The UC Berkeley Startup Competition
The UC Berkeley Startup Competition (Bplan) is one of the foremost events for University-affiliated early stage startups. It provides entrepreneurs with the best possible resources – including education, networking, team creation, mentorship and new venture financing – to help turn innovative ideas into real businesses.
If you have a great business idea in biotech, software, cleantech, consumer goods, computing services, mobile applications, financial services, e-commerce or any other industry, we want to hear from you!
Bplan can help you:
Learn about starting a new company
Bplan provides forums throughout the fall and spring to learn about entrepreneurship and how to start a business during the Entrepreneurial Best Practices Series.
Network with other entrepreneurs
Find team members, or join a team. Bplan organizes a number of mixers every fall, connecting the community and students from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, College of Engineering, School of Information, Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and UC San Francisco’s research and clinical community.
Be mentored by experienced entrepreneurs
Teams that make it through the first round (expected to be 40 teams in 2013) are mentored by experienced entrepreneurs, VCs and intermediaries from February to April, helping them hone and detail their business models.
Test your ideas in front of the top VCs and entrepreneurs
Bplan’s judges are drawn from many of the area’s top VC firms, angel investors, service providers and experienced entrepreneurs. This is a unique opportunity to test your ideas and receive detailed feedback.
Win money
Since 1999, we have awarded more than $500,000 in prizes to new startups, including biotech, cleantech, web, IT, consumer goods, and financial services. This year, we expect to award more than $50,000 in prizes to an overall winner, winners of each industry track competition, the winner of a People’s Choice Award, and the winner of an Elevator Pitch Award.