Who is eli­gi­ble to enter?

Sub­mis­sions accepted world­wide, but there is a res­i­dency require­ment to accept the top three prizes. If your com­pany is selected as a semi-finalist, at least two mem­bers of your team must be present on Novem­ber 16 — 17, 2011 in Ann Arbor, MI at the Accel­er­ate Michi­gan event to pitch in front of a live judg­ing panel and audience.

What kind of busi­ness idea can I submit?

For stage of com­pany, please see eli­gi­bil­ity require­ments. With respect to sec­tor we’re look­ing for a wide range of sub­mis­sions. While there are many great lifestyle busi­nesses (for exam­ple: bou­tiques, cafes, con­sult­ing firms), your best bet with those busi­nesses is often to raise funds via your friends and family.

Excluded are: buy-outs, expan­sions of exist­ing com­pa­nies, real estate syn­di­ca­tions, tax shel­ters, fran­chises, and licens­ing agree­ments for dis­tri­b­u­tion in a dif­fer­ent geo­graph­i­cal area. Licensed tech­nolo­gies from uni­ver­si­ties and research labs are encour­aged assum­ing they have not been com­mer­cial­ized previously.

What stage of busi­ness do I have to be in?

Please see eli­gi­bil­ity require­ments.

How big can my team be?

There are no restric­tions on teams

How does judg­ing work? What do judges look for in a plan?

Please see judg­ing page for details, but on a broad view plan will be judged based on cre­ativ­ity and inno­va­tion involved in the busi­ness con­cept, like­li­hood of busi­ness suc­cess, stage of devel­op­ment, team’s knowl­edge of the product/service and its mar­ket, growth poten­tial and capa­bil­ity to become mar­ket leader, sus­tain­abil­ity of the busi­ness and com­pet­i­tive advan­tage as well as the ratio­nal­ity of the financ­ing strategy.

Who are the judges?

The judges con­sist prin­ci­pally of VCs, angel investors, and sea­soned entrepreneurs.

How will my intel­lec­tual prop­erty be protected?

See con­fi­den­tial­ity and IP.

If my intel­lec­tual prop­erty is not pro­tected, can I enter the competition?

Yes, but this being a pub­lic forum, we can­not guar­an­tee that your idea will remain confidential.

Is there a res­i­dency require­ment for the win­ning companies?

Yes, the top three prizes are required to either be located in Michi­gan or relo­cate the main office to south­east­ern Michigan.

Is there a fee for com­pa­nies to apply?

Yes. To ensure com­mit­ment from appli­cants, there is a nom­i­nal $100 fee to apply.

As of the August 11, we’ll only have raised $1.5 Mil­lion, but we’re in the process of fundrais­ing.  If we raise addi­tional funds before the com­pe­ti­tion finals will it dis­qual­ify us?

As long as you haven’t raised the 2 mil­lion by August 11, you’re fine.

Can I get a copy of the busi­ness plans?

Busi­ness plans pre­sented in the com­pe­ti­tion will not be made avail­able. How­ever, if a team is will­ing to share their plan with you on a one-to-one basis that is acceptable.