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Competitions
Palo Alto Software is proud to be affiliated with some of the most prestigious business plan competitions in North America. We serve as corporate sponsors and competition judges for many academic contests and commercial venture competitions.
Featured competitions
Rice University Business Plan Competition - At this fantastic Rice Alliance event, Palo Alto Software president Tim Berry serves as a finals judge, and we sponsor the award for Best Executive Summary.
MOOT CORP - We are a corporate sponsor of the University of Texas at Austin's premier business plan contest.
New Venture Championship - At our hometown event at the University of Oregon, we sponsor an award for the Best-Written Business Plan.
Notre Dame Business Plan Competitions - We sponsor Best-Written Plan Awards for both of Notre Dame's contests — the McCloskey Business Plan Competition and the Social Venture Plan Competition.
Duke Start-Up Challenge - We are a sponsor of the 2010-2011 Duke Startup Challenge.
Interested in sponsorship?
Our sponsorship program includes a complimentary copy of Business Plan Pro Academic Premier Edition software for each participant. The software allows a team to split up sections of the plan, work on their sections individually, and then compile their content into one plan. Additionally, it allows a team to continually update and modify their plan as they receive feedback.
Overall, the software provides an SBA-approved format for a team to write and manage their plan, allowing them to turn their focus from the mechanics behind the plan to other important aspects involved in a business plan competition.
Check out our media relations page for free icons and copy you can use to promote your competition. We also have academic versions of our software available.
If you are interested in learning more about how Palo Alto Software can sponsor your business plan competition, please contact our academic sales team.
Plan competition resources
In addition to free software, we provide a number of valuable resources to assist teams in writing a better and winning plan.
Top 10 business plan mistakes
Listen to Palo Alto Software president Tim Berry's recorded webinar on the top mistakes to avoid while creating your plan for a venture competition.
How to succeed in competitions
Read Tim Berry’s white paper about business plan competitions, how to win, and how to use Business Plan Pro to write a better competition plan.
Business plan templates
Get ideas from the 100+ sample business plans available on our Bplans.com site.
Business plan articles
Browse our library of articles on writing a business plan on our Bplans.com site.
Additional business plan competitions
Along with the featured competitions above, Palo Alto Software sponsors dozens of business plan competitions held around the country.
| Hosting Academic Institution | Competition Name |
|---|---|
| Alabama Universities | Alabama Launchpad |
| Boise State University | Bronco Venture Championship |
| Boise State University | Northwest Venture Championship (International) |
| Brigham Young University | BYU Business Plan Competition |
| Brigham Young University Hawaii (Center for International Entrepreneurship) | The Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship 2008 Business Plan Competition |
| Cal Poly | Ray Scherr Business Plan Competition |
| Clark Atlanta University | OFC Venture Challenge |
| Chinese University of Hong Kong | Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge |
| Cornell University | The Big Idea Competition |
| Duke University | Duke Start-Up Challenge |
| Fresno State | The 'Dream it. Win it.' 25k Business Plan Competition |
| Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition |
| Kent State University | Ohio Graduate Business Plan Competition |
| New York University | Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies Business Plan Competition |
| Ohio State University | The Deloitte Business Plan Competition at Fisher College of Business |
| Oregon State University | The 2008 New Enterprise Challenge |
| Rice University | Rice Business Plan Competition |
| Tulane University | Tulane Business Plan Competition |
| University of Buffalo | Panasci Business Competition |
| University of California - Berkeley | UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition |
| University of California - Irvine | Stradling Yocca Carlson and Rauth Business Plan Competition |
| University of Dayton | University of Dayton Business Plan Competition |
| University of Delaware | University of Delaware Business Plan Competition |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | V. Dale Cozad Business Plan Competition |
| University of Manitoba | Stuart Clark Venture Challenge |
| University of Missouri - Kansas City | 2008 Regnier Family Foundations New Venture Challenge Competition |
| University of Notre Dame | McCloskey Competition |
| University of Notre Dame | Sustainable Social Venture Competition |
| University of Oregon | New Venture Championship |
| University of Portland | University of Portland Business Plan Competition |
| Wichita State University | Shocker Business Plan Competition |
Business Plan Pro
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