NOVATechCom,
Innovation Technology Business Plan Competition,
Intel-Berkeley Challenge in Eastern Europe
(IBTEC in Eastern Europe)

NOVATechCom National competition, BULGARIA

NOVATechCom is a business plan competition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) - part of the worldwide competition IBTEC (Intel Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge) sponsored by the technology giant Intel. IBTEC (www.ibtec.org) is a joint project of Intel and Berkeley, University of California aiming to give students, alumni and local entrepreneurs the opportunity to work together to turn innovative ideas into successful businesses in the technology field. The event will involve teams from eight countries from the CEE region: Bulgaria , Czech Republic , Greece , Hungary , Poland , Romania , Slovakia and Turkey . Information for the whole event is presented on the site: www.bimtbg.com/competition

CIST, Sofia University & ITD Foundation will manage locally the national issue of NOVATechCom in Bulgaria.

Eligible sectors
Only business plans that make integral use of novel technology, such as technologies in the following industry categories, could participate:

  • Semiconductors, Manufacturing, and Hardware
  • Mobile and Wireless
  • Digital Home and Consumer Electronics
  • Retail and Consumer Software
  • Enterprise Software and IT
  • Energy and Power Generation
  • Nanotechnology
  • Biotechnology

Eligible teams
Following conditions apply:

  • Teams are typically of 3-4 people and no less than 2
  • Nationality of any of the participating countries
  • At least one team member currently pursuing undergraduate, graduate or PhD degree (the rest of the team could be: faculty members, entrepreneurs, businessmen)
  • Company to be established in one of the participating countries

Training
Training and consultations will be provided upon request.

Jury
Jury will be selected based on the following criteria:

  • Relevant professional experience (business, consulting and entrepreneurial)
  • Field of expertise (finance, entrepreneurship, law, marketing)

Judging criteria

The main focus points of the judging criteria are:

  • General: Innovation, uniqueness, feasibility, strategy, experience, competitive advantage and business model
  • Market: Market size, growth, share, competition, and clients
  • Products/Services
  • Financials and funding requirements

The judging criteria are structured to select the business opportunity with the greatest impactthrough the deployment of new technology. Emphasis will be placed on the deployment of emerging and innovative technology products and services, which have a high likelihood of generating significant benefits for all stakeholders, both investors and the broader industry system. 

Confidentiality
The authors of the business plan retain all rights to the plan regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below.  All judges and administrative staff must agree on non-disclosure of materials submitted by competition participants.  All materials must be destroyed after competition is completed, unless specific agreement is granted.

Calendar

May 31 :  E-round deadline (executive summaries electronic submission)
June 25 : Business plans submission
June 29 : National competition - the two winning teams will be selected to represent Bulgaria at the Bucharest semifinals
Oct. 5 : Semifinal in Bucharest , Romania
Oct. 24* :  World final in Berkeley , USA
*) - to be confirmed

Resources

  • Executive summary template (limited to 2 pages)
  • Business plan template (limited to 30 pages)
  • Presentation template (limited to 15 slides)

Application
All candidates are required to fill an application. The application is divided into the following sections:

  • Personal information
  • Education
  • Professional experience
  • Skills: technical and non-technical skills

CVs can be requested in addition to the applications.

Notes:

  • Total size of all soft copy documents shall not exceed 10 MB.
  • Teams that submit incomplete materials for each stage will be automatically disqualified.
  • All documents sent should be final and on time.

If you want to download a poster in eps format - click