Brilliant Businesses Change the World

We strive to foster world-changing innovation. That is why the UO Lundquist College of Business founded the New Venture Championship (NVC), the premier graduate entrepreneurial competition in the Northwest, twenty-three years ago.

During the weekend of April 3-5, 2014, the best graduate teams from around the world will gather in Portland, Oregon, to compete in a six-round competition, during which teams present their business ideas, give a sixty-second elevator pitch, create and staff a trade show booth, and receive extensive feedback from our team of the best new business plan competition judges anywhere.

“It's an unbelievable opportunity to have the chance to pitch an idea in front of a group of experts. The judges are from all industries," said judge Diane Fraiman from Voyager Capital. “We are from all different backgrounds. I'm a venture capitalist, but there are others that are finance. There are others that are ex-CEOs. There are others that are marketing experts. So you have an opportunity to learn what resonates with an investment group."

The teams compete for the grand prize of $25,000 as well as additional awards for each individual round. Last year, every team that was accepted to the NVC won some amount of prize money. However, the most valuable thing teams take away from the competition is the advice and feedback they receive. NVC judges are experienced business experts who are eager to help teams make their dreams a reality.

The event is hosted in the UO White Stag Building and Portland Downtown Embassy Suites Hotel. There teams get to experience all Portland has to offer as the start-up hub of the Pacific Northwest. It also allows the brightest business people in Oregon to attend and support these brilliant ideas.

Previously, companies such as KT Tape, Klymit backpacking gear, and Boston Mountain Biotech have placed in our top three.

In 2013, we unexpectedly had two first place winners. Both AGcerez from Thailand's Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration and Awair from Stanford University were named 2013 NVC co-champions. AGcerez introduced a fruit syrup with helpful bacteria to aid digestion, and Awair presented Wyshbone, a device that delivers local anesthetic to the throats of patients using breathing tubes.

This year the registration process has just ended, and we are beginning the initial judging of more than fifty submissions from universities around the world to decide the sixteen semifinalist teams that will attend this year's competition. Teams from as far away as Singapore and Thailand will join teams from across the United States to present their ideas.

“I think it was a perfect competition," said Ryan Miller of ClearBrook Imaging, the 2011 champion. “I can't think of a thing I would change about it. The people there were kind. The Portland scene was fantastic. The companies there were all smart and fun, and everyone was very professional and exercised good sportsmanship."

Come join us in Portland to support the brilliant businesses that are working towards creating a better world.