• The venture must have an HBS alumni as a founder. The alumni must be full-time and part of the day-to-day operations. View the full list of programs that grant alumni status.
• Ventures must have less than $2 million USD in revenue. In addition, they may not have raised more than $ 2.5 million USD in total debt/invested equity capital. This amount includes money received through grants, awards, and other funding sources. Teams must meet both criteria. Invested capital is defined as funding appearing on the plan's balance sheet at the time of submission, which is no later than January 27, 2020 at 12pm noon ET. Teams will disclose any prior funding received at the time of registration.
• HBS Investors are not eligible to submit companies unless they are identified as a founder and involved full-time in the day-to-day operations. The HBS Founder must be represented at all events and be the pitch lead.
• Investment funds, acquisitions, and consulting services are not deemed "new ventures" and are not eligible.
• The Virtual International Track is only open to international applicants who live outside of the Asia-Pacific and Europe regions
• Cash and in-kind prizes are awarded solely to participating companies and not to any grant-funding institutions.
• Previous Regional Winners cannot reapply to the New Venture Competition.
• The HBS Rock Center for Entrepreneurship reserves the right to disqualify any entry that violates the rules or spirit of the competition. The decision of the Rock Center are final and binding.

Travel for Regional Competitions

• If selected to compete in the regional competition, the applicant will cover their own travel to the regional competition.
• In the event that too few applications are submitted to a region, HBS has the right to cancel the regional competition.

Travel for Global Finals and Finale

• The NVC regional lead club will reimburse travel to the regional winner who is selected to advance to the Global Finals round in April.
• Please work with the NVC regional lead club directly to obtain your reimbursement.