NIBS 2025 Business Plan Competition

Registration for the 2025 NIBS Worldwide Business Plan Competition will officially open in November The Innovation Hub will sponsor two teams of Carleton business students who wish to participate, giving them the opportunity to compete in the NIBS competition at no cost. Please register by filling out our form below so we can review applications and reach out to the selected teams. The internal registration deadline for Carleton students is November 15, 2024.

The NIBS Worldwide Business Plan Competition aims to stimulate entrepreneurship among students. Teams are challenged to improve an existing service, or product, or to conceive of a new service or product offering. Teams must then create a business plan and concept pitch video aimed at convincing potential investors to finance the business. Each year, the three best submissions are selected by a jury of business professionals and academics to compete in the Final Round. Finalist student teams will present (virtually teams or zoom) to the Judging Panel in May 2025, and a final decision will be agreed and announced during the session.

You can find a previous version of the competition manual and video submissions from pervious winners online here.

About the competition:

• The competition is conducted 100% virtually; there are no travel requirements.
• Students participate in teams of 2-5 individuals.
• They can be from any academic program and multidisciplinary teams are encouraged.
• They can be from undergraduate or masters programs.
• The task is to conceive of a new service or product offering, OR, improve an existing product or service, and create a business plan for it.
• The deliverables on which teams are assessed are a written business plan and concept pitch video aimed at convincing potential investors to finance the business.
• Registration deadline: January 2025.
• Submission deadline: March 2025
• Entry fee is €150 per team.
• Each participating school can enter up to 2 teams.
• Final presentation round is mid-May 2025.

Benefits for participants:

• Experience creating a business model and writing a business plan
• Familiarity with primary / secondary market research and the process of conducting feasibility studies
• Feedback from a jury of senior managers and academics
• Experience working as part of a team
• Opportunity to sharpen organizational and communication skills
• Prize money to the winner and second and third place teams

Prize

Click through for further details on the cash prizes available for winners and runner up teams.

Past winners and finalists

If you are looking for inspiration, the submissions of previous winners and finalists are available to view here, past winners and finalists.