Application Instructions // 

Thank you for your interest in the Data and AI Accelerator program Transform. Only one member of your team needs to submit the application on behalf of your team. You will be able to save your progress and return to the application to complete all sections of the form. Please ensure that your application is submitted by December 15, 2023 at 11:59pm CDT. If you have any questions, please contact mgoh@uchicago.edu. 

Requirements //

Focus area must be big data-driven technologies, agnostic of verticals. Examples: AI/ML, data engineering, data analytics, applications in healthcare and biotech, cybersecurity, IoT, climate tech and environment, blockchain, social impact, transportation, Fintech, transportation, agriculture, and others

• The startup must be an established U.S. legal entity at the time of entry to the program
• There should be a partial team in place i.e., a technical lead and business lead etc. Founders/CEO must participate for the duration of the program
• Preference for early-stage ventures past the idea concept phase (less than a $1M raised) established within the last 3 years

The Alumni New Venture Challenge (ANVC) is the track of the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge supporting all University of Chicago alumni who are in the process of launching early-stage ventures.

PURPOSE OF THE ANVC

To encourage the founding and growth of high-potential new ventures founded by UChicago alumni.  

PHASES OF THE ANVC

The Polsky Center works in conjunction with University of Chicago alumni in various regions to manage the ANVC. The program is divided into three phases, which are outlined below.

• Phase I: Eligible University of Chicago alumni entrepreneurs will apply to the ANVC with a feasibility summary. The feasibility summary is the application for the ANVC. Applicants must choose one of the participating tracks to apply to. Reviewers will select companies to advance to Phase II of the ANVC.
• Phase II: Accepted companies will participate in local programming, mentorship, and feedback opportunities (resources will vary by region). Phase II companies will receive access to virtual resources from the Polsky Center. Phase II will conclude with a semifinals event, where top team(s) from each semifinals event will be selected to advance as finalists to Phase III. 
• Phase III: The program will culminate in a Finals event on May 16, 2024, where finalist teams will pitch in front of a world-class panel of investors and established entrepreneurs for a chance to win up to $100,000 in funding!

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• Venture must be original and have commercial promise
• Team lead must be a degreed UChicago alum as of the application date, and this alum should have equity in the company and a role on the management team, as well as pitch at all ANVC-related events.
• There is no minimum or maximum team size, however each team is required to have at least one degreed UChicago alum.
• Teams may have members who are unaffiliated with UChicago. The Polsky Center encourages teams to identify individuals who may contribute the additional expertise and experience to help the team succeed.
• Venture must be a for-profit enterprise
• Venture must not have participated in any of the NVC tracks
• Venture must have less than $1M USD in annual revenue
• Venture must not have raised more than $1M USD in total debt/invested equity
• Venture must be less than 5 years old
• Incorporation is highly encouraged, but not required
• Alums may submit their application to only one participating region
• Alums may submit multiple companies. It is unlikely that multiple entries from the same team will be successful given that the plans are judged partly on the ability of the team to execute the plan.
• Venture is not eligible to apply to any other track of the NVC in the same year

HOW TO APPLY AND APPLICATION DEADLINE

Teams interested in applying to the ANVC must submit a completed application by the deadline. The deadline for the 2024 ANVC is Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. CT (no exceptions). Please scroll to the bottom of this page to create an account with Submittable to begin the application process. If you have any questions, please reach out to Gorana Kolar.  

APPLICATION COMPONENTS FEASIBILITY SUMMARY: Teams must develop a 5-page feasibility summary outlining a business or idea. Formatting:

• 10-12 pt legible font
• 1 inch margins
• 5-page maximum (judges are not expected to read any appendices)

Common elements of a feasibility summary include:

• Value proposition
• Customer/beneficiary segments
• Competition
• Intellectual property
• Customer/beneficiary engagement
• Revenue model
• Operations
• Management team
• Progress to date
• Business risks
• Business analogue

PITCH VIDEO: Teams must create a 2-minute elevator pitch video articulating the following.

• What problem are you solving?
• What is your solution?
• Who is most interested in having this problem solved?
• What evidence do you have that they will find value in your solution?
• Why are you the team to solve this problem?
• How will the Alumni New Venture Challenge enable you to reach your goals?

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: Teams must speak to the following topics about their business in short-answer responses. This section will serve as the Executive Summary to a team’s application:

• Business description (50 words or less, please note that this info may be made available on marketing materials)
• Problem this business is addressing (125 word limit)
• Customer/beneficiary segment this business addresses (125 word limit)
• Potential market size (125 word limit)
• Competing or substitutable products (125 word limit)
• Why is this the right team to launch this business? (125 word limit)
• Key milestones/current status of business and/or estimated time to market (125 word limit)

TEAM RESUMES: Resumes of each team members should be included in the application.   

EQUITY AGREEMENTS

As a condition to receive the prize money, each winning team must agree to provide the Polsky Center with equity in the company (that was the subject of its application). The Polsky Center offers a non-negotiable version of the Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) for companies that receive prize money.  SAFE is a standard convertible equity investment instrument first introduced and used by Y Combinator for seed funding. Fundamentally (and ideally), it is an investment that converts to preferred stock at the occurrence of the next round of funding and at the same terms as that round of funding. It is not traditional preferred stock or a convertible note. It is intended to replace convertible notes by keeping a similar conversion mechanism but removing many of the problems inherent in debt instruments (e.g., interest, maturity dates, risk of insolvency, and subordination). Importantly, SAFE is unlike preferred stock in that it does not require setting a valuation of the company — that determination is postponed until the later “occurrence of a particular event”.  The Judges Panel and/or the Polsky Center reserve the right to disqualify any entry that does not meet all the eligibility requirements or that violates any rules or regulations of the Alumni New Venture Challenge.  

JUDGING

Judging will be based on the commercial potential of the business, innovative nature and technical feasibility of the idea, the credibility of the projections and assumptions, and the ability of the team to make it happen.  

PRIZES & EQUITY AGREEMENT 

Cash prizes, along with any additional goods and services, will be divided among the top teams as deemed by the judging panel. The allocation of the prize money will be determined by the finals judges, based on relative merit and need. Each ANVC finalist must review the terms of the SAFE agreement provided by the Polsky Center. As a condition to receive an award, each winning team must agree to provide the Polsky Center with equity in the company (that was the subject of its application) in an amount equal to its respective award if the company receives funding or otherwise enters into a business combination transaction wherein the surviving entity receives financing or equity in another entity.  

PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 

The University of Chicago, the principal sponsor and organizer, the co-organizers and co-sponsors of the Alumni New Venture Challenge have taken all reasonable measures to assure that all contestants retain their rights to the submitted materials and Intellectual Property. The co-sponsors and judges of the program include non-University of Chicago organizations that are interested in fostering the entrepreneurial process. Some of these organizations are in the business of working with and investing in the ideas of entrepreneurs. However, co-sponsoring organizations will only have access to materials with a team’s prior approval and shall make no claim to any of the property or rights.

The protection of these rights is the ultimate responsibility of each contestant. Contestants are urged to mark as CONFIDENTIAL any portion of their Entries, which they consider to be proprietary, or of a sensitive nature. Contestants should be careful about disclosing any “patentable” concepts in their Entries because, although in the United States a patent application can be filed up to one year after the first public disclosure of an invention, in many foreign countries a patent application must be filed before any public disclosure is made.   

WAIVERS AND RELEASES 

The University of Chicago, each of the co-sponsors, judges, mentors, co-organizers (the “Competition Officials”) and its directors, officers, partners, employees, consultants and agents (collectively “Organizer Representatives”) are volunteers and are under no obligation to render any advice or service to any Contestant.  The views expressed by the judges, co-sponsors, co-organizers, and the Organizer Representatives are their own and not those of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business or any person or entity. Entrepreneurs will be asked to acknowledge and agree to this in the application process.

 

This year, the NVC will be celebrating it’s 28th year of launching incredible graduate businesses including Grubhub, Braintree/Venmo, Simple Mills, Tovala, and Foxtrot.

PURPOSE OF THE NVC
To encourage the founding and growth of high-potential new ventures.


PHASES OF THE NVC
Most other business schools and graduate entrepreneurship programs host a single day or weekend business plan competition as their New Venture Challenge. The NVC at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is different. It is not just a competition. Instead, it is a year-long business launch program that is recognized as the #1 university accelerator program in the nation. It features three distinct phases:

• Phase I: In the Fall quarter, attend events hosted by the Polsky Center to learn about entrepreneurship, meet teammates, and generate ideas. Eligible teams must develop their business feasibility summary and apply by Wednesday, January 24, 2024.
• Phase II: Selected teams will enroll in a Spring quarter class where they will develop a full business plan, practice pitching, and receive mentorship from faculty, coaches, and experienced investors.
• Phase III: The program will culminate at the end of the Spring quarter where top finalist teams will be invited to compete for $1 million in cash and in-kind prizes and pitch in front of an esteemed panel of investors and judges at the NVC Finals on May 30, 2024.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

• Entries must be the original work of the entrants and may be made by a single-student or by multiple-student teams. Each team or student may submit as many entries as they wish. However, it is unlikely that multiple entries from the same team will be successful given that the plans are judged partly on the ability of the team to execute the plan.
• The new venture idea should be original and have commercial promise. The entry may be developed in conjunction with a course or research project, and students may enlist faculty aid.
• Teams that have secured arrangements for capital from any source must disclose the amounts and sources in their Phase I executive summaries. Entries that have received more than $1,000,000 of outside investment are ineligible to compete (excludes government grants).
• There is no minimum or maximum team size. However, each team is required to have at least one currently registered student from the University of Chicago as an active member of the team.* Teams are highly encouraged to incorporate at least one student from Chicago Booth. To qualify, the UChicago student must be registered as of the Phase I deadline.
• Teams whose founding members are unaffiliated with the University of Chicago are only eligible to apply to the NVC if they have a current UChicago student as an integral part of their team, with a 10% equity stake in the venture.
• Teams comprised of undergraduate students are eligible if the team has previously completed the College NVC, or the team includes at least one current graduate student. A team of all undergraduate students will not be eligible for the NVC if neither of these criteria has been met.
• Teams may have members who are not affiliated with the University of Chicago. The Polsky Center encourages teams to identify individuals, within and external to the University, who may contribute the additional expertise and experience to help the team succeed.
• Upon acceptance into the NVC, at least one team member must enroll in the NVC course at Chicago Booth in the spring quarter.
• Due to the employment-based nature of launching a venture and the expected activities that are required to do so, participation in the NVC and SNVC typically requires work authorization. Students interested in participating in NVC/SNVC who are not US citizens/permanent residents should review the parameters of their immigration status in the US to determine whether they may participate. Please read more here.

HOW TO APPLY AND APPLICATION DEADLINE
Teams interested in applying to the NVC must submit a completed application by the deadline. The deadline for the 2024 NVC is Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. CT (no exceptions).

The link to the 2024 NVC application is open. Please reach out to Dr. Amber Bradley Williams for more information about the NVC.


APPLICATION COMPONENTS

FEASIBILITY SUMMARY:
Students must develop a 8-page feasibility summary outlining a business or idea.

Formatting:

• 10-12 pt legible font
• 1 inch margins
• 8-page maximum (judges are not expected to read any appendices)

 
Common elements of a feasibility summary include:

• Value proposition
• Customer/beneficiary segments
• Competition
• Intellectual property
• Customer/beneficiary engagement
• Revenue model
• Operations
• Management team
• Progress to date
• Business risks
• Business analogue

PITCH VIDEO: Students must create a 2-minute elevator pitch video articulating the following:

• What problem are you solving?
• What is your solution?
• Who is most interested in having this problem solved?
• What evidence do you have that they will find value in your solution?
• Why are you the team to solve this problem?
• How will the New Venture Challenge enable you to reach your goals?

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: Students must speak to the following topics about their business in short-answer responses. This section will serve as the Executive Summary to a team’s application:

• Business description (50 words or less, please note that this info may be made available on marketing materials)
• Problem this business is addressing (125 word limit)
• Customer/beneficiary segment this business addresses (125 word limit)
• Potential market size (125 word limit)
• Competing or substitutable products (125 word limit)
• Why is this the right team to launch this business? (125 word limit)
• Key milestones/current status of business and/or estimated time to market (125 word limit)

TEAM RESUMES: Resumes of each team members should be included in the application.


EQUITY AGREEMENTS
As a condition to receive the prize money, each winning team must agree to provide the Polsky Center with equity in the company (that was the subject of its application). The Polsky Center offers a non-negotiable version of the Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) for companies that receive prize money.

SAFE is a standard convertible equity investment instrument first introduced and used by Y Combinator for seed funding. Fundamentally (and ideally), it is an investment that converts to preferred stock at the occurrence of the next round of funding and at the same terms as that round of funding. It is not traditional preferred stock or a convertible note. It is intended to replace convertible notes by keeping a similar conversion mechanism but removing many of the problems inherent in debt instruments (e.g., interest, maturity dates, risk of insolvency, and subordination). Importantly, SAFE is unlike preferred stock in that it does not require setting a valuation of the company — that determination is postponed until the later “occurrence of a particular event”.

The Judges Panel and/or the Polsky Center reserve the right to disqualify any entry that does not meet all the eligibility requirements or that violates any rules or regulations of the New Venture Challenge.


JUDGING
Judging will be based on the commercial potential of the business, innovative nature and technical feasibility of the idea, the credibility of the projections and assumptions, and the ability of the team to make it happen. While the quality of management and advisors is important, it will be less of a factor in Phase I and more a factor as the team progresses to Phase III. All decisions of the judging panel will be final.

PRIZES & EQUITY AGREEMENT

Cash prizes, along with any additional goods and services, will be divided among the top teams as deemed by the judging panel. The allocation of the prize money will be determined by the finals judges, based on relative merit and need. Each NVC finalist must review the terms of the SAFE agreement provided by the Polsky Center. As a condition to receive an award, each winning team must agree to provide the Polsky Center with equity in the company (that was the subject of its application) in an amount equal to its respective award if the company receives funding or otherwise enters into a business combination transaction wherein the surviving entity receives financing or equity in another entity.

PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

The University of Chicago, the principal sponsor and organizer, the co-organizers and co-sponsors of the Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge have taken all reasonable measures to assure that all contestants retain their rights to the Business Plan and Intellectual Property. The co-sponsors and judges of the program include non-University of Chicago organizations that are interested in fostering the entrepreneurial process. Some of these organizations are in the business of working with and investing in the ideas of entrepreneurs. However, co-sponsoring organizations will only have access to the Plans with a team’s prior approval and shall make no claim to any of the property or rights.

The protection of these rights is the ultimate responsibility of each contestant. Contestants are urged to mark as CONFIDENTIAL any portion of their entries, which they consider to be proprietary, or of a sensitive nature. Contestants should be careful about disclosing any “patentable” concepts in their entries because, although in the United States a patent application can be filed up to one year after the first public disclosure of an invention, in many foreign countries a patent application must be filed before any public disclosure is made.


WAIVERS AND RELEASES
The University of Chicago, each of the co-sponsors, judges, mentors, co-organizers (the “Competition Officials”) and its directors, officers, partners, employees, consultants and agents (collectively “Organizer Representatives”) are volunteers and are under no obligation to render any advice or service to any Contestant.  The views expressed by the judges, co-sponsors, co-organizers, and the Organizer Representatives are their own and not those of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business or any person or entity. Entrepreneurs will be asked to acknowledge and agree to this in the application process.

 The Global New Venture Challenge (GNVC) is the dedicated track of the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge program that supports Chicago Booth Executive MBA students worldwide. Second-year students in the Chicago Booth Executive MBA program are eligible to apply to the GNVC and participate as one of their capstone course requirements. A benefit of the GNVC is the participation of our alumni and members of the business community in the coaching and judging portions of the competition. More than 80 coaches, judges, panelists, and guest speakers participate in the GNVC each year.

The program is structured to meet the unique schedule needs of Chicago Booth executive MBA students. Since Chicago Booth has three global campuses—Chicago, London and Hong Kong—each campus hosts its own semi-finals event. The top teams across all campuses are invited to participate in the global finals, which are held in Chicago during the Executive MBA graduation week.

Join the conversation on social media using the hashtag: #ChicagoNVC.

PURPOSE OF THE GNVC
 To encourage the founding and growth of high-potential new ventures by second year Chicago Booth Executive MBA students.

PHASES OF THE GNVC

• Phase I: Current Chicago Booth Executive MBA students will apply to the GNVC with a feasibility summary. The feasibility summary is the application for the GNVC.
• Phase II: Accepted companies will participate in local programming, mentorship, and feedback opportunities (resources will vary by region). Phase II will conclude with a regional semi-finals event, where top team(s) from each campus will be selected to advance as finalists to Phase III. Each region will send at least one finalist team, based on the number of applicants.
• Phase III: The program will culminate in Chicago during graduation week where finalist teams from each region will pitch in front of a world-class panel of investors and established entrepreneurs. Last year’s prize money totaled $150,000.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
 

• Only second-year Executive MBA students are eligible to apply for the Global New Venture Challenge.
• Entries must be the original work of the entrants and have commercial promise.
• Each GNVC team must have a minimum of two second-year Executive MBA students per team and a maximum of six second-year Executive MBA students per team.
• Applicants may not have raised more than $500k of outside investment (angel or VC) at the time of application (personal investments do not apply to this cap).
• First-year Executive MBA students may participate in an advisory role and attend class, but will not receive credit for the course.
• Teams whose founding members are unaffiliated with Chicago Booth are only eligible to apply to the GNVC if they have a current Chicago Booth second-year Executive MBA student as an integral part of their team, with a 10% equity stake in the venture.
• Teams may have members who are not affiliated with the Chicago Booth participate on their teams. The Polsky Center encourages teams to identify these individuals, as they likely contribute additional expertise and experience to help the team succeed.
• No late submissions will be accepted.

HOW TO APPLY AND APPLICATION DEADLINE
 Teams interested in applying to the GNVC must submit a completed application by the deadline. The deadline for the 2024 GNVC is Friday, January 5, 2024 by 11:59p CST.

 The link to the 2024 GNVC application is live. If you have questions, please reach out to Dr. Amber Bradley Williams for more information about how to apply to the GNVC.

APPLICATION COMPONENTS

FEASIBILITY SUMMARY:
 Students must develop a 8-page feasibility summary outlining a business or idea.
 Formatting:
 

• 10-12 pt legible font
• 1 inch margins
• 8-page maximum (judges are not expected to read any appendices)

 
 Common elements of a feasibility summary include:
 

• What problem is it solving? – Value proposition
• Who is the customer? – Initial target market (Hint – do a lot of prospective customer interviews)
• How large is the market for this product? – Market size 
• Who are the competitors or competing technologies?
• How will you make money? – Economics and projections
• What is your go to market strategy? – Customer acquisition 
• Who is your team? – Specifically, why are you qualified and capable to start this business
• What is the current status of the company, team and product/service?

APPLICATION QUESTIONS: Students must speak to the following topics about their business in short-answer responses. This section will serve as the Executive Summary to a team’s application:
 

• Business description (50 words or less, please note that this info may be made available on marketing materials)
• Problem this business is addressing (125 word limit)
• Customer/beneficiary segment this business addresses (125 word limit)
• Potential market size (125 word limit)
• Competing or substitutable products (125 word limit)
• Why is this the right team to launch this business? (125 word limit)
• Key milestones/current status of business and/or estimated time to market (125 word limit)

TEAM RESUMES: Resumes of each team members should be included in the application.


EQUITY AGREEMENTS
 As a condition to receive the prize money, each winning team must agree to provide the Polsky Center with equity in the company (that was the subject of its application). The Polsky Center offers a non-negotiable version of the Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) for companies that receive prize money.

SAFE is a standard convertible equity investment instrument first introduced and used by Y Combinator for seed funding. Fundamentally (and ideally), it is an investment that converts to preferred stock at the occurrence of the next round of funding and at the same terms as that round of funding. It is not traditional preferred stock or a convertible note. It is intended to replace convertible notes by keeping a similar conversion mechanism but removing many of the problems inherent in debt instruments (e.g., interest, maturity dates, risk of insolvency, and subordination). Importantly, SAFE is unlike preferred stock in that it does not require setting a valuation of the company — that determination is postponed until the later “occurrence of a particular event”.

The Judges Panel and/or the Polsky Center reserve the right to disqualify any entry that does not meet all the eligibility requirements or that violates any rules or regulations of the New Venture Challenge.


JUDGING
 Judging will be based on the commercial potential of the business, innovative nature and technical feasibility of the idea, the credibility of the projections and assumptions, the ability of the team to make it happen, and the social impact of the business, if applicable. While the quality of management and advisors is important, it will be less of a factor in Phase I and more a factor as the team progresses to Phase III. All decisions of the judging panel will be final.


PRIZES AND EQUITY AGREEMENT
 Cash prizes, along with any additional goods and services, will be divided among the top teams as deemed by the judging panel. The allocation of the prize money will be determined by the finals judges, based on relative merit and need. Each NVC finalist must review the terms of the SAFE agreement provided by the Polsky Center. As a condition to receive an award, each winning team must agree to provide the Polsky Center with equity in the company (that was the subject of its application) in an amount equal to its respective award if the company receives funding or otherwise enters into a business combination transaction wherein the surviving entity receives financing or equity in another entity.

PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 The University of Chicago, the principal sponsor and organizer, the co-organizers and co-sponsors of the Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge have taken all reasonable measures to assure that all contestants retain their rights to the Business Plan and Intellectual Property. The co-sponsors and judges of the program include non-University of Chicago organizations that are interested in fostering the entrepreneurial process. Some of these organizations are in the business of working with and investing in the ideas of entrepreneurs. However, co-sponsoring organizations will only have access to the Plans with a team’s prior approval and shall make no claim to any of the property or rights.

The protection of these rights is the ultimate responsibility of each contestant. Contestants are urged to mark as CONFIDENTIAL any portion of their entries, which they consider to be proprietary, or of a sensitive nature. Contestants should be careful about disclosing any “patentable” concepts in their entries because, although in the United States a patent application can be filed up to one year after the first public disclosure of an invention, in many foreign countries a patent application must be filed before any public disclosure is made.


WAIVERS AND RELEASES
 The University of Chicago, each of the co-sponsors, judges, mentors, co-organizers (the “Competition Officials”) and its directors, officers, partners, employees, consultants and agents (collectively “Organizer Representatives”) are volunteers and are under no obligation to render any advice or service to any Contestant.  The views expressed by the judges, co-sponsors, co-organizers, and the Organizer Representatives are their own and not those of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business or any person or entity. Entrepreneurs will be asked to acknowledge and agree to this in the application process.