CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition -- the world's premier business plan competition -- today announced the launch of a new, first-ever video pitch contest called "YouPitch". The competition invites students from around the world to submit a 60-second video clip of a business plan pitch, and to upload it onto YouTube. The winner will be announced on May 11th.
The contest is the latest evolution of MIT's renowned $100K competition, an annual program, founded in 1989, that provides aspiring entrepreneurs with the resources, network and learning opportunities needed to start successful ventures. To date, over 150 companies have been launched out of the MIT $100k, generating over $16Bn in market value, and currently employing 4,600+ people. Last year the $100K competition launched the Twitter-based “Twitch” contest, which attracted contestants from 13 countries and reached a global audience of nearly 300,000 people.
For this year's YouTube contest, students are asked to film a 60 second “elevator” pitch for an innovative business idea. Contestants are encouraged to use their social networks to promote their videos and solicit as many YouTube ‘likes’ and Twitter ‘re-tweets’ as possible. The three "YouPitches" voted most popular as of May 1st will make it to through to a final round of judging. The winner will then be awarded a $2,000 cash prize and invited to the May 11th $100K Business Plan finale show that will take place in Cambridge, MA.
“The MIT $100K has inspired hundreds of MIT students to start innovative companies” says Kourosh Kaghazian, MIT $100K’s Managing Director. “We are excited to provide a platform for students from across the globe to participate.”
Additional information -- including guidelines for how to submit a pitch -- can be found at www.mit100k.org/contests/youpitch.
Videos will be linked to via the MIT $100k’s Twitter feed (@mit100k) and Facebook page (facebook.com/mit100k) once uploaded onto YouTube.