRITERIA
SEMIFINAL (online) Questions. Limit 1,500 characters per answer
PRODUCT OR SERVICE brief description (8 words or less)
DEVELOPMENT STAGE of Product or Service
VALUE PROPOSITION: Problem and your solution, how it's better, or cheaper to produce or deliver (and why), or how customer service is superior, or evidence your target market is underserved
MARKET VALIDATION. Market niche and current research that substantiates sales forecast
REVENUE STREAMS and COST STRUCTURE (How much you charge, who pays, and what it costs to produce including delivery, customer service, and any back-end costs)
CHANNELS of MARKETING and DISTRIBUTION. How will users become aware of the product or service? Describe payment and delivery process.
MANAGEMENT TEAM. Other members, emails, roles in company, and any relevant training or experience
COMPETITION. Names of important competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, and how you plan to compete
JUDGING CRITERIA for Presentation at Finals
1. PROBLEM: Solves a real problem; there is strong customer pain or desire
2. SOLUTION: Superior or cheaper than alternatives, or serves new market niche
3. TARGET MARKET: Clearly defined; adequate size to support business
4. MANAGEMENT: Knowledgeable about industry; Convincing
5. FINANCE: It's clear how the company will make money
6. FUNDING: It's clear how much the company needs to launch or grow. (If company does not
require funding at this time, it may have an alternate need, such as customers or talent.)
