New York Business Plan Competition: Capital Region

Registration

The application is located here. 

Semi-Finals
Student applications are due by April 9, 2021. Judges for each track will evaluate the applications remotely. By April 21, 2021, the semi-finals winners will be announced, and student teams will receive judges’ feedback.

Statewide Finals

The statewide finals will be held on a virtual platform. Teams finishing in first and second place in each track at each of the regional competitions will advance to the statewide final competition on Friday, May 7, 2021. Visit  NYBPC for more information on the state competition.

In order to be eligible to apply for and participate in the NYBPC, all teams must meet the following criteria: 

• “Students” are any graduate, undergraduate, and/or community college students enrolled part- or full-time in accredited New York colleges and universities during the current academic year. Students who graduate during the Fall semester are still eligible to compete in the competition during the Spring semester. 

• Students must be the presenters in all stages of the competition. 

• Teams may compete in only one region per year.

• Students may not participate in more than one team per year. 

Grand prize winners from previous years’ competitions are not eligible to participate in the competition. They are encouraged to participate as speakers, mentors, volunteers, and judges! Individual members of the winning team may return with new teams in subsequent years. 

The following rules apply to teams with incorporated ventures (teams do not need to have incorporated legal entities): 

• Cumulative public and private capital raised may not exceed $100,000. This does not include research funding that may have supported the development of technology in an academic laboratory.

• The business venture must be at least 80% owned by students.

The New York Business Plan Competition reserves the right to withhold prize money from winning teams who do not comply with the eligibility requirements. 

The competition is divided into six categories, called tracks, at all levels of competition.

To keep pace with our rapidly changing world and to provide a balanced competition, track definitions will be finalized and announced on March 1, 2021.

This will allow time for a review of this year’s applicants. Students will no longer select a track on their applications, but will instead select one or more category tags. These tags may align with the track definitions or with special prize definitions or with neither. They could relate to the type of business, attributes of the team, the type of product or service, or target markets or customers.

The list of tags will not be finalized until the student application opens on January 1, but some possible tags could be agtech, athletics, clothing, college students, education, entertainment, environmental Impact, fintech, food, government, medtech, mental health, military, mwbe, software, travel, utility, veteran-owned.

Student teams will be informed of their track assignments prior to the regional competitions.

Teams in each of the tracks may represent for-profit or non-profit ventures. All tracks are judged according to the same criteria and rubric.

For more information on the track definitions and judging criteria please see the 2021 Rule Book.

1st Place Track Winners - $500
2nd Place Track Winners - $250
Capital Cup - $1,000

The New York Business Plan Competition is New York State's premier collegiate business plan competition, attracting entrepreneurial-minded college students from throughout the state. Celebrating its 12th year, the Capital Region regional qualifying event will generate proceeds to support ongoing student programming, to ensure access to the best entrepreneurial education.

Sponsorship Opportunities

PRESENTING Sponsor - FILLED. Thank you Sunmark Credit Union!

• Opportunity to welcome the group
• Inclusion in all media releases, web articles and other promotional materials
related to the event noting your company as the Presenting Sponsor
• Company name/logo listed on event website and program
• Thank you & recognition during and post-event
• Exclusive opportunity to join program director in check presentation to winner
• Display a sign or banner at the event
• Opportunity to distribute a gift appropriate to the event

ANGEL Sponsor – $2,500

• Inclusion in all promotional materials related to the event noting your company
as an Angel Sponsor
• Company name/logo listed on event website and program
• Thank you & recognition during and post-event
• Display a sign or banner at the event
• Opportunity to distribute a gift appropriate to the event

CEO Sponsor – $1,500

• Inclusion in all promotional materials related to the event noting your company
as the CEO Sponsor
• Company name/logo listed on event website and program
• Thank you & recognition during and post-event

Friend of the Competition – $500

• Company name/logo listed on the event website and program

How to Sponsor

Complete and send the sponsorship form.

For more information contact [email protected]

The application is located here. The teams finishing in first and second place within each track at each of the regional competitions will advance to the statewide final to be held online in May. Finalists will submit pitch videos and slide decks due by April 25, 2021. The top three teams in each track will be invited to pitch to a panel of finals judges with live Q&A. Winners will be announced at an online awards ceremony on May 7, 2021.

All students are invited to the virtual finals event to cheer for their teammates, meet mentors, attend workshops and gain exposure to entrepreneurial resources from across New York.

The NYBPC provides opportunities for students enrolled in colleges and universities across New York to gain entrepreneurial skills and compete on their ingenuity, first on campus, then in the region, and for top teams, the statewide finals.

• More than $150M+ economic impact including follow-on funding for 100+ start-ups
• Hundreds of innovative solutions, including patented technologies

2021 New York Business Plan Competition Capital Region Semi-Finals

Sunmark congratulates the winners.

1st and 2nd place track winners advance to the state competition.

Capital Cup

Ripely, Alex Connor and Alex LaClair, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute  

Track winners

AgTech & Food

1st    Ripely, Alex Connor and Alex LaClair, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute    
2nd    SpiritsFinder, Justin Kenyon, Siena College

    
Consumer & Business Products

1st    EZZ Pet Products, Zachary Zabella, University at Albany

Education & Well-Being

1st     Uman4Uman, Haja Bah, Skidmore College
2nd    AITA, Numfor Mbiziwo-Tiapo, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 

   
Infrastructure, First Responder & Defense

1st    SFluor, Tatyana Tarasevich, University at Albany    
2nd    Overwatch, Ryan Francik, University at Albany

MedTech & Life Sciences

1st    CN Tech Shoes, Nina Tran and Cami Tran, University at Albany  

 
Software & Services

1st    Roomie, Blyden Nartey, Siena College
2nd    Business Therapy - Rent a Mind, Ayub Salik, University at Albany