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The Best 20 Business Plan Competitions to Get Funding in (2024)

Free Business Plan Template

Radhika Agarwal

• October 18, 2023

11 Min Read

Brilliant business ideas deserve 2 things for sure – Feedback and Funding.

And if you think you have a good business idea and have some bit of groundwork figured out, you may want to look into business plan competitions.

Now, what is a business plan competition? Why should you participate in one? How to find one that’s just right for your business?

We’ll discuss all of the above and more through this article.

What is a Business Plan Competition?

A business plan competition is an event that allows small businesses and startups to compete with each other, get feedback and advice on their business, and also can help you get your business funded.

Businesses are judged on several factors including execution, feasibility, innovation, etc.

How to Find a Business Plan Competition?

There are several business plan competitions listed on Google that you can look through. Different competitions have different eligibility criteria and guidelines. Go through all of that to know if it fits your business or not.

At the same time, it is important to check the credibility and check for any scams or illegitimate sites.

To make finding business plan competitions a little easier we have compiled a list of 20 popular and credible competitions that you can apply for.

Business Plan Competitions

• Global Student Entrepreneur Awards
• tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition
• HATCH Pitch
• Rice Business Plan Competition
• New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition
• MIT 100k Business Plan and Expo
• FAU Business Plan Competition
• NIBS Business Plan Competition
• Pistoia Alliance President’s Startup Challenge
• College of New Jersey’s Mayo Business Plan Competition
• Next Founders Business Plan Competition
• TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield
• New Venture Challenge
• New Venture Championship
• Climatech & Energy Prize @MIT
• Baylor Business New Venture Competition
• 13th IOT/WT World Cup

1. Global Student Entrepreneur Awards

To encourage students across the globe to become entrepreneurs GSEA organizes this competition for students from all disciplines and countries. The main aim of the awards is to draw people towards entrepreneurship, shape their ideas, and become a catalyst for their business’s growth.

Eligibility

The student must enroll in a part-time or full-time undergraduate or graduate course.

The student should own or work as a founder or co-founder of the startup.

Only one person from the startup can represent it.

The person should either be 30 or under 30 years of age.

The startup should be running for at least 6 months from the date of application.

The startup should either generate $500 or get $1000 as investments at the time of application.

The startup shouldn’t have reached the final round of the competition in previous years.

For more details check out their website.

The competition is held at several locations across the world over months during a school year. The finals among the Top 4 teams are held at Goldman Sachs New York.

• First Prize: $25,000
• Second Prize: $10,000
• Third Prize: $5,000

Lodging and travel expenses are covered and additional prizes are handed out at the event.

2. tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition

The tecBRIDGE competition is divided into two parts, with one for college students across 14 colleges and universities and a non-collegiate one for early-stage entrepreneurs.

( For Collegiate )

At least one member as a college student

The product must identify commercial solutions through technical processes.

( For Non-Collegiate )

The startup must gross less than $250k in revenue from its start date up to the last tax filing date.

It is held in Northeastern Pennsylvania every year. The businesses that win have to establish their headquarters there as well.

Prizes worth $100,000 are shared amongst the winning teams.

3. HATCH Pitch

Through the Hatch Pitch program, you get access to mentorship courses, discounted spaces, funds, education programs, financial consulting, and so on.

The product/ Service was launched within 2 years.

Founders should retain some part of the ownership.

Must actively participate actively in Hatch Pitch coaching.

Must receive less than $5 million in funds from third-party investors.

The competition is held at Entrepreneur space in Dallas.

Access to high-level incubators and mentorship.

4. Rice Business Plan Competition

The Rice University business plan competition is specially designed for college students to present their ideas to investors , get mentorship and help shape their ideas and business journey better.

Students managed or created businesses.

Consists of at least 2 college students, and one student pursuing a graduate degree.

Have raised less than $250k in equity capital.

Have generated less than $100k in any 12-month period.

Houston at Rice University, graduate school of business, hosts this event.

In 2021, the winners were awarded investments worth $1.6 Million , cash prizes, etc.

5. New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition

New York Public library sponsors this competition to help entrepreneurs from around the world. They give wings to their ideas.

Must live in Manhattan, Staten Island, or The Bronx.

Your business should be in any of the above places as well.

The idea or business model is in the startup phase and shouldn’t have earned more than $10,000.

The competition is held in New York.

A grand prize worth $15000 and a Runner Up prize worth $7500 .

6. MIT 100k Business Plan and Expo

MIT organizes this competition to promote innovation in the university as well as the world. It consists of 3 competitions throughout the year namely Pitch, Accelerate, and Launch.

Each team should enter one idea.

Participants must have original work ideas

Should disclose the received funding.

Hosted in Cambridge MA MIT campus from October to May through the academic year.

• Pitch: $5000 jury award and $2000 audience choice award.
• Accelerate: 20 finalists get industry-specific mentorship programs with a budget of $1000 each. The top 10 finalists compete for the Audience Choice award worth $10,000. The top 3 finalists immediately get into the finals of the launch.
• Launch: The winner gets a whopping amount of $100,000 while the runner gets $25000 .

Official Website MIT 100k

7. FAU Business Plan Competition

The Florida Atlantic University Business Plan Competition is for graduate and undergraduate students spanning all continents.

Undergraduate or graduate participants.

The competition is held at Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton, Florida.

First Prize: $5000 and Second Prize: $500

8. NIBS Business Plan Competition

The NIBS competition helps you discuss and give a boost to your ideas. It also helps you get industry experts guidance.

Entrants of legal age to have contracts as per the rules of their country of residence.

Should not hold any employment apart from their own company.

The plan must stand for a startup business and not an acquisition.

It is held in the USA.

There’s a cash prize for the first three places as well as an opportunity to get an incubator program for the winners.

9. Get Seeded

Get Seed is a two-part funding program for students in launching their businesses.

At least one student from a higher education institution in Utah is a must.

Should be enrolled for nine credit hours during that semester.

Utilization of funds to take the idea further.

Salt Lake City in Utah hosts the business plan competition.

A micro-grant worth $500 and a seeded grant from $501 to $1500

10. Pistoia Alliance President’s Startup Challenge

This competition was designed for startups focusing on digital and health technology.

Legally formed entities

The company must have less than 50 people.

Annual sales under $5 million.

The product should have been launched within 3 years.

Your country should not have USA’s trade restrictions imposed.

You can submit your ideas from anywhere.

Five finalists win $5000 and 2 winners receive $20,000 .

Official Website

11. College of New Jersey’s Mayo Business Plan Competition

This competition is held for students to appreciate new challenges.

The teams must consist of two and bot more than four students from the College of New Jersey.

The College of New Jersey hosts this event.

The winners get mentorship and guidance programs.

Check Official Website

12. Next Founders Business Plan Competition

This competition focuses on startups with an innovative approach to solving social problems and global needs.

It is for Canadian entrepreneurs with scalable, high-potential ventures.

The University of Toronto.

Up to 25,000 CAD$ in cash for funding your startup.

13. TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield

TechCrunch sponsors this competition which comprises two levels.

The companies must have a functional prototype of their product or service to present to the committee.

Different locations.

The winner gets $50,000 and two runner-ups get $5000 each.

Check Competition Website

14. New Venture Challenge

This competition is held at the University of Chicago. Three evaluation points for participants are – Innovation, Product Market Fit , and presentation.

The eligibility information is available on their website.

Chicago, IL.

1st Place: $50,000 ; 2nd Place: $25,000 ; 3rd Place: $15,000 . In addition to that, the winners get access to mentorship and resources.

15. New Venture Championship

This competition is for those with a good business idea. Even if you don’t have a business plan, you can participate as the competition provides optional plan writing services.

The team should have 2-5 members.

Should have at least one graduate student.

The students should be pursuing their undergraduate or graduate degrees.

Eugene, Oregon.

Teams have a chance to win cash prizes ranging from $3000 to $25,000 with additional benefits like mentorship and rented office spaces.

16. Climatech & Energy Prize @MIT

This competition is ideal for companies with a core focus on energy, climate change, and the environment.

The team must have more than 2 members.

At least 50% of part-time or full-time university students.

Cambridge, MA hosts this competition

The winner gets a sizable sum of $1,00,000 .

17. U.Pitch

This competition gives entrants a chance to present their ideas to people from different levels and spectrums in the business space and get an opportunity for investments and mentorship programs.

Undergraduate or graduate program students.

Functioning Business

Age up to or below 30

San Francisco, California hosts this competition.

Prizes worth $10,000 are given.

18. CodeLaunch

It is a seed accelerator competition for entrepreneurs who have technology startups.

The detailed eligibility criteria can be found on their website.

St. Louis, Missouri hosts these competitions, usually.

The winner gets seed fund capital and access to other additional resources.

19. Baylor Business New Venture Competition

Baylor launched this competition to help entrepreneurs discuss their ideas and get advice from judges.

An undergraduate student at Baylor University and McLennan Community College.

Baylor University, Waco, Texas hosts this competition.

The first prize winner receives $6000 . The other finalists win prizes ranging from $1500-$2000 .

20. 13th IOT/WT World Cup

The innovation world cup was started to give startups a chance to display their ideas and business. The competition aims to attract venture capitalists, investors, and potential business partners .

The startup should have a concept of innovative technologies.

You should have a functional prototype of the product.

Cleveland, Ohio hosts this event.

You get a chance at winning prizes worth $500,000 and connect with leading tech companies in your field.

Even if you don’t receive funds, there’s a lot of chance to network, get exposure, and get your ideas validated. Especially, if you are someone who’s new in the business space business plan competitions are a great way to learn the ropes of the trade.

So, go ahead, write your business plan , look up the details, and register for a competition that fits your business the best!

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About the Author

Radhika is an economics graduate and likes to read about every subject and idea she comes across. Apart from that she can discuss her favorite books to lengths( to the point you\'ll start feeling a little annoyed) and spends most of her free time on Google word coach.

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The 20 Best Business Plan Competitions to Get Funding

Business plan competitions can provide valuable feedback on your business idea or startup business plan template , in addition to providing an opportunity for funding for your business. This article will discuss what business planning competitions are, how to find them, and list the 20 most important business planning competitions.

On This Page:

What is a Business Plan Competition?

How do i find business plan competitions, 20 popular business plan competitions, tips for winning business plan competitions, other helpful business plan articles & templates.

A business plan competition is a contest between startup, early-stage, and/or growing businesses. The goal of the business plan competition is for participants to develop and submit an original idea or complete their existing business plan based on specific guidelines provided by the organization running the contest.

Companies are judged according to set criteria including creativity, feasibility, execution, and the quality of your business plan.

A quick Google search will lead you to several websites that list business planning competitions. 

Each site has a different way of organizing the business planning competitions it lists, so you’ll need to spend some time looking through each website to find opportunities that are relevant for your type of business or industry.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

Below we’ve highlighted 20 of these popular competitions, the requirements and how to find additional information. The following list is not exhaustive; however, these popular competitions are great places to start if you’re looking for a business competition.

Rice Business Plan Competition

The Rice University Business Plan Competition is designed to help collegiate entrepreneurs by offering a real-world platform on which to present their businesses to investors, receive coaching, network with the entrepreneurial ecosystem, fine-tune their entrepreneurship plan, and learn what it takes to launch a successful business.

Who is Eligible?

Initial eligibility requirements include teams and/or entrepreneurs that:

• are student-driven, student-created and/or student-managed
• include at least two current student founders or management team members, and at least one is a current graduate degree-seeking student
• are from a college or university anywhere in the world
• have not raised more than $250,000 in equity capital
• have not generated revenue of more than $100,000 in any 12-month period
• are seeking funding or capital
• have a potentially viable investment opportunity

You can find additional  eligibility information on their website.

Where is the Competition Held?

The Rice Business Plan Competition is hosted in Houston, TX at Rice University, the Jones Graduate School of Business.

What Can You Win?

In 2021, $1.6 Million in investment, cash prizes, and in-kind prizes was awarded to the teams competing.

This two-part milestone grant funding program and pitch competition is designed to assist students with measurable goals in launching their enterprises.

Teams must be made up of at least one student from an institution of higher education in Utah and fulfill all of the following requirements:

• The founding student must be registered for a minimum of nine (9) credit hours during the semester they are participating. The credit hours must be taken as a matriculated, admitted, and degree-seeking student.
• A representative from your team must engage in each stage of Get Seeded (application process, pre-pitch, and final pitch)
• There are no restrictions regarding other team members; however, we suggest building a balanced team with a strong combination of finance, marketing, engineering, and technology skills.
• The funds awarded must be used to advance the idea.

The business plan competition will be hosted in Salt Lake City, UT at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah.

There are two grants opportunities:

• Microgrant up to $500
• Seed Grant for $501 – $1,500

Global Student Entrepreneur Awards

The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards is a worldwide business plan competition for students from all majors. The GSEA aims to empower talented young people from around the world, inspire them to create and shape business ventures, encourage entrepreneurship in higher education, and support the next generation of global leaders.

• You must be enrolled for the current academic year in a university/college as an undergraduate or graduate student at the time of application. Full-time enrollment is not required; part-time enrollment is acceptable.
• You must be the owner, founder, or controlling shareholder of your student business. Each company can be represented by only one owner/co-founder – studentpreneur.
• Your student business must have been in operation for at least six consecutive months prior to the application.
• Your business must have generated US $500 or received US $1000 in investments at the time of application.
• You should not have been one of the final round competitors from any previous year’s competition.
• The age cap for participation is 30 years of age.

You can find additional   eligibility information on their website.

Regional competitions are held in various locations worldwide over several months throughout the school year. The top four teams then compete for cash prizes during finals week at the Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York City.

At the Global Finals, students compete for a total prize package of $50,000 in cash and first place receives $25,000. All travel and lodging expenses are also covered. Second place gets US $10,000, while third place earns US $5,000. Additional prizes are handed out at the Global Finals for Social Impact, Innovation, and Lessons from the Edge.

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The collegiate entrepreneurs organization business plan competition.

The Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Business Plan Competition (COEBPC) exists to help early-stage entrepreneurs develop their business skills, build entrepreneurial networks, and learn more about how they can transform ideas into reality. It also offers cash prizes to reward entrepreneurship, provide an opportunity for recognition of top student entrepreneurs around the world, and provide unique opportunities for networking.

To compete, you must:

• Be a currently enrolled student at an accredited institution
• Have a viable business concept or be the creator of an existing business that generates revenue.

If you are among the top three finalists of the business plan competition and successfully receive prize money, you will be required to submit a class schedule under your name for the current academic semester. Failure to do so will result in the forfeit of the prize money.

All competitions are held online. The finalist will receive a trip to the International Career Development Conference, where they have an opportunity to win additional prizes from CEO’s sponsors.

• First Place – $7,000
• Second Place – $5,000
• Third Place – $3,000
• People’s Choice Award – Collegiate Entrepreneur of the Year – $600

MIT 100k Business Plan Competition and Expo

The MIT 100K was created in 2010 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to foster entrepreneurship and innovation on campus and around the world. Consists of three distinct and increasingly intensive competitions throughout the school year: PITCH, ACCELERATE, and LAUNCH. 

• Submissions may be entered by individuals or teams.
• Each team may enter one idea.
• Each team must have at least one currently registered MIT student; if you are submitting as an individual, you must be a currently registered MIT student.
• Entries must be the original work of entrants.
• Teams must disclose any funding already received at the time of registration.

Hosted in Cambridge, MA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology beginning in October through May of each academic year.

Top finalists will have a chance to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges at a live event for the chance to win the $5,000 Grand Prize or the $2,000 Audience Choice Award.

20 Finalists are paired with industry-specific business professionals for mentorship and business planning and a $1,000 budget for marketing and/or business development expenses.

The 10 Top Finalists participate in the Showcase and compete for the $10,000 Audience Choice Award while the 3 Top Finalists automatically advance to LAUNCH semi-finals.

The grand prize winner receives a cash prize of $100,000 and the runner-up receives $25,000.

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Business Plan Competition

The FAU business plan competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs. The competition covers topics in the areas of information technology, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, operations management, etc.

All undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate.

The business plan competition will be held at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.

• First prize: $5,000 cash
• Second prize: $500 cash

Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Business Plan Competition

The Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Business Plan Competition is designed to offer an opportunity to develop your business plan with the guidance of industry experts. It provides the opportunity for you to compete against fellow entrepreneurs and explore big ideas.

• Participants must be the legal age to enter into contracts in the country of residence.
• Participants may not be employed by an organization other than their own company or business that they are launching for this competition.
• The plan should be for a new business, not an acquisition of another company.

The Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Business Plan Competition is held in the USA.

There is a cash prize for first, second, and third place. There is also a potential for a business incubator opportunity, which would provide facilities and assistance to the winners of the competition.

Washington State University Business Plan Competition

The Washington State University Business Plan Competition has been serving students since 1979. The competition is a great opportunity for someone who is looking to get their business off the ground by gaining invaluable knowledge of running a successful business. It offers a wide range of topics and competition styles.

• Any college undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree-seeking student at Washington State University
• The company must be an early-stage venture with less than $250,000 in annual gross sales revenue.

The Washington State University Business Plan Competition is held in the Associated Students Inc. Building on the Washington State University campus which is located in Pullman, Washington.

There are a wide variety of prizes that could be won at the Washington State University Business Plan Competition. This is because the business plan competition has been serving students for over 30 years and as such, they have offered more than one type of competition. The common prize though is $1,000 which is awarded to the winner of each class. There are also awards for those who come in second place, third place, etc.

Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition

The Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition is one of the most well-known competitions in the country. They have partnered with many prestigious institutions to provide funding, mentorship, and expertise for the competition.

Education ventures with innovative solutions to educational inequity from around the world are encouraged to apply, especially those ventures founded by and serving individuals from marginalized and historically underrepresented communities.

We encourage applicants working in every conceivable educational setting–from early childhood through corporate and adult training. We also welcome both nonprofit and for-profit submissions.

The competition is held at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

All finalists receive $1,000 in cash and $5,000 in Amazon Web Services promotional credits.

Next Founders Business Plan Competition

Next Founders is a competition geared towards innovative startups with a social impact, looking to transform society by addressing key global human needs. The competition inspires and identifies energetic, optimistic entrepreneurs who are committed to achieving their vision.

Next Founders is for Canadian business owners of scalable, high-growth ventures.

Next Founders is held at the University of Toronto.

You could win up to $25,000 CAD in cash funding for your new business.

Hatch Pitch Competition

The Hatch Pitch competition is one of the most prestigious business competitions in the US. The winners of the Hatch Pitch Competition are given access to mentorship courses, discounted office space with all amenities included, incubators for startups, tailored education programs, financial counseling & more.

The competition is for companies with a business idea.

• The company’s product/service must have launched within the past 2 years, or be launched within 6 months after the Hatch Pitch event.
• Founders must retain some portion of ownership in the company.
• Received less than $5 million in funding from 3rd party investors.
• The presenter must actively participate in Hatch Pitch coaching.

The Hatch Pitch Competition is located at the Entrepreneur Space in Dallas.

The grand prize for this business plan competition is access to resources like incubators and mentorships that could prove invaluable in bringing your startup company to the next level.

TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield

The Startup Battlefield is a business plan competition that is sponsored by TechCrunch.  It awards the winner $50,000. There are two different rounds to this competition:

• First Round – 15 companies from all of the applicants that submitted their business plans for this round.
• Second Round – Two finalist companies compete against each other at TechCrunch Disrupt NY’s main stage.

At the time of the application process, companies must have a functional prototype to demo to the selection committee. In selecting final contestants, we will give preference to companies that launch some part of their product or business for the first time to the public and press through our competition. Companies that are in closed beta, private beta, limited release or generally have been flying under the radar are eligible. Hardware companies can have completed crowdfunding but those funds should have been directed to an earlier product prototype. Existing companies launching new feature sets do not qualify.

TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield is held at different locations.

The Startup Battlefield rewards the winner with $50,000. In addition, the two runner-ups get a prize of $5,000 each.

New Venture Challenge

New Venture Challenge is a competition hosted by the University of Chicago. There are 3 main categories that will be judged:

• Innovative Concept – Arguably the most important category, this focuses on uniqueness, originality, and suitability.
• Market Fit/Business Model – Are you solving an actual problem for your target market? Does your project have the potential for profit?
• Presentation – Did you make a compelling, impactful presentation? Did you clearly communicate your goals and vision to potential investors?

You can find  eligibility information on their website.

The New Venture Challenge competition is held in Chicago, IL.

Finalists are awarded:

• First Place: $50,000 equity investment and access to industry mentors and other resources.
• Second place: $25,000 equity investment and access to industry mentors and other resources.
• Third place: $15,000 equity investment and access to industry mentors and other resources.

New Venture Championship

The New Venture Championship is hosted by the University of Oregon and has been since 1987. The championship brings new ventures and innovative business ideas to life and the competition offers plan writing as a service to those who need it.

The University of Oregon New Venture Championship is open to university student teams with 2-5 members that have at least one graduate student involved with their venture. Students should be enrolled in a degree program or have finished their studies in the current academic year.

The New Venture Championship hosted by the University of Oregon is held in Eugene, Oregon.

Every business plan has a chance of winning a cash prize from $3,000 to $25,000 and additional benefits like plan coaching and office space rental.

Climatech & Energy Prize @ MIT

The Climatech & Energy Prize @ MIT is a competition that focuses on companies that are involved in the area of energy, environment, and climate change.

• Participants must be a team of two or more people.
• At least 50% of formal team members identified in the competition submission documentation must be enrolled as half-time or full-time college or university students.

The Climatech & Energy Prize @ MIT is held in Cambridge, MA.

The grand prize winner receives $100,000 and other winners may receive other monetary prizes.

Baylor Business New Venture Competition

This competition has been offered by Baylor for the last 20 years. It is designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs refine business ideas, and also gain valuable insights from judges and other entrepreneurs.

Must be a current undergraduate student at Baylor University or McLennan Community College.

The Baylor Business New Venture competition will be held at the Baylor University, Waco, TX.

The grand prize winner will receive $6,000. There are also other prizes given out to the other finalists in each category which are worth $1,500 – $2,000.

13th IOT/WT Innovation World Cup

The 13th IOT/WT Innovation World Cup was organized by the 13th IOT/WT Innovation World Cup Association. It was organized to provide a platform for innovators from all over the world to showcase their innovative ideas and projects. The competition aimed at drawing the attention of investors, venture capitalists, and potential business partners to meet with representatives from different companies and organizations in order to foster innovation.

The revolutionary Internet of Things and Wearable Technologies solutions from developers, innovative startups, scale-ups, SMEs, and researchers across the world are invited to participate. Eight different categories are available: Industrial, City, Home, Agriculture, Sports, Lifestyle, and Transport.

Only those submissions that have a functional prototype/proof of concept will advance in the competition, mere ideas will not be considered. 

The competition is held in Cleveland, Ohio also an important center for innovation and cutting-edge technology.

Win prizes worth over $500,000, connect with leading tech companies, speed up your development with advice from tech experts, join international conferences as a speaker or exhibitor, and become part of the worldwide IoT/WT Innovation World Cup® network. 

The U.Pitch is a competition that gives you a chance to share your idea and for the community of budding entrepreneurs, startup founders, CEOs, and venture capitalists to invest in your enterprise. It also provides mentoring by experts in the field.

• Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program
• Applicants may compete with either an idea OR business currently in operation
• Applicants must be 30 years of age or under

The U.Pitch is held in San Francisco, California.

Enter to win a part of the $10,000 prize pool.

At the core of CodeLaunch is an annual seed accelerator competition between individuals and groups who have software technology startup ideas.

If your startup has raised money, your product is stable, you have customers, and revenue, you are probably not a fit for CodeLaunch.

CodeLaunch is based in St. Louis, Missouri. 

The “winner” may be eligible for more seed capital and business services from some additional vendors.

New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition

The New York StartUP! is a competition sponsored by the New York Public Library to help entrepreneurs from around the world to develop their business ideas.

• You must live in Manhattan, The Bronx, or Staten Island
• Your business must be in Manhattan, The Bronx, or Staten Island
• All companies must have a big idea or business model in the startup phase and have earned less than $10,000

The New York StartUP! competition is held in New York, NY.

Two winners are chosen: 

•  Grand Prize – $15,000  
•  Runner-up – $7,500  

First, determine if the competition is worth your time and money to participate.

• What is the prize money?
• Who will be on the judging panel?
• Will there be any costs associated with entering and/or presenting at the competition (e.g., travel and lodging expenses)?

Once you’ve determined the worth of the competition, then shift to focusing on the details of the competition itself.

• What are the rules of the competition?
• Are there any disqualifying factors?
• How will you be judged during the different parts of the competition?

After conducting this research, it’s best to formulate an idea or product that appeals to the judges and is something they can really get behind. Make sure you thoroughly understand the rules and what is expected from your final product. Once you know what is expected from you, you’ll be able to refine and practice your pitch to help you move through the stages of the competition.

These competitions are a fantastic method to get new business owners thinking about business possibilities, writing business plans, and dominating the competition. These contests may assist you in gaining important feedback on your business concept or plan as well as potential monetary prizes to help your business get off the ground.  

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Apr. 8, 2024

Protein ice cream company wins 2024 rice business plan competition, rice university hosts world’s largest and richest student startup competition.

Ice cream company Protein Pints took home the grand prize at the 2024  Rice Business Plan Competition  (RBPC) April 6 as the best student ventures from top universities across the world competed for prizes in front of nearly 350 angel, venture capital and corporate investors and members of the business community.

During his acceptance speech, Founder and CEO of Protein Pints Paul Reiss said, “"The love and support that we've been shown during our time here at Rice, and the relationships and the friends that we've made, is something that I know I and every other student here is going to remember for the rest of our lives."

Hosted annually by the  Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship  and Rice University’s  Jones Graduate School of Business , the RBPC is the world’s largest and richest student startup competition.

The RBPC offers real-world opportunities to learn what’s required to successfully launch a new business. In addition to the substantial cash, investment and in-kind prizes, the heart of the competition is the mentoring from investors and experienced entrepreneurs. RBPC alumni have raised more than $6.1 billion in capital and 288 are in business or have had successful exits.

The winners were announced at the conclusion of the three-day pitching, mentoring and networking event, which included an elevator pitch competition, practice round, semifinals, wildcard and final round. At the award celebration, more than 80 prizes were announced totaling $1.5M in investment and non-dilutive cash prizes. Every team took home cash.

“We award the competitors $1 million in prizes, prizes that serve as foundational capital to launch their startup,” said RBPC Director Catherine Santamaria in her welcome speech at the awards gala April 6.

“That’s a large number of prizes, but the biggest thing our startups leave with is a feeling of generosity and community from this room. This community is always ready and willing to help our founders and support our vision for the competition by investing time, money and resources in these student innovators.”

The 42 competing startups represented 35 universities from four countries. They were chosen from more than 450 applicants to compete in one of five categories: energy, cleantech and sustainability; life sciences and health care solutions; consumer products and services; hard tech; and digital enterprise. Learn more about all of the startups  here .

The seven finalists based on the judges’ overall scores were:

Protein Pints, Michigan State University  — first place and the $150,000 GOOSE Capital Investment Grand Prize.

• Protein Pints is a high-protein, low-sugar, ice cream product designed for people who would benefit from having access to a functional ice cream and/or better tasting and more enjoyable protein options.

Somnair, Johns Hopkins University — second place and the $100,000 Investment Prize, sponsored by David Anderson, Jon Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce.  

• Somnair is a Novel Non-Invasive Neurostimulation device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

Power2Polymers, RWTH Aachen University — third place and the $50,000 Rice University investment, provided by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and sponsored by Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce.

• Power2Polymers tackles the pressing issue of "forever chemicals," which have been linked to over 6.5 million deaths in the U.S. alone, by offering safe alternatives free of forever chemicals.

Informuta, Tulane University — fourth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright.

• Informuta's proprietary technology leverages DNA sequencing to predict if bacteria will respond to different antibiotics or, for the very first time, develop future resistance thus causing treatment failure.

Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas — fifth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by EY.

• Icorium Engineering Company is a chemical engineering startup and University of Kansas spinout developing technologies to make sustainable, circular economies a reality for refrigerants and other complex chemical mixtures.

EndoShunt Medical, Harvard University  — sixth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Chevron Technology Ventures.

• EndoShunt is transforming trauma surgery with a rapid, targeted blood flow control device.

D.Sole, Carnegie Mellon University — seventh place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Shell Ventures.

• D. Sole is advancing the development of remote patient monitoring in podiatry with foot insoles designed for the early detection and monitoring of diabetic foot complications, such as ulcers and deformities.

The fourth through seventh place startups were also awarded an additional investment prize of $25,000 each provided by Rice Alliance and sponsored by David Anderson, Jon Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce, bringing their finalist prize totals up to $30,000. 

Other significant prizes this year and the teams that won them include:

• $200,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize — Osphim, RWTH Aachen University
• $250,000 OWL Investment Prizes — MesaQuantum, Harvard University
• $100,000 OWL Investment Prizes — Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas
• $100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize — Somnair, Johns Hopkins University
• $100,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize — Protein Pints, Michigan State University
• $60,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize — MesaQuantum, Harvard University
• $40,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize — Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas
• $40,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize — Informuta, Tulane University
• $25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize — Oxylus Energy, Yale University
• $25,000 Dream Big Ventures Latino Entrepreneur Investment Prize — Dendritic Health AI, Northwestern University
• $25,000 NOV Energy Technology Innovation Cash Prize — LiQuidium, University of Houston
• $25,000 Urban Capital Network Diversity Investment Prize in Partnership with South Loop Ventures Investment Prize — TouchStone, University of California, Berkeley
• $25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize — EndoShunt Medical, Harvard University
• $25,000 Jacobs, Intuitive Machines and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize — MesaQuantum, Harvard University

For more information about the 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition, visit  rbpc.rice.edu .

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Protein ice cream company wins 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition

PR Newswire

HOUSTON, April 8, 2024

Rice University hosts world's largest and richest student startup competition

HOUSTON, April 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ice cream company Protein Pints took home the grand prize at the 2024  Rice Business Plan Competition  (RBPC) April 6 as the best student ventures from top universities across the world competed for prizes in front of nearly 350 angel, venture capital and corporate investors and members of the business community.

During his acceptance speech, Founder and CEO of Protein Pints Paul Reiss said, "The love and support that we've been shown during our time here at Rice, and the relationships and the friends that we've made, is something that I know I and every other student here is going to remember for the rest of our lives."

Hosted annually by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship  and Rice University's  Jones Graduate School of Business , the RBPC is the world's largest and richest student startup competition.

The RBPC offers real-world opportunities to learn what's required to successfully launch a new business. In addition to the substantial cash, investment and in-kind prizes, the heart of the competition is the mentoring from investors and experienced entrepreneurs. RBPC alumni have raised more than $6.1 billion in capital and 288 are in business or have had successful exits.

The winners were announced at the conclusion of the three-day pitching, mentoring and networking event, which included an elevator pitch competition, practice round, semifinals, wildcard and final round. At the award celebration, more than 80 prizes were announced totaling $1.5 million in investment and non-dilutive cash prizes. Every team took home cash.

"We award the competitors $1 million in prizes, prizes that serve as foundational capital to launch their startup," said RBPC Director Catherine Santamaria in her welcome speech at the awards gala April 6.

"That's a large number of prizes, but the biggest thing our startups leave with is a feeling of generosity and community from this room. This community is always ready and willing to help our founders and support our vision for the competition by investing time, money and resources in these student innovators."

The 42 competing startups represented 35 universities from four countries. They were chosen from more than 450 applicants to compete in one of five categories: energy, cleantech and sustainability; life sciences and health care solutions; consumer products and services; hard tech; and digital enterprise. Learn more about all of the startups  here .

The seven finalists based on the judges' overall scores were:

Protein Pints, Michigan State University — first place and the $150,000 GOOSE Capital Investment Grand Prize.

• Protein Pints is a high-protein, low-sugar, ice cream product designed for people who would benefit from having access to a functional ice cream and/or better tasting and more enjoyable protein options.

Somnair, Johns Hopkins University — second place and the $100,000 Investment Prize, sponsored by David Anderson, Jon Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce.  

• Somnair is a Novel Non-Invasive Neurostimulation device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

Power2Polymers, RWTH Aachen University — third place and the $50,000 Rice University investment, provided by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and sponsored by Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce.

• Power2Polymers tackles the pressing issue of "forever chemicals," which have been linked to over 6.5 million deaths in the U.S. alone, by offering safe alternatives free of forever chemicals.

Informuta, Tulane University — fourth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright.

• Informuta's proprietary technology leverages DNA sequencing to predict if bacteria will respond to different antibiotics or, for the very first time, develop future resistance thus causing treatment failure.

Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas  — fifth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by EY.

• Icorium Engineering Company is a chemical engineering startup and University of Kansas spinout developing technologies to make sustainable, circular economies a reality for refrigerants and other complex chemical mixtures.

EndoShunt Medical, Harvard University — sixth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Chevron Technology Ventures.

• EndoShunt is transforming trauma surgery with a rapid, targeted blood flow control device.

D.Sole, Carnegie Mellon University — seventh place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Shell Ventures.

• D. Sole is advancing the development of remote patient monitoring in podiatry with foot insoles designed for the early detection and monitoring of diabetic foot complications, such as ulcers and deformities.

The fourth through seventh place startups were also awarded an additional investment prize of $25,000 each provided by Rice Alliance and sponsored by David Anderson, Jon Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce, bringing their finalist prize totals up to $30,000.

Other  significant prizes this year and the teams that won them include:

• $200,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize — Osphim, RWTH Aachen University
• $250,000 OWL Investment Prizes — MesaQuantum, Harvard University
• $100,000 OWL Investment Prizes — Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas
• $100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize — Somnair, Johns Hopkins University
• $100,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize — Protein Pints, Michigan State University
• $60,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize — MesaQuantum, Harvard University
• $40,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize — Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas
• $40,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize — Informuta, Tulane University
• $25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize — Oxylus Energy, Yale University
• $25,000 Dream Big Ventures Latino Entrepreneur Investment Prize — Dendritic Health AI, Northwestern University
• $25,000 NOV Energy Technology Innovation Cash Prize — LiQuidium, University of Houston
• $25,000 Urban Capital Network Diversity Investment Prize in Partnership with South Loop Venture Investment Prize — TouchStone, University of California, Berkeley
• $25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize — EndoShunt Medical, Harvard University
• $25,000 Jacobs, Intuitive Machines and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize — MesaQuantum, Harvard University

For more information about the 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition, visit  rbpc.rice.edu .

About Rice Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 4,574 undergraduates and 3,982 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction, No. 2 for best-run colleges and No. 12 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

SOURCE Rice University

Market Updates

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• Business Plan Competition

Develop ideas, build a team, write a business plan, pitch your idea for real money.

Register for BPC       BPC Event Schedule       BPC Participant Resources

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2024 BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION TEAMS MOVING FORWARD!

Top collegiate league teams advancing to the final presentation round.

• Anlibri  – An app that gives users the ability to build and customize their virtual bookshelf, while recommending new books to readers. Works as a book log, recognizes unpublished works and integrates a social platform to allow readers to connect with others.
• Blink Box  – Lash supply subscription box.
• Build-A-Drink  – Machine that create alcoholic beverages quickly and with perfect pours. In-home and commercial.
• Coleman Leather Goods  – Producing high-quality leather goods, such as wallets, belts, bags, notebooks, and patches.
• Cordoba  – An AI plug-in for architects that generates editable 3D building models in their native software.
• FindMyFit  – An app and browser extension that shows which sizes across brands fits you based on your body type.
• Homestay Worldwide  –
• Honest Buds  – SaaS company offers dispensaries a software for their budtenders to generate product descriptions that consumers find helpful in identifying a product’s quality.
• Main Street Trader Bar and Grill  – Restaurant
• OC Exterior Solutions  – California-based company offering year-round exterior solutions for properties with convenient seasonal packages and accurate pricing for pressure washing and property lighting services.
• PicsGenie  – AI-generated images on products that can be shipped right to your doorstep.
• Plaitful  – AI recipe and meal plan generator app.
• REFRSH  – A social platform incentivizing young adults to engage in real-life experiences while reducing screen time, fostering friendly competition through “REFRSH’ing” periods.
• Serenity Spaces  – A furnishing company that lets individuals customize furnishing packages to their preferences, with a monthly payment structure allowing you to rent for the length of the lease.
• Snap Chains  – Quicker and safer alternative to snow chains, instant application and removal.
• Squeeze  – App that provides available street and garage parking, high traffic areas and events in large cities.
• The Kitchen Collab  – App that streamlines group living by combining meal planning and grocery shopping, making it easier for housemates to save money, split expenses and avoid duplicate purchases.
• TLK  – Music distribution and streaming platform offering a subscription based service that includes access to potential marketing initiatives and apparel design.
• Tripzy  – A travel planning app designed for Generation Z who may procrastinate planning activities while on vacation.
• VetCare Assist  – Vet assistance financial aid.

ALTERNATIVE TEAMS:

• Derivative Zero  – To create short term forex forecasting algorithms that can then be subscribed to through API and used by either companies or individual traders looking for a competitive edge.
• Speed Angel Customs LLC  – Custom automotive shop that aims to modify as well as repair your car the way you want it – totally customizable

Top Foster Garvey Open League Teams Advancing to the Final Presentation Round

• City Paws (University of Washington) – Sustainable pet products
• Happy Pop (University of Washington – Seattle) – A product that transports the authentic flavors of India through popped sorghum, a snack that has been popular for centuries. This cultural snack is an alternative to popcorn.
• Sustainable Classrooms: Project Laos (University of Idaho) – A pioneering nonprofit organization dedicated to revolutionizing education and environment stewardship in rural communities across Laos. By transforming recycled plastics into durable bricks, we offer a groundbreaking eco-friendly solution to build educational infrastructure.
• WRIST: Wearable Remote Individualized Symptom Tracking (University of Idaho) – Medically oriented remote symptom and biometrics monitoring bracelet.

Alternative Teams:

• Afford Aid (University of Washington – Seattle) – Reusable, refurbished, authorized medical equipment.
• BioNova (Walla Walla University) – Building a better future through sustainable energy. Scalable Bioreactors for Bio-Methane gas production, fertilizer, and carbon credits in Africa and South America.

Top High School League Teams Advancing to the Final Presentation Round

• 7b Surf Co. (Mead Senior High School) – 7b Surf is a local business that gives surf lessons to people who live or vacation in the Sandpoint area. We provide a boat and all the equipment.
• EcoTrail (Mead Senior High School) – EcoTrail is an accessible hiking trail app that allows you to preview your trail before you hike it.
• Protein Palace (Mercer Island High School) – A fast, casual restaurant specializing in high-protein, high-calorie bowls for those wishing to reach their fitness goals.
• Team Kamea (East Valley High School) – A business idea for a bakery named Kamea Cakes.
• Victoria Paints (Pullman High School) – A local painting business that provides the best solution for blank walls.
• antisquo (Bellevue High School) – Online dashboard using a student’s (user provided) interests and goals, along with their school district catalog to formulate a high school pathway that provides unique recommendations for classes.
• Simpl Protein  (Mead Senior High School) – Simpl Protein cookies are an all natural, gluten-free, protein bar alternative made without any artificial sweeteners.

2024 WSU Business Plan Competition is Continuing as Hybrid

If you’re a student entrepreneur or aspiring business owner, the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies presents the WSU Business Plan Competition – an unparalleled opportunity to practice entrepreneurship in a real-world setting and receive guidance as you launch a new venture, plus a chance to win thousands of dollars in prize money!

The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is happy to announce that the 2024 WSU Business Plan Competition will still be happening, switching to a hybrid format. Participating in a business plan competition can be a rewarding experience and we are excited to continue to showcase student innovation!

Learn by Doing

• Sharpen skills.  Working on a business plan team develops innovative thinking, builds leadership, and refines communication skills.
• Network.  If you’re a finalist, you and your team will present your idea to investors, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals at the competition in April. Finalists also have the opportunity to exchange ideas with judges over dinner.
• Prepare for your future. Take what you’ve learned and apply it in an existing company or new venture.

Launch a New Venture

• Move from idea to execution. Develop, test, and pitch a startup idea with your own team.
• Get advice and mentoring. Seasoned entrepreneurs, industry experts, and entrepreneurship faculty mentors devote countless hours to help students navigate the entrepreneurial process.
• Build momentum. Take your experience in the competition and invest in the growth of your venture.

Congratulations, Past Winners!

Past Winners

Be a Sponsor

Support the BPC

Ask about the BPC

Win Cash Prizes

Collegiate league.

Herbert B. Jones Grand Prize – $15,000 Herbert B. Jones Second Place Prize – $10,000 Third Place Prize – $7,000 Fourth Place Prize – $4,000 Fifth Place Prize – $2,000

Open Collegiate League

Foster Garvey Grand Prize – $5,000

High School League

Herbert B. Jones Grand Prize – $5,000 Second Place Prize – $2,000 Third Place Prize – $1,000 Fourth Place Prize – $500 Fifth Place Prize – $250

Merit Prizes

BECU Best FinTech Venture Prize – $5,000 Sage Fruit Ag Innovation Prize – $3,000 Herbert B. Jones Best Written Plan Prize – $2,500 Herbert B. Jones Best Presentation Prize – $2,500 Herbert B. Jones Best Tech Venture Prize – $2,500 Herbert B. Jones Best Social Impact Venture Prize – $2,500 BEST Trade Show – $500

Thank you, 2024 Sponsors!

Dave Divine

The Robert & Carolyn Wolfe Family Giving Fund

Dave & deborah grant, mark wuotila, bryan saftler.

The Business Plan Competition is critically important for helping people to turn ideas into reality. I am excited to volunteer as a judge to support the competition and the Center, now that I am on the other side. — Jonah Friedl  , NOMAD founder and WSU alumnus (Carson College of Business, Entrepreneurship – 2016)

Center for Entrepreneurship

• Jones Milestone Accelerator

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The Fort Worth City Cable Channel (Charter/Spectrum channel 190) will be offline for a few weeks starting March 11 while facilities connections are being rerouted. You can watch City meetings on the City’s LiveStreams or on our YouTube Channel .

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Fort Worth Business Plan Competition

  2023-Fort-Worth-Business-Plan-Competition-Promo.mp4

The Fort Worth Business Plan Competition is a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit that makes Fort Worth so unique. The city was originally settled by wildcatters, pioneers and titans of industry - mavericks whose vision, innovation, and grit echoed through the generations to build and shape what is now one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

Though years have passed since Fort Worth was truly "Where the West Begins", today's entrepreneurs and small business owners still embody the same spirit - a spirit that is called to forge new frontiers, blaze new trails, and chase dreams as boundless as the Texas horizon.

Fort Worth's vibrant community of entrepreneurs is vital to making the area a hub for creative businesses, and the Business Plan Competition exists to set those entrepreneurs up for success. By the end of the competition, participants will have the tools, the strategy, and the mindset to grow their seed of an idea into a flourishing business. It also anchors their roots in a passionate, supportive community of like-minded individuals, mentors, and movers-and-shakers, all well-versed in the area's business ecosystem and all committed to helping these small businesses grow to their fullest potential. 

Applications for 2024 closed at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.

Eligibility

Applicants for the Fort Worth Business Plan Competition must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Be an established business between 2-5 years old.
• Have an annual revenue of less than $500,000.
• Have a DBA and business address located within Fort Worth's city limits.

Business owners will be asked to verify their eligibility by submitting their DBA or other legal business documentation as part of the application process. Failure to produce this documentation makes you ineligible for the competition.

Additional eligibility guidelines

• Previous competitors may participate in the Fort Worth Business Plan Competition a maximum of two times.
• Past winners of the competition (first, second and third place prize winners) may not apply .
• City of Fort Worth employees may not apply. If an applicant accepts a position at the City of Fort Worth at any point during the competition, they forego any prize money.

Competition timeline

• Sunday, Jan. 7: Applications close at 11:59 p.m.
• (Week of January 22):  Top 20 announced
• Thursday, Feb. 1: Business Training, Session 1
• Thursday, Feb. 8:  Business Training, Session 2
• Thursday, Feb. 15:  Business Training, Session 3
• Thursday, Feb. 22:  Business Training, Session 4
• Monday, Feb. 26-Friday, March 8: Develop business plans and receive coaching from partners.
• Friday, March 8: Final business plans due at 11:59 p.m.
• (Week of April 8): Top 8 announced.
• Thursday, May 9: Business Plan Competition Finale/Pitch Night at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

2024 Prize Packages

The 2024 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition will offer strictly cash prizes to its top three finalists.

• First prize winner:  $10,000 in cash
• Second prize winner:  $6,000 in cash
• Third prize winner:  $4,000 in cash

Additionally, the "Perfect Pitch" Prize will allow the audience at the Finale to vote on their favorite pitch – and the winner will receive a $500 credit from Printed Threads to use towards shirts, uniforms or other products for their business. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: i want to compete but can’t attend all the sessions. can i send my business partner in my place for any of them.

A: Attendance at all classes is strongly encouraged, as each class will cover a major component of your final business plan. Participants are allowed a total of two absences before defaulting the competition. If a business owner must be absent from class, they will need to alert their class administrator beforehand, and can arrange for a business partner to attend on their behalf.

Q: If my business is not currently operating in Fort Worth, can I still participate?

A: No. You must have an established business located within the Fort Worth city limits.

Q: What documentation is required to support my eligibility?

A: If you are chosen as one of the 20 participants to proceed through the competition, you will need to bring a copy of your DBA or other documentation confirming your legal entity (Assumed name, corporation documents, etc.)

Note: You need to have filed this form a minimum of six months prior to the competition. You may also be asked to provide of last year’s tax return (first page only) or a bank statement (blot out account number) to confirm that you are currently doing business. 

Previous Winners

• Lil Pop Gourmet Popcorn , a family-owned business specializing in homemade gourmet popcorn while promoting entrepreneurship.
• Manifest Your Purpose , a luxury stationary and office accessories company that celebrates the beauty and multidimensionality of Black women.
• Knarly Vans , a company that designs and manufactures components to help owners maximize the use of their passenger vans.
• Salted Pages , a small marketing business that specializes in messaging for creative entrepreneurs, with the goal of telling stories and changing lives.
• Ten Four Films LLC , a digital agency that helps customers grow their business through new ideas and messaging.
• Unbent Inc. , a virtual-reality/AI hiring platform that assesses performance bias in simulated environments to identify best job matches in an equitable way.

On hiatus due to COVID-19 pandemic.

• Kraken Motorsports , an automotive performance shop that bridges the gap between the car you drive and the car of your dreams, was the grand prize winner of the 2019 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition. During their seven-minute pitch to the judges, the husband-and-wife team of Shawn and Alicia Rizzo discussed the culture of their business, and the fact that Kraken Motorsports isn't just an auto shop — they're a community. Shawn and Alicia received the grand prize of $10,000 donated by Frost Bank, in addition to a variety of co-working access, professional development coaching, marketing opportunities and more from other sponsors. The total value of the grand prize package was $56,782.
• Neuro Rehab VR , a virtual reality healthcare startup aimed at building virtual/augmented reality therapy exercises for patients with neurological disorders, won second place and received $5,000 in cash from Frost Bank, and a variety of in-kind services that brought her total prize package $31,837. During her pitch, Veena Somareddy spoke about Neuro Rehab VR's commitment to bringing down the cost of therapy, making it more efficient, and helping Neuro Rehab VR's patients get back to living a healthy, independent life.
• Michelle Crim of Dynamic Development Strategies, LLC , won third place, receiving $3,000 cash and in-kind services that brought her prize package total to $11,997. Dynamic Development Strategies, LLC, is an organization that provides interim leadership and strategic fundraising services to nonprofits.
• Locavore , an all-inclusive resource for foodie entrepreneurs looking to affordably scale up their business, won the 2018 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition. Co-owners Cortney Gumbleton and Carlo Capua also offer a commercial kitchen and an event venue for rent.
• Second prize went to Aspen Tyke Traveler , owned by Saryina and Glen Oliver, which develops innovative, supportive bag and packing systems that help prepare new parents for on-the-go adventures with young children.
• The third place recipient was Cache , a mobile app that allows consumers direct access to purchase wholesale tax foreclosure properties from anywhere in the world, owned by Mateson Gutierrez.
• Myconi Technologies  won the 2017 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition. Myconi Technologies' business plan centered around developing a wireless monitoring device that can be placed inside a box of products or attached to a pallet or container to monitor and report environmental conditions (such as temperature, humidity, pressure, light and harsh handling) throughout the supply chain process, making it especially relevant to pharmaceutical and food delivery systems. Barry McCleland is the chief executive officer of Myconi Technologies and Eugene Van Beljon is chief technology officer.
• Second place finisher Enos , founded by Efrain Villa, designs, manufactures and sells timepieces that have a stainless steel construction, Japanese automatic movement and handmade Italian bands.
• Third place finisher Jollitot , founded by Sean Usman, creates innovative products for babies, including a three-in-one swing, rocker and bouncer for infants.
• Creative Minds Solutions  won the 2016 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition. Dr. Richard Navarro is the President and Chief Innovation Officer of the company, which designs and manufactures hydro-electric turbines to generate electricity from water, such as lakes and oceans.
• Second-place finisher Doc's Street Grill , owned by Steve Alade, offers Caribbean street food as a mobile food concessionaire with plans for four brick-and-mortar restaurants.
• Third place went to Benefit Acupuncture , founded by Dr. Hilary Lai, whose Colleyville company delivers solutions for illnesses ranging from pain, allergies, chronic illness, stroke rehabilitation and infertility.
• ZooMeez Inc. , a music/video startup geared toward providing exercise for young children and fighting obesity, won the fifth annual Fort Worth Business Plan Competition. Kenn Scott, a marketing consultant, is the founder of ZooMeez. His DVDs, CDs, downloads and videos are geared toward pre-K and first graders, a market of 12 million with 3-to-4 million new kids into the demographic each year.
• Alchemy Pops , presented by Carolyn Phillips, finished second. Her company produces frozen mini popsicles in a variety of unique seasonal flavors made from Texas-only growers.
• Third place went to Kingdem Consulting & Tax Preparation Services , owned by Kenya Bryant. Her company provides bookkeeping and tax preparation services.
• Rich Aviation Services / Fort Worth Flight Center  won the 2014 Fort Worth Business Plan Competition held at Texas Christian University. The victory was worth $6,000 in cash and approximately $34,000 in training, counseling and advertising. Rich Aviation Services and Fort Worth Flight Center are pilot training facilities that provide quality, yet affordable flight training to students within Texas and outlying states. Through top-of-the-line equipment and highly qualified FAA-certified instructors, the companies fulfill lifetime goals for a range of students from airplane enthusiasts, to those seeking a profession in aviation.
• Second place, worth approximately $20,000 in cash and business services, was awarded to Boyd Construction Services LLC .
• Janz Hair & Fashion Jewelry Galley finished third, winning cash and prizes worth $16,000.
• WellCare Dimensions Inc.  was the first place winner for 2013, followed by Ampcare LLC  in second place; and Signature Image in third place. The winning lineup was announced after finalist presentations Oct. 24th at the Dee J. Kelly alumni and Visitor's Center at TCU. WellCare and Ampcare are focused on the healthcare industry, and Signature Image is a fine art print studio, all based in Fort Worth.
• Technology Team  was the first place winner for 2013. Technology Team is an industry expert in relocating mission-critical equipment, having successfully relocated over $500 million dollars of technology equipment for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.
• Ikerd Consulting  was the first prize winner in the competition's inaugural year, followed by Positive Influences, in second place; and Cleves Research in third place. The winners were announced after finalist presentations at the Dee J. Kelly alumni and Visitor's Center at TCU.

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BPC Competition Overview

This year’s 22 nd Annual tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition begins in January 2024 with an opportunity for interested Competition teams to work Subject Matter Experts in a virtual Help Session to explore, develop and test business venture concepts. A second Help Session is also held in February. Competition deliverables are due in March and In-Person Presentation Finals take place in April. Our BPC22 activities culminate with the annual Awards Event on Thursday, May 2, 2024 at 5pm at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Student teams from the region’s colleges and universities compete in the Collegiate Division and early-stage entrepreneurs compete in the Non-Collegiate Division. Guests attending the May Awards Event can meet each of our finalists to learn more about their venture concepts and vote their “tecBUCKS” to select an additional crowd-sourced Wild Card Winner. Division Winners will receive $10,000 in cash prizes and share in over $100,000 of in-kind services to help launch their businesses. The Wild Card Winner, selected exclusively by event attendees, will receive a $5,000 cash prize and a share of the in-kind services. 

tecBRIDGE would like to extend a special thanks to all of our sponsors and volunteers – you are the reason this event is an annual showcase of entrepreneurial vision, passion, and innovation in our community. 

2024 Annual tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition

Key milestone dates.

Virtual Help Session #1

Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at 6 p.m. Registration Required * 

Virtual Help Session #2

Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 6 p.m. Registration Required * 

Team Submissions Due 

Friday, March 22, 2024

Finalists Notification Announcement 

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Live Presentation Finals 

Thursday, April 18, 2024

– Collegiate Division 3 p.m.

– Non-Collegiate Division 6 p.m.

 Awards Event

Thursday, May 2, 2024 , 5 p.m.

BPC 2023 Winners

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L ackawanna College

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Berks County

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Neal Deangelo III

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Protein ice cream company wins 2024 rice business plan competition.

by Avery Ruxer Franklin

Rice University hosts world’s largest and richest student startup competition

Ice cream company Protein Pints took home the grand prize at the 2024  Rice Business Plan Competition  (RBPC) April 6 as the best student ventures from top universities across the world competed for prizes in front of nearly 350 angel, venture capital and corporate investors and members of the business community.

During his acceptance speech, Founder and CEO of Protein Pints Paul Reiss said, “"The love and support that we've been shown during our time here at Rice, and the relationships and the friends that we've made, is something that I know I and every other student here is going to remember for the rest of our lives."

Hosted annually by the  Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship  and Rice University’s  Jones Graduate School of Business , the RBPC is the world’s largest and richest student startup competition.

The RBPC offers real-world opportunities to learn what’s required to successfully launch a new business. In addition to the substantial cash, investment and in-kind prizes, the heart of the competition is the mentoring from investors and experienced entrepreneurs. RBPC alumni have raised more than $6.1 billion in capital and 288 are in business or have had successful exits.

The winners were announced at the conclusion of the three-day pitching, mentoring and networking event, which included an elevator pitch competition, practice round, semifinals, wildcard and final round.

“We award the competitors $1 million in prizes, prizes that serve as foundational capital to launch their startup,” said RBPC Director Catherine Santamaria in her welcome speech at the awards gala April 6.

“That’s a large number of prizes, but the biggest thing our startups leave with is a feeling of generosity and community from this room. This community is always ready and willing to help our founders and support our vision for the competition by investing time, money and resources in these student innovators.”

The 42 competing startups represented 35 universities from four countries. They were chosen from more than 450 applicants to compete in one of five categories: energy, cleantech and sustainability; life sciences and health care solutions; consumer products and services; hard tech; and digital enterprise. Learn more about all of the startups  here .

The seven finalists based on the judges’ overall scores were:

Protein Pints, Michigan State University  — first place and the $150,000 GOOSE Capital Investment Grand Prize.

• Protein Pints is a high-protein, low-sugar, ice cream product designed for people who would benefit from having access to a functional ice cream and/or better tasting and more enjoyable protein options.

Somnair, Johns Hopkins University  — second place and the $100,000 Investment Prize, sponsored by David Anderson, Jon Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce.  

• Somnair is a Novel Non-Invasive Neurostimulation device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.

Power2Polymers, RWTH Aachen University  — third place and the $50,000 Rice University investment, provided by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and sponsored by Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce.

• Power2Polymers tackles the pressing issue of 'forever chemicals', which have been linked to over 6.5 million deaths in the U.S. alone, by offering safe alternatives free of forever chemicals.

Informuta, Tulane University  — fourth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright.

• Informuta's proprietary technology leverages DNA sequencing to predict if bacteria will respond to different antibiotics or, for the very first time, develop future resistance thus causing treatment failure.

Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas  — fifth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by EY.

• Icorium Engineering Company is a chemical engineering startup and University of Kansas spinout developing technologies to make sustainable, circular economies a reality for refrigerants and other complex chemical mixtures.

EndoShunt Medical, Harvard University  — sixth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Chevron Technology Ventures.

• EndoShunt is transforming trauma surgery with a rapid, targeted blood flow control device.

D.Sole, Carnegie Mellon University  — seventh place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Shell Ventures.

• D. Sole is advancing the development of remote patient monitoring in podiatry with foot insoles designed for the early detection and monitoring of diabetic foot complications, such as ulcers and deformities.

The fourth through seventh place startups were also awarded an additional investment prize of $25,000 each provided by Rice Alliance and sponsored by David Anderson, Jon Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce, bringing their finalist prize totals up to $30,000. 

Other  significant prizes  this year and the teams that won them include:

• $200,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize — Osphim, RWTH Aachen University
• $250,000 OWL Investment Prizes — MesaQuantum, Harvard University
• $100,000 OWL Investment Prizes — Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas
• $100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize — Somnair, Johns Hopkins University
• $100,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize — Protein Pints, Michigan State University
• $60,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize — MesaQuantum, Harvard University
• $40,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize — Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas
• $40,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize — Informuta, Tulane University
• $25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize — Oxylus Energy, Yale University
• $25,000 Dream Big Ventures Latino Entrepreneur Investment Prize — Dendritic Health AI, Northwestern University
• $25,000 NOV Energy Technology Innovation Cash Prize — LiQuidium, University of Houston
• $25,000 Urban Capital Network Diversity Investment Prize in Partnership with South Loop Venture Investment Prize — TouchStone, University of California, Berkeley
• $25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize — EndoShunt Medical, Harvard University
• $25,000 Jacobs, Intuitive Machines and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize — MesaQuantum, Harvard University

For more information about the 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition, visit  rbpc.rice.edu .

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Meet the winners of the 2024 Mayo Business Plan Competition

Golden Connections, an AI-powered health and wellness digital platform designed to help with the needs of senior citizens and their caregivers, won the first-place prize of $30,000 in the 2024 Mayo Business Plan Competition.

Lauren Cunningham ’24 , Emma Route ’25 , and Sangam Shivaprasad ’24 developed the digital platform to serve as a bridge between adult caregivers and their aging family members.

The team says an estimated 65 million caregivers of seniors are also working adults, like their own parents. Cunningham shared the story of Sandra — her grandmother, affectionately called Grammy — who lives far from her family but needs help with everyday tasks like remembering appointments. Many of those tasks, she said, fall on her mom.

“We see our parents helping their parents, and we wanted to make that easier for them,” Cunningham, a marketing major, said. Caregivers report insufficient sleep, exhibit chronic stress, and lose productivity due to caregiving responsibilities.

Enter Golden Connections, a user-friendly digital platform that features an AI assistant named Grace that can help seniors with everyday tasks and reminders via customized check-in calls and provide health and wellness insights based on speech biomarker analysis.

“I learned about speech biomarkers at an internship last summer at Johnson & Johnson,” Route, a chemistry major, said. “They’re using these biomarkers in clinical trials for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, so I wanted to incorporate that in our platform so that people can use it in their everyday lives.”

Speech and language biomarkers, such as speech rate, pitch, volume, vibration, and other vocal features, may indicate whether a person is experiencing cognitive changes.

Shivaprasad, a biology major, has been interested in medicine since she was young but recently became curious about business. “The Mayo Business Plan Competition helped me learn that this is something I want to pursue in the future,” she said. “It opened many doors and showed me how to make connections.”

This year, 25 teams competed in the challenge, spending much of the academic year on their projects. Three teams made it to the finals in the Mayo Concert Hall on March 27, where each had 30 minutes to make presentations and respond to questions from a five-person panel of alumni judges.

In all, $60,000 in prize money was awarded. A plan for a trendy and affordable thrift store to serve TCNJ students and the surrounding community was the runner-up, garnering team 2nd Chance $20,000. The third-place team, Girls Got Your Back, designed a location-based app to facilitate mutual assistance among women in a community during times of need and won $10,000 for their plan.

The Mayo Business Plan Competition was established in 2011 through the generosity of finance professor emeritus Herbert B. “Buddy” Mayo. Through the TCNJ Foundation, Mayo established an endowment that supports the competition — one of the most robust in New Jersey.

Second Place ($20,000): 2nd Chance by Caley Faith Cortezano ’25 , public health; Alex Fabiano ’24 , interdisciplinary business; Dylan Romanski ’24 , finance. The team pitched a second-hand store that aims to provide students at TCNJ with financially and eco-conscious shopping options with high-quality new and used clothing, furniture, and school supplies.

Third Place ($10,000): Girls Got Your Back by Olivia Chiarella ’25 , communication studies; Victoria Dasilva ’25 , finance; Tatiana Sawka ’25 , marketing; and Madilynne Slifer ’24 , marketing. The team has the vision to create a supportive and empowering digital community for women facing “mini emergencies” in their daily lives (like needing a phone or laptop charger ASAP when you’re in the library studying but forgot to pack your own).

—  Emily W. Dodd ’03

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Empowering JMU's entrepreneurs

In an effort to help student creators take their business to the next level, the Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship has partnered with Student-Made Store, a marketplace designed for students that allows them to sell their goods and products while gaining practical business skills . Read more.

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For more than a year, student Lena Caffall and faculty member John Kruggel have been exploring the ways that ChatGPT can help to inform literacy and comprehension of K-12 students when answering end-of-year assessment questions. Read more.

Business Plan Competition 2024

Once again, five COB300 student-teams advanced through two preliminary rounds of judging to vie, in the finals, for scholarships totaling in excess of $50,000. Students made their pitch and the results of the annual Rainey-Shepard Business Plan Competition are in. See the winners.

Two JMU graduates applied the same approach to concert bookings that Uber and Airbnb did in carving out their own market niches. For  their upstart company, BeatGig, the result has been an eye-popping $4 million-plus in commissions to-date, amid a slew of other success metrics. Read more.

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2024 Mayo Business Plan Competition Finalists Announced

The final three teams competing in the 2024 Mayo Business Plan Competition have been selected. A top prize of $30,000 will be awarded to the winning team with prizes of $20,000 and $10,000 for second and third-place teams. Open to the public, the live finals will be held on March 27, 2024, at 5:00 pm, Mayo Concert Hall. If you are unable to make it to campus, you may view it on Zoom.

   2nd Chance

• Caley Faith Cortezano, junior, Public Health major
• Alex Fabiano, senior, Interdisciplinary Business major
• Dylan Romanski, senior, Finance Major

2nd chance is a thrift store that believes everyone, and everything deserves a second chance. In our mission to pursue environmental and financial sustainability, we give clothing, furniture, and more another opportunity to be used and cherished by another person. Located in Campus Town, we exist as an easily accessible space that provides planet-conscious and affordable shopping for The College of New Jersey and Mercer County communities while supporting local Ewing and Trenton charities.

Girls Got Your Back

• Olivia Chiarella, junior, Communications major
• Victoria Dasilva, junior, Finance major
• Tatiana Sawka, junior, Marketing major
• Madilynne Slifer, senior, Marketing major

The story of “Girls Got Your Back” begins with a vision to create a supportive and empowering community for women facing “mini emergencies” in their daily lives. Through an app, currently in development, “Girls Got Your Back” aims to facilitate mutual assistance among women in a community during times of need, providing access to essential products and relief for minor issues.  Our primary focus is launching the app to empower women to support one another by “having their back” when they need a product or service during a “mini emergency”.

Golden Connections

• Lauren Cunningham, senior, Marketing major
• Emma Route, junior, Chemistry major
• Sangam Shivaprasad, senior, Biology major

Golden Connections (GC) is an AI-powered health and wellness digital application platform designed for the unique needs of seniors and caregivers prioritizing aging at home. This user-friendly platform features Grace, an AI assistant which can help seniors with everyday tasks and reminders, as well as provide health and wellness insights based on speech biomarker analysis. Additionally, Golden Connections offers caregivers peace of mind through customized wellness reports, a supportive care community, and a specialized marketplace all designed to assist families in providing quality loving care.

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Eligibility, are you eligible to apply to the rice business plan competition let's see, you are initially eligible for rbpc 2024 if your startup:.

• is student-driven, student-created and/or student-managed
• has at least two current student founders or management team members, and at least one of those students is a current graduate degree-seeking student
• are from a college or university anywhere in the world
• has not raised more than $250,000 in equity capital prior to July 1, 2023
• has not generated revenue of more than $100,000 in any 12-month period prior to July 1, 2023
• is seeking funding or capital (or will be in the next 12 months)
• is a potentially viable investment opportunity

If you can answer all those questions with "Yes," then your startup appears eligible! Please read the full details on eligibility and what we will be looking for an application—this will help you submit the best application possible!

Apply for the RBPC here !

2024 Competition Sectors

Energy, Cleantech and Sustainability

(including but not limited to): Agriculture/Agtech, Batteries & Storage, Decarbonization/Climate Tech, Energy Infrastructure, Oil & Gas Technologies, Renewable/Alternative Energy, Recycling, New and Non-Carbon Fuels, Transportation/Electric Vehicles, Water

(including but not limited to): Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Materials, Aerospace/Spacetech, AR & VR (augmented & virtual reality), Autonomous Vehicles, Drones, Machine Learning and AI (Artificial Intelligence), Quantum Computing, Robotics, Smart Sensors

Life Sciences and Healthcare Solutions

(including but not limited to): Aging/Gerontology, Biotech, Diagnostics, Digital Health, Disease Management, Public Health, Medical Devices, Personalized Medicine, Pharma & Therapeutics, Prevention

Digital Enterprise

(including but not limited to): Big Data, Blockchain, Cyber/IoT Security, Cloud & Edge Computing, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Media & Advertising, SportsTech, Supply Chain/Logistics, Workforce

Consumer Products and Services

(including but not limited to): Analytics, Consumer Web, Education/EdTech, Food & Drink, Gaming, Mobile, Personal Devices, Social Impact, Subscription Services, Wearables & Clothing

Apply for #RBPC24

If you've reviewed eligibility and are ready to apply, visit the competition portal! 

Important Dates for #RBPC24 Applicants

2024 applicants.

• International edition
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Russia could begin full mobilisation after 2024 presidential election, Kyiv official says – as it happened

Secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council says Russia has increasingly put its economy onto war footing. This live blog is now closed

• Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 635
• 20 Nov 2023 Closing summary
• 20 Nov 2023 At least 11,000 Ukrainian children are reportedly being detained at 43 re-education camps across Russia, says MoD
• 20 Nov 2023 Russia may begin full mobilisation after 2024 presidential election, says senior security official
• 20 Nov 2023 Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch meets Zelenskiy in Kyiv
• 20 Nov 2023 Ukraine sacks two high-ranking cyber defence officials, says government official
• 20 Nov 2023 US defense secretary vows support to Ukraine 'for the long haul' on surprise trip to Kyiv
• 20 Nov 2023 Morning summary
• 20 Nov 2023 Two killed by Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukrainian authorities say
• 20 Nov 2023 US defence secretary visits Kyiv
• 20 Nov 2023 Opening summary

Nato supports Bosnia’s territorial integrity and is concerned by “malign foreign interference,” including by Russia , in the volatile Balkans region that went through a devastating war in the 1990s, Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg , has said.

Sarajevo is the first stop on Stoltenberg’s tour of western Balkan countries that will also include Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia, the Associated Press reports.

“The Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “We are concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia.”

There are widespread fears that Russia is trying to destabilise Bosnia and the rest of the region and shift at least some world attention from its war in Ukraine .

Morning summary

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, arrived in Kyiv on Monday for a visit. “I’m here today to deliver an important message: the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russia’s aggression, both now and into the future.”

Two people were killed early on Monday after Russian forces shelled a parking lot in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, authorities said. Regional prosecutors opened a war crimes investigation into the artillery strike, which occurred at about 9am (7am GMT) and injured one other person, the regional prosecutor’s office reported.

A Ukrainian soldier and a woman have died after a grenade exploded in a Kyiv apartment, police in the Ukrainian capital have said, but the cause of the blast, which injured a second man, was not immediately clear. Explosives technicians and investigators were working at the scene of Sunday’s explosion in the Dniprovskiy district, Kyiv police said in a statement.

The Ukrainian army said it had pushed back Russian forces “three to eight kilometres” from the banks of the Dnipro River, which if confirmed would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv’s forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive . Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November.

A Ukrainian teenager who was taken to Russia from the occupied city of Mariupol during the war and prevented from leaving earlier this year has returned to Ukraine . Bohdan Yermokhin, who turned 18 on Sunday, appealed to Zelenskiy this month to help bring him back to Ukraine. “I believed I would be in Ukraine, but not on this day,” Yermokhin told Reuters while eating at a petrol station after crossing the border.

About 3,000 mostly Ukrainian trucks, including those carrying fuel and humanitarian aid, were stuck on the Polish side of the border on Sunday due to a more than 10-day blockade by Polish truckers, Ukrainian authorities said . Polish truckers earlier this month blocked roads to three border crossings with Ukraine to protest against what they see as government inaction over a loss of business to foreign competitors since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Air defence units in Moscow intercepted a drone targeting the city late Sunday, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said . Sobyanin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said units in the Elektrostal district in the capital’s east had intercepted the drone. No casualties or damage were initially reported. Air defences had also thwarted a drone attack on the Russian capital overnight to Sunday, authorities said earlier.

Russia launched 20 Iranian-made Shahed drones targeting Kyiv and the Cherkasy and Poltava regions overnight into Sunday, the Ukrainian military said, of which 15 were shot down . The overnight strikes on Kyiv were the second attack on the Ukrainian capital in 48 hours, said the city’s military administration spokesperson, Serhii Popko.

Five people including a three-year-old girl were injured in Russian artillery shelling of Kherson on Sunday morning, the Ukrainian interior minister, Ihor Klymenko , said . “All of them sustained shrapnel wounds. The child and the grandmother were walking in the yard. Enemy artillery hit them near the entrance,” Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin , who is in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism, said he wanted to run for president even though he understood the March election would be a “sham” with the winner already clear . Girkin, who is also known by the alias Igor Strelkov, has repeatedly said Russia faces revolution and even civil war unless President Vladimir Putin’s military top brass fight the war in Ukraine more effectively. A former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who helped Russia to annex Crimea in 2014 and then to organise pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine, Girkin said before his arrest that he and his supporters were entering politics.

The Kremlin, facing the prospect of a European Union ban on imports of Russian diamonds, said on Monday that EU sanctions tended to have a “boomerang effect” on those who applied them, Reuters reports.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was commenting on a proposed EU ban on diamond imports from Russia as part of a new sanctions package against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine .

Russia is the world’s biggest producer of rough diamonds by volume. Peskov told reporters such a move had been anticipated for a long time, but was likely to backfire.

“As a rule, it turns out that a boomerang effect is partially triggered: the interests of the Europeans themselves suffer. So far, we have been able to find ways to minimise the negative consequences of sanctions,” he said.

EU diplomatic sources said last week the proposal under discussion was to ban direct diamond imports from Russia from 1 January and from March to implement a traceability mechanism that would prevent imports of Russian gems processed in third countries.

The Kremlin said on Monday that president Vladimir Putin will set out Russia’s view of what it sees as the “deeply unstable world situation” when he addresses an upcoming virtual G20 summit.

Russian state TV presenter Pavel Zarubin said on his Telegram channel on Sunday that it would be the “first event in a long time” including both Putin and western leaders.

According to the state RIA news agency, the G20 virtual summit will be held on Wednesday.

The Kremlin said on Monday it regretted Finland’s decision to shut crossings on its border with Russia , saying it reflected Helsinki’s adoption of an anti-Russian stance, Reuters reports.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov , speaking at a regular news briefing, also rejected Finland’s accusation that Russia is deliberately pushing illegal migrants towards the border and said that Russian border guards were following all instructions.

Finland, a member of the European Union and – from this year – also of the Nato military alliance, closed four crossings on its border with Russia on Saturday as Helsinki seeks to halt a flow of asylum seekers it says was instigated by Moscow.

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, arrives in Kyiv on Monday morning.

Two killed by Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukrainian authorities say

Reuters reports that two people were killed early on Monday after Russian forces shelled a parking lot in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, authorities said.

Regional prosecutors opened a war crimes investigation into the artillery strike, which occurred at about 9am (7am GMT) and injured one other person, the regional prosecutor’s office reported.

The Kherson governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said the two dead were drivers for a private transport business.

Images posted on Telegram showed firefighters dousing cars that had been blasted apart, one day after a separate strike on the city wounded five people, including a three-year-old girl.

Russian forces have regularly shelled Kherson from across the Dnipro River since the regional capital was reoccupied by Ukrainian troops last November.

Ukraine said last week it had secured a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro and that its troops were trying to push Russian forces further back.

US defence secretary visits Kyiv

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, arrived in Kyiv on Monday for a visit, he said on the X social media platform, Reuters reports.

“I’m here today to deliver an important message: the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in their fight for freedom against Russia’s aggression, both now and into the future.”

The visit comes amid increasing division over Ukraine aid in the US legislature. A joint Ukraine-US military industry conference in Washington is due to take place next month.

That event, due to be held on 6-7 December, is intended to boost Ukraine’s domestic arms production as its fight against a full-scale Russian invasion nears the two-year mark.

Reuters reports that a Japanese delegation led by senior industry and foreign ministry officials and including business representatives is visiting Ukraine on Monday for talks ahead of a reconstruction conference that Japan will host, the industry ministry said.

Japan, which has been supporting Ukraine with funds and by accepting refugees since Russia invaded in February 2022, has also been promoting support for Ukraine at the level of the G7, which Japan chairs this year.

Kazuchika Iwata , the state minister of economy, trade and industry (METI), and the state minister for foreign affairs Kiyoto Tsuji , are visiting together with representatives of Japan companies, METI said in a statement.

In Kyiv, the delegation, which includes members of Keidanren, Japan’s biggest business lobby, in charge of a committee on Ukraine’s reconstruction, plans talks with the prime minister, Denys Shmyhal , government officials and companies.

Shmyhal said this month Ukraine would need budget support of about $42bn this year and next year to plug a massive deficit and aid reconstruction from the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion.

METI said the visit was an opportunity to hear about Ukraine’s needs and to discuss specific projects and accelerate public and private efforts to help.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy – who visited Japan in May during a G7 summit – and the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, agreed this month to hold a Japan-Ukraine Conference for promotion of Economic Reconstruction in Tokyo on 19 February.

Opening summary

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine .

A Ukrainian soldier and a woman have died after a grenade exploded in a Kyiv apartment, police in the Ukrainian capital have said, but the cause of the blast, which injured a second man, was not immediately clear.

Explosives technicians and investigators were working at the scene of Sunday’s explosion in the Dniprovskiy district, Kyiv police said in a statement.

“A citizen contacted the police with a report that an explosion rang out in a neighbouring apartment,” they added.

The news came as Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the commander of the military’s medical forces , Maj Gen Tetiana Ostashchenko, and said “new priorities had been set” in the operations of Ukraine’s military after a meeting with the defence minister, Rustem Umerov.

“There is little time left to wait for results. Quick action is needed for forthcoming changes,” the Ukrainian president said in his evening video address.

In other key developments:

Russia launched 20 Iranian-made Sha hed drones targeting Kyiv and the Cherkasy and Poltava regions overnight into Sunday, the Ukrainian military said, of which 15 were shot down . The overnight strikes on Kyiv were the second attack on the Ukrainian capital in 48 hours, said the city’s military administration spokesperson, Serhii Popko.

Five people including a three-year-old girl were injured in Russian artillery shelling of Kherson on Sunday morning, the Ukrainian interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said . “All of them sustained shrapnel wounds. The child and the grandmother were walking in the yard. Enemy artillery hit them near the entrance,” Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app.

The pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who is in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism, said he wanted to run for president even though he understood the March election would be a “sham” with the winner already clear . Girkin, who is also known by the alias Igor Strelkov, has repeatedly said Russia faces revolution and even civil war unless President Vladimir Putin’s military top brass fight the war in Ukraine more effectively. A former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who helped Russia to annex Crimea in 2014 and then to organise pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine, Girkin said before his arrest that he and his supporters were entering politics.

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