ABOUT THE COMPETITION
How the Rosen College
Entrepreneurship Competition Works
This is the second year in a row that the Rosen College Entrepreneurship Competition has given students an opportunity to take an idea for a hospitality-related product or service and develop a plan to bring it to market. Students enter as individuals or teams; at least one person must be currently enrolled at Rosen College. Participants are competing for cash prizes that can assist with startup costs and help make their dreams a reality.
The competition is sponsored by BlurtBox, a mobile app that helps customers voice their complaints about a business and allows owners and managers to address customers in real time. The company’s CEO is Julien Meyer, ’14, a Rosen College alumnus who studied hospitality and event management at UCF while running his own startup company. Read more about Julien.
Eligibility Requirements
- At least one team member must be a full-time University of Central Florida Rosen College student who has completed at least two full semesters at the university.
- Revenues generated by the proposed venture must not have exceeded $50,000 in the last year.
- The proposed venture must not have raised any more than $50,000 in venture capital as of January 1, 2017.
- Submissions and presentations must be the original work of the team.
As part of the initial submission, the team must elect how they want the prize money distributed. They can choose to either divide the money evenly among all of the members competing or make the check out to a business entity. Funding for the Entrepreneurship Competition prizes has been contributed by Patton Hospitality Management and Levy Hospitality; each company gave $5,000.
The top 3 finalists will receive the following cash prizes:
1st Place:
- $5,000
- Complimentary consulting services: Preparing basic organization documents for filing, a one-hour initial consultation and (2) 30-minute follow-up consultations at 3 and 6 months.
2nd Place:
- $2,500
- Complimentary one-hour consultation
3rd Place:
- $1,000
- Complimentary one-hour consultation*
*This will be a joint session with the 2nd and 3rd Place winners in attendance.
The application period for the Entrepreneurship Competition ended on Monday, January 30, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. No individual extensions were granted. A panel of judges selected proposals to be passed on to the next round of the competition.
Submission Guidelines: Submissions should be a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 single-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font, pages with 1-inch margins, addressing the topics listed in the judging guidelines. Please ensure that no information identifying individual team members is included in the submission file.
Click here to view the judging guidelines.
Finalists were Announced via email: Thursday, February 23, 2017 (see list below)
- Ice Cream Food Truck
- Dhark Coco, Online Chocolate, Confections and Treats Boutique
- Family Ranch
- Slip & Set Event Covers
- Timeshare Friends
Final Round: Wednesday, April 12, 2017, Reception at 5:30. Program begins at 6 p.m.: Finalists will deliver a presentation of no more than 15 minutes, to a panel of judges. An additional 10 minutes will be allowed for Q&A on their venture. If you have any questions about the Rosen College Entrepreneurship Competition please contact Dr. Jeff Weinland at Jeffrey.Weinland@ucf.edu
