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$100K Competition

2019 $100K Challenge Venture Competition: April 27

The Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation will present its annual $100K Challenge Venture Competition on Saturday, April 27, on the third floor of Shiley Hall. This competition provides students with the opportunity to receive feedback on their proposed ventures from within the local entrepreneurial community, win cash awards, and move on to the opportunity to acquire seed funding that will help advance an entrepreneurial opportunity to the next stage. All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend and watch student presentations.

The $100K Competition includes flights focused on For Profit Ventures, Social Enterprises and Inventions. The Invention flight winner moves ahead into the InventOR Statewide student invention program.

Students and judges can join for an informal lunch beginning at noon. All flights begin at 1 p.m and should finish by 3:15 p.m.  A reception and announcement of winners takes place from 3:30 to 4 p.m. Prizes include $1,250 for first place (for-profit, non-profit and invention); $750 for second place (for-profit) and $250 for third place (for-profit). Sponsors include VTM Group, Cinder Staffing, LivePlan, A to Z Wineworks, and the AARP Foundation.

For more information contact Peter Rachor, Director for Entrepreneurship, at rachor@up.edu.

2017 $100K Competition, April 29

The Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation will present its annual $100K Challenge Venture Competition on Saturday, April 29, in Shiley Hall room 301. This competition provides students with the opportunity to receive feedback on their proposed ventures from within the local entrepreneurial community, win cash awards, and move on to the opportunity to acquire seed funding, as well as legal and other services, that will help advance an entrepreneurial opportunity to the next stage. All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend and watch student presentations.  Additionally, this year adds a new track focused on Invention, allowing students to highlight something they developed through the InventOR Statewide student invention program.

Preliminary rounds start at 9 a.m., lunch is 12:30 to 1:15 p.m., and the finals round is 1 to 3:30 p.m. The Invention round will take from from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.  A reception and announcement of winners takes place from 3:30 t0 4 p.m. Prizes include $1,250 for first place (for-profit and non-profit); $750 for second place (for-profit) and $250 for third place (for-profit). Sponsors include LivePlan, Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt, Klarquist Sparkman LLP,  AARP Foundation, Portland Business Journal, and the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN).

For more information contact Peter Rachor, Franz Center, at x7769 or rachor@up.edu.

$100K Venture Competition Results Are In

100K 2016The annual Franz Center $100K Venture Competition took place on Saturday, April 23, with a record number of 34 teams participating, according to Peter Rachor, Franz Center.

The winner in the Social Enterprise category was Pro Social, a web platform to help people find a volunteer organization that fits with their passions and interests, by Spencer Fovell and Ashley Lund.

Winners in the For-Profit category:

  • First Place: Sentri Performance, which developed an outdoor “hoodie” for snowboarding and outdoor pursuits, by Michael Williamson
  • Second Place: Doda Aroma Miracle Patches, aromatherapy patches for homeopathic healing, by David Govshtein
  • Third Place: Benefit Biscuits, handcrafted dog biscuits containing natural ingredients, by Chris Jordan.

The competition provides students with the opportunity to receive feedback from experts in the entrepreneurial community, win cash prizes, and acquire legal and other services that will help advance an idea to the next stage in the entrepreneurial process. Prizes included $1,250 for first place (for-profit and non-profit); $750 for second place (for-profit) and $250 for third place (for-profit). Sponsors included D&B, LivePlan, Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt, Domain.com, AARP, Portland Business Journal, and the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN).

For more information contact Peter Rachor, Franz Center, at rachor@up.edu.