NewSpace Business Plan Competition Prepares for Most Impactful Event Yet in 2016
The industry-renowned NewSpace Business Plan Competition (“BPC”) announced today that it will adopt a 2 year competition cycle, in order to expand its offerings of industry resources, support and coaching to the competing and winning teams. With the next competition occurring in 2016, the longer cycle will encourage more in-depth interactions with competition sponsors, allowing competing teams to benefit from deeper industry relationships.
“Since its inception in 2007, the BPC has offered coaching and mentorship services by industry veterans to competing teams prior to the final pitch round in the form of our yearly Boot Camp,” said NewSpace BPC Competition Director, Thomas A. Olson, “We’ve received such overwhelmingly positive feedback on the value of this coaching, that we have decided to extend our competition cycle to offer increasing levels of support and resources to our entrepreneurs.”
The NewSpace BPC 2016 is quickly progressing, with competition specifics being announced at this years’ NewSpace Conference (July 16 – 18, 2015 at DoubleTree in San Jose, CA – visit www.newspace.spacefrontier.org).
“The time between finalist selection and the final pitch round has historically been about two months,” said Space Frontier Foundation Chairman Jeff Feige, “By increasing that time frame to 6 months, we will have that much longer to prepare our competitors for the investment process, increasing their chances of success. Our primary goal has always been to create a robust entrepreneurial sector in the space industry, and we feel the utility of the competition will be greatly improved by fostering and incubating a large number of companies throughout a longer competition cycle.”
The entry deadline for Newspace BPC 2016 will likely be in early 2016. Finalists will be announced soon after, and the final, ‘Shark Tank’-style pitch round will occur in July 2016, at the annual NewSpace Conference. Over this 6 month timeframe, finalists will be provided unprecedented access to mentors and specialists and have the opportunity to participate in online workshops. After the 2016 final pitch round, the NewSpace BPC team will help the winners further prepare for investor interactions, including introductions to sponsors, potential investors and BPC supporting organizations. In July 2017 the NewSpace BPC team will call for new entries, and the cycle will restart with the next group of promising space entrepreneurs.
In place of BPC presentations at NewSpace 2015, this years’ conference will include panels focused on entrepreneurial and investment opportunities, featuring some of the most well known and interesting space industry success stories. Additional resources for both entrepreneurs and investors will be available on the BPC website, www.NewSpaceBPC.com, in coordination with further announcements. In the meantime, please join us in July at NewSpace 2015 by registering at www.newspace.spacefrontier.org.
About NewSpace Business Plan Competition
Established in 2007 by the Space Frontier Foundation and led by Thomas A. Olson, Founding Partner of Exodus Consulting Group, the NewSpace Business Plan Competition is the premiere space start-up event, connecting entrepreneurs with established industry mentors and resources. Chosen competitors attend a private, 2-day, Boot Camp session, and make a final pitch to investors at the annual NewSpace conference where a winner is announced. To become a sponsor or support the BPC please contact Meagan Crawford at Meagan.Crawford. For more information visit www.NewSpaceBPC.com.
About the Space Frontier Foundation
The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization of people dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible. Our goals include protecting the Earth’s fragile biosphere and creating a freer and more prosperous life for each generation by using the unlimited energy and material resources of space. Our purpose is to unleash the power of free enterprise and lead a united humanity permanently into the Solar System. For more information visit www.spacefrontier.org. Find out more about the annual NewSpace conference at www.Newspace.Spacefrontier.org.
Media Contacts:
Alexandra Abrams
Space Frontier Foundation
(925) 918-0081, alexandra.abrams@spacefrontier.org
