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For more information about the Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition including complete rules and elegibility criteria, go to www.acceleratemichigan.org, or connect with the competition via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
The Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan, a new regional network for building and retaining new business in southeast Michigan, has announced that the Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition is open for registration.
Open to any undergraduate or graduate student attending a Michigan college or university in the fall of 2010, the Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition will award $50,000 to the top business ideas and concepts submitted by Michigan students. Participants must submit a one-page business idea. Semifinalists will submit a three-minute video pitch and formulate a 15-minute, in-person pitch. The deadline for initial applications is midnight Oct. 22.
“The Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition presents an excellent opportunity to showcase homegrown ideas straight from the state’s future leaders,” says Jeff Mason, executive director of the University Research Corridor (URC), which consists of U-M, and Michigan State and Wayne State universities. “These ideas will not only serve as a catalyst to strengthen, transform and diversify the state’s economy, but will reinforce the commitment from every college and university in the state of Michigan to educate a work force focused on innovation.”
The Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition is a component of the larger Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, which uncovers the best and brightest new business concepts from local and global entrepreneurs, and exposes those opportunities to potential investment capital and fostering their growth within Michigan.
Slated to be the world’s largest business competition with more than $1 million in cash awards, plus in-kind awards of services, staffing and software, the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition targets early-stage businesses with proven technology and potential to generate an immediate impact on Michigan’s economy.
“The University of Michigan is excited to support a competition dedicated solely to business ideas and concepts from Michigan college students,” says President Mary Sue Coleman. U-M will host the competition’s final events. “The Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition provides students with an outlet to present their ideas, and encourages their drive and motivation for shifting Michigan’s economic landscape.”
The New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan has granted Ann Arbor SPARK $750,000 to launch the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition on behalf of the Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan, composed of four of the region’s key business accelerators: Ann Arbor SPARK, Automation Alley, Macomb-OU INCubator and TechTown. Joining the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition as partners for the event are the URC and Business Leaders for Michigan.
