Compete

To compete in NVC, your venture must meet the following requirements:

• One core member of the venture must be a current CU Boulder student, faculty or staff member who has a valid CU Boulder BuffOne Card.
• Participating CU faculty & research staff members must certify that their Disclosure of External Professional Activities (DEPA) has been appropriately updated before registering.
• Members of the non-CU community may join a venture, as long as at least one member of the venture has a valid CU Boulder BuffOne Card AND is a founding member.
• The venture must register for NVC by the application deadline. Ventures may continue to add members to the venture up until the competition start. 
• If the venture competed in a prior NVC year and advances to the finals, then the venture may only compete again in NVC if it is an entirely new idea. If you have any questions please contact us at cunvc@colorado.edu, as it is better to clarify than to miss the opportunity to participate.
• Finalists competing in the NVC Finals in April will be required to have a legal entity to be able to accept the prize money as well as complete a founder's agreement.

1. Your venture must meet the venture eligibility requirements (above).
2. One core member of the venture must be a current CU Boulder student, faculty or staff member with a valid BuffOne Card.
3. In addition to the general competition, ventures may compete in one special competition.
4. Participating CU faculty and research staff members must certify that their Disclosure of External Professional Activities (DEPA) has been appropriately updated before registering.

The New Venture Challenge offers two special competitions. The Female Founder Competition is open to ventures with at least one female founder. The Climate Competition is open to ventures that are addressing a climate issue.

Promising Idea - 35% 

• Is there a clear need or problem being addressed 
• Does the idea provide a solution to the problem 
• Is there a clear way to make money or create an impact 

Feasibility - 35% 

• Has the venture proven they understand their customer 
• Are the resources necessary and reasonably obtainable  
• Does the venture have the skills necessary to execute 
• Does the venture have practical milestones and timelines 

Momentum - 20% 

• Does the venture have a prototype 
• Has the venture conducted a pilot 
• Have customer interviews been conducted 
• Do they have their first 10, 100, 1000 customers 
• Has the venture leveraged marketing tools: social media, search engine optimization, email strategies, etc? 
• Does the venture have a website or app? 

Quality of presentation - 10% 

• Did they introduce themselves? 
• Were the speakers clear and compelling? 
• Was there a professional tone/appearance 
• Were there good visuals 
• Was the presented in a logical order 
• Did the venture answer the questions from the judges? 

2023 NVC Judging Criteria Pitch Class