Alumni

Business Track

With more than half of HBS alumni classifying themselves as entrepreneurs at some point in their lives, the New Venture Competition is designed to support students and alumni in the process of creating and evaluating new business and social-impact ventures. The 2013 business and social enterprise tracks each award winners with a $50,000 grand prize and $25,000 runner-up prize.

Overview

Within the Business Track, local competitions are held by participating HBS Alumni Clubs around the world. The winner from each local event moves on to compete in the finals, held on the HBS campus on April 29 & 30, 2013.

• Early January/February: Local registration and plan submission
• February 28: Registration deadline varies with regional club rules
• Late February/March: Regional contests held
• March 15: Regional winners named
• April 29 & 30: Competition finals at HBS

Finalists

2013 HBS Alumni New Venture Contest legal services sponsor: Cooley, LLP

northeastern us

Bookalokal helps guests pair up with hosts over home-cooked meals, food tours, cooking lessons and other creative "food events." Guests include travelers, newcomers and expats - all looking to meet local people and enjoy an authentic meal. Hosts range from people who love to cook and entertain, to food bloggers and aspiring chefs who want to showcase their skills, build their online cooking reputation and cover food costs, or earn extra money along the way.

latin america

KidBox is a Family App (desktop and mobile) that provides educational and entertainment content for preschoolers. Its Parental Control Module lets parents fully manage their children online activity with less than ten clicks.

northwestern us

LexSpot is solving the two major problems in the $100 billion consumer legal services market - price transparency and affordability - starting with a sole focus on the immigration vertical. We provide the first marketplace where consumers can learn about their immigration options, compare flat fees across lawyers, and "unlock" 30-80% savings on legal fees using our technology. Our technology empowers users to educate themselves and complete portions of legal work themselves, thereby enabling lawyers to significantly reduce fees while still providing quality legal representation.

canada

moduleQ is an action-oriented communication tool that eliminates email overload. moduleQ's intuitive work-in-progress dashboard helps get things done efficiently, without fear of dropped balls.

southeastern us

Neurotrack has developed technology that can diagnose Alzheimer's disease six years before symptoms appear, creating the potential to transform the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Based on ground-breaking research our computer-based cognitive/visual test gives pharmaceutical companies and research organizations the tools to recruit truly qualified candidates for clinical trials and more effectively measure drug efficacy, thus speeding up drug discovery and development.

texas

pawTree sells a full range of exclusive pet products through home parties and other forms of social selling, rather than traditional retail stores.

europe

PayPlug is the first service in France to enable small merchants to accept card payments with an easy sign-up process and no setup costs or monthly fees. To use PayPlug, merchants send a payment request from the mobile app or the PayPlug website; their clients then pay by credit card on their smartphone or any web browser.

mid-atlantic us

RCT is developing solutions to meet EPA emissions regulations in legacy-integral Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines(RICE) that operate the Natural Gas (NG) pipelines throughout North America. Our first product, RHRE, is a proven, re-purposed, liquid-fuel, RICE retrofit product that is validated to improve NG-fueled RICE at the bench level and in early scale-up tests. A robust product development plan is being conducted with first sale to a large gas transmission company by year end. The second product, Enhanced radical Ignition (ERI), is a complementary product/technology. It is a 'game-changer' across a wide swath of RICE in many vertical segments (automotive, truck, off-road, bus, locomotive, maritime, general aviation and small engines). ERI has been demonstrated in complex simulation models and in NG-fueled RICE laboratory tests.

india

SyncUsUp will allow users to selectively share and live-sync contacts from their smartphone address books directly into the native address books of other users. We believe native address books a devoid of contextual intelligence, integrate poorly into social networking fabrics, lack location smarts and the old methods of sending vcards to each other is archaic. Many of the new social address book products are cool looking but lack basic multi-user collaboration capabilities that are so important for success in today's hyper-connected social mobile world. SyncUsUp helps delivers an intelligent, location aware and secure social address book on your smartphone.

southwestern us

TrustEgg is the simplest way to save for a child's future. TrustEgg enables parents to create a Trust for their child in minutes for free. Parents can invite family and friends to make contributions. The Trust Fund is invested with Vanguard and earns a market rate of return until the child turns 18. The simple, social nature of TrustEgg will dramatically change the savings rate for the 70+ million children in the US.

midwest & central us

TruVitals, Inc. is committed to improving the quality of animal and human healthcare worldwide by commercializing the first patented, non-contact, non-invasive, continuous vital signs monitoring technology.

new england

Vaxess's patented technology uses a silk-derived protein to stabilize vaccines so they can be shipped and stored without refrigeration. Vaxess strives to not only lower the cost of distribution, but also increase access to life-saving products for people around the world.

africa

Vertaus Ltd. is a food services company based in Accra, Ghana. Vertaus aims to meet the food service needs of corporates, schools and educational institutions, entertainment and conference centers, and individuals through a portfolio of service offerings ranging from provision of prepared meals to managing onsite dining operations. Vertaus' mission is to improve the dining experience of Ghanaians everywhere they go. As individuals spend more time outside their homes, we want to ensure that their dining experience outside the home is marked by hospitality, excellence, and professionalism.

• Prizes

  Grand prize: $50,000

  Second prize: $25,000

  All finalist teams will receive mentoring from faculty and the HBS Angels Alumni Association. One finalist from each winning regional team will receive round-trip economy airfare to campus for the HBS finals; all finalists' lodging and meals are included.

• Rules
  • View rules & requirements for New Venture Competition Business Track teams.
    

    Eligibility

    • Each team must have at least one HBS alumnus/a member. The HBS alumnus/a needs to be a substantive member of the founding team, with a senior management and operating position, and participation in the company's equity pool in a manner consistent with that role and position.
    • Participating teams may not have more than $1,000,000 in total debt and invested equity capital, and must have less than $2,000,000 in revenues. Teams must meet both criteria. Invested capital is defined as funding appearing on the plan’s balance sheet at the time of submission to the regional Hub Club, which is no later than February 28, 2013. It is not necessary that the teams actually be seeking funding—e.g., they may already have raised the small amount of capital they need to reach an initial milestone—or may have a cash flow positive business model that essentially requires no outside capital. Note: investment funds and acquisitions will generally not be considered as "new ventures."
    • Alumni may enter the New Venture Competition or apply for the Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship, but not both. For questions on which to pursue, contact Alumni Relations or the Social Enterprise Initiative.

    Evaluation criteria

    Teams/plans will be judged on the likelihood of creating a successful, significant new venture. View the Evaluation Sheet (pdf) for specific criteria.

    Entry fees

    Varies by Hub Club. Generally $100 USD, plus local Club membership dues

    Guidelines for plans

    All business plans should clearly articulate:

    • The team members, their roles and backgrounds;
    • The product or service, the customer needs it meets, and the market it will serve;
    • The “business model,” e.g., how the company makes money; and
    • Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow forecasts for at least three years, including a clear articulation of funding needs, the anticipated timing of funding events, and how these relate to the entity’s accomplishment milestones (e.g., what exactly will you achieve with each round of capital funding). Financing term specifics need NOT be articulated.

    Please consult regional Hub Club sites for additional details regarding format and deadlines.

• NVC Finals

  On Monday, April 29, 2013, Business Track finalist teams presented their plans for a final round of judging at HBS. Winners of both the Business Track and the Social Enterprise Track were announced at the New Venture Competition finale on Tuesday, April 30. The winning alumni teams were:
  
  Vaxess Technologies - Grand Prize, Alumni Business Track
  Bookalokal - Runner Up, Alumni Business Track
  Yaso Biotechnology - Grand Prize, Alumni Social Enterprise Track

  While on campus, finalists participated in educational, mentoring, media, and networking sessions.