Twenty-five teams of Penn students have a shot at $20,000 and a promising career in business.
The Wharton Business Plan Competition, a "testing ground" for young entrepreneurs, recently announced the semifinalist teams that will compete for its $20,000 grand prize.
The competition consists of several rounds and workshops held throughout the year. Over 150 participants submit business ideas and plans and receive feedback from a panel of judges composed of successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
The participants are then judged based on three categories -- the ingenuity of the idea, the company's financial projections and the execution plan.
The competition culminates in April, when the winners of first, second and third place are announced.
Among this year's semifinalists are IntuiTouch, Inc., a company that sells over-the-counter breast cancer detection devices, and Fitness in Motion, a train car outfitted with a luxury gym.
One company, IntelliStems, is working on a prosthetic hip replacement which will outlast those currently being used by 50 to 100 percent.
Teams are composed of students from across the University, which adds to the diversity of the products produced, organizers said.
Students form teams through a variety of means, including WBPC mixers and an online network where potential participants can post their skills.
According to Megan Mitchell, the associate director for Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs, performing well in the competition "carries a lot of weight."
"Winning the competition means that the participants had one of the best ideas coming from one of the best schools in the country," Mitchell said.
In fact, several of the competition's past participants have gone on to create successful businesses using their plans --including PayMyBills.com, a Web site which enables users to pay bills online.
Eliot Jarrett, a Wharton senior and a former finalist in the WBPC, said that he gained more than just money from the competition.
Jarrett hopes to turn his business plan, which proposes a software product that improves the production of 3-D animation, into a successful business.
According to Jarrett, the competition allowed him to see "how the different puzzle pieces of business fit together."
"I learned more from the competition than I did in any singular class I've taken in school," he said.
