Chapel Hill, N.C. (PRWEB) April 13, 2015
The University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School hosted the global finals of its 18th annual Venture Capital Investment Competition® (VCIC), the premier competition for venture-minded and entrepreneurial MBA students, April 9-11.
Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business took home first place and $5,000.
The Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington won second place and $2,500.
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business won third place and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business earned the Entrepreneur’s Choice Award.
Of the 70 schools that competed worldwide this year, the 12 teams that won regional events – held in the U.S., Spain, France, India and China – convened with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Chapel Hill for the global finals.
VCIC simulates the entire investment process, said Patrick Vernon, director of VCIC and director of venture initiatives at UNC Kenan-Flagler.
“Students play the role of venture capitalists – evaluating pitches from real entrepreneurs and choosing the most compelling plan to invest in,” he said. “The experience is realistic and intense as they apply what they’ve been learning in their MBA programs as well their skills in communicating, negotiating and building rapport with potential partners.
"All the while, real venture capitalists observe and judge the entire process. After the winners are announced, they meet with each team to provide feedback, which enhances their professional development.”
Teams that also competed in the finals were from:
- China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
- Columbia University, Columbia Business School
- Duke University, Fuqua School of Business
- India School of Business
- Oxford University, Said Business School
- National University of Singapore
- University of Navarra, IESE
- University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School
HomeSwipe of New York, founded by Michael Lisovetsky, won the first “Startup of the Year” Award for being chosen by the most student teams for investing. The participating firms – which also included VoiceBoxer, Nuro Corp., Testive, Wyndow and SickSports came from California, Massachusetts, Texas, New York and Denmark to participate.
Started in 1998, VCIC is a network of 50 events involving 72 schools in 14 countries and culminates with the global championship in Chapel Hill. The internationally recognized program serves over 1,500 individuals each year – 1,200 MBA students from 72 top business schools, 175 venture capitalists and 125 entrepreneurs.
The VC judges came from top firms: Andreessen Horowitz, Foundry Group, DFJ, True Ventures, Venrock Capital, True Bridge Capital, Little Venice Partners, Pappas Ventures, Sente Advisory, SJF Ventures, Citi, Grove Street Advisors, UNC Management Company, Harken Capital, Regis Partners, Presidio Partners and Bull City Venture Partners.
Square 1 Bank, NASDAQ and Cisco sponsored VCIC.
For more information, visit http://www.vcic.org.
About the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School
Consistently ranked one of the world's best business schools, UNC Kenan-Flagler is known for its collaborative culture that stems from its core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, community and teamwork. Professors excel at both teaching and research, and demonstrate unparalleled dedication to students. Graduates are effective, principled leaders who have the technical and managerial skills to deliver results in the global business environment. UNC Kenan-Flagler offers a rich portfolio of programs and extraordinary, real-life learning experiences: Undergraduate Business (BSBA), full-time MBA, Executive MBA Programs (Evening, Weekend and global OneMBA®), online MBA@UNC, UNC-Tsinghua Dual-Degree EMBA, Master of Accounting, PhD, Executive Development, and UNC Business Essentials programs. It is home to the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.