Challenge Overview
The China Business Challenge is a business model competition designed to challenge UM students’ entrepreneurial abilities to tap China’s exponentially growing market and to solve magnitudes of Chinese social, environmental, medical, and technological problems.
The United States and China are more connected than most believe. As China is quickly becoming the fastest growing market in the world, U.S. companies continue to develop the most innovative entrepreneurial solutions to the problems we face today. We believe these innovative measures can be duplicated for the problems China faces, and thereby the model of “U.S. Solutions for China Market.” In doing so, innovators and entrepreneurs can not only build a better future but also take advantage of the great opportunities that China offers.
The United States and China are more connected than most believe. As China is quickly becoming the fastest growing market in the world, U.S. companies continue to develop the most innovative entrepreneurial solutions to the problems we face today. We believe these innovative measures can be duplicated for the problems China faces, and thereby the model of “U.S. Solutions for China Market.” In doing so, innovators and entrepreneurs can not only build a better future but also take advantage of the great opportunities that China offers.
Competition Description
The China Business Challenge is a business model competition based on a new and modern way of thing about the entrepreneurship process. This competition allows participants to identify and test their business assumptions about China. Participants will provide a brief description an overview of their startup's story along three rounds, with each round providing further information about your startup in China.
Prizes
Grand Prize Winner: $2000 in cash
Categorical Prizes: $1000 cash each (up to 5 categorical winners) in each of the following category:
Implementation Fund: $5000**
Note:
**Implementation fund will be given out in sequence of your process to bring your startup to reality.
Categorical Prizes: $1000 cash each (up to 5 categorical winners) in each of the following category:
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Clean Energy
- Sustainability for Water
- Green Building
- Sustainable Community
- Sustainable Transportation
- ITC
- Education
- Healthcare
- Any other community related services or public goods
Implementation Fund: $5000**
Note:
**Implementation fund will be given out in sequence of your process to bring your startup to reality.
Rules and Regulations
Eligibility:
Exclusions:
Confidentiality:
All pitches must be the original work of the team, and by submitting the pitch you agree that:
* CEN reserves the right to disqualify any submission that fails to conform to the rules and regulations
- The China Business Challenge is open to all UM faculty, staff and students, as well as to other CEN Chapters in the U.S., China, and Canada.
- Each team must have at least one University of Michigan student to be eligible for the competition(unless you're from one of the CEN affliated chapter in the U.S., China, and Canada).
- Team size can vary from 1-6 members. Teams may add or remove member(s) at anytime throughout the competition.
- Each team can only submit one business proposal during each round.
- Business model can be for a service or for a produce; for profit or non-profit.
- Business model must contain relevance to China.
Exclusions:
- Business models selected for the final round may not be recycled for any future CEN events.
Confidentiality:
- CEN considers all submissions confidential and will treat them accordingly.
- The protection of sensitive materials such as intellectual property, copyright, or patent confidentiality is the sole responsibility of the team and its members.
All pitches must be the original work of the team, and by submitting the pitch you agree that:
- You have all the intellectual property rights, title, and/or interest in the submitted pitch
- The included information is accurate and complete
- You are not violating any laws regarding copyright, patent, trademark, etc. \
* CEN reserves the right to disqualify any submission that fails to conform to the rules and regulations
Competition Format
The competition is comprised of three (3) rounds:
1st Round: Each team will present a 2-page business model to address the key questions in validating a new business. Keep in mind that the judges who will be scoring your model should be able to read it under 5 minutes and understand what your startup will bring to China.
Semi-Final Round: 20 teams will proceed to the Semi-Final round. In this round each semi-finalist team will submit a 10-page business proposal further explaining how the team will develop their startup.
Final Round: 10 teams will make the final round. Each finalist team will submit a refined 10-page business proposal and presentation material. Each team will present its business model to the judges in a 10min pitch session, followed by a 10 min Q&A. Important Note: Due to fairness of the competition, ANY team exceeding the time limit will be stopped accordingly!
For more information on the process please go to the Procedure tap.
1st Round: Each team will present a 2-page business model to address the key questions in validating a new business. Keep in mind that the judges who will be scoring your model should be able to read it under 5 minutes and understand what your startup will bring to China.
Semi-Final Round: 20 teams will proceed to the Semi-Final round. In this round each semi-finalist team will submit a 10-page business proposal further explaining how the team will develop their startup.
Final Round: 10 teams will make the final round. Each finalist team will submit a refined 10-page business proposal and presentation material. Each team will present its business model to the judges in a 10min pitch session, followed by a 10 min Q&A. Important Note: Due to fairness of the competition, ANY team exceeding the time limit will be stopped accordingly!
For more information on the process please go to the Procedure tap.
One-on-One Mentoring Sessions
Optional mentoring session are available to all participants. We encourage you to sign-up for these mentorship hours with industry and academia professionals to take advantage of their knowledge and experience.
List of our available mentors for this year can be found here. More mentors will continually be added to our list.
List of our available mentors for this year can be found here. More mentors will continually be added to our list.
