CAMARILLO, Calif. (PRWEB) November 01, 2017
Camarillo Chamber of Commerce, the hosting organization of Startups Ventura County (SVC), formerly known as Startup Weekend Ventura County (SWVC), announces today that the 2018 proof of concept competition for startup ideas will be held April 20-22, 2018 at 4001 Mission Blvd, Camarillo CA 93012, the Ventura County Community Foundation building.
Startups Ventura County is structured to help entrepreneurs with technology startup ideas to source talents from nearby universities, connect with professionals with needed skill sets, fine tune proof of concepts with the help of subject matter experts, and present their business plan to CEOs whose companies can be their customers, partners or investors. Entrepreneurs interested in competing are required to submit their applications at least one month in advance of the event. Such application shall include an executive summary on the startup idea and a team biography.
Friday is networking night. SVC will set up a venue for participating teams to give their elevator pitch to and connect with an audience made up of students from nearby universities and professionals interested in startups.
Saturday is mentoring day. SVC will organize four advisory boards covering technology, healthcare, agriculture and startup. Each board will be staffed by three or more subject matter experts. Participating teams may sign up to meet with any and all of these advisory boards.
Sunday is competition day. A preliminary round will be held in the morning. Four teams, the final four, will move onto the afternoon competition. From that, a winner and a runner up will be selected and awarded the prizes.
“We are here to help entrepreneurs get going with their startups,” says Gar Cushing, CEO of Camarillo Chamber of Commerce. “Our goal is to provide as many serious entrepreneurs as possible access to the extensive mentoring resources we have gathered for their benefits. The application process is to filter out thrill seekers."
The competition will be judged by a panel of CEOs. The judging criteria can be found on Startups Ventura County web site under “The Competition” tab. Winner of the competition will be awarded a cash prize of $20,000, a free one-year use of SVC’s cowork space in Camarillo, and an in-award book of professional services worth in excess of $5,000. Runner up will be awarded a cash prize of $5,000, a free one-year use of SVC’s cowork space in Camarillo, and an in-kind award book of professional services worth in excess of $5,000. The only stipulation is that the winner and the runner up must incorporate to receive these awards.
“In competing to win, each team is exposed to senior executives of companies that they will not likely get to meet on their own,” echoes Martin Shum, a Camarillo Chamber Board member and an organizer of SVC. “This in itself is of huge value. If the startup team can attract the attention of these executives, especially the CEOs who are on the judge panel, they will have a head start on recruiting board members, forming advisory boards, and/or signing up beta customers.”
Startups Ventura County (SVC), formerly known as Startup Weekend Ventura County (SWVC), is an event founded in 2015 by the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce, Dignity Health St. Johns Hospitals, and the County of Ventura. It is supported by public and private organizations from across the county. The mission of Startups Ventura County is to ignite innovations and facilitate the launch of scalable technology startups in Ventura County with a focus on internet of things, health care and agriculture.
For details about Startups Ventura County 2018, please visit: http://www.startupsventuracounty.com or contact the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce at (805) 484-4383.