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What is the John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge?
The John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge is Australia's premier new venture competition for tertiary students. It is an initiative designed to enhance the quality of entrepreneurship education, to increase the rate of success for new ventures and to extend national and international networks for young entrepreneurs and educators.
University-based teams of up to five members prepare a bona-fide business plan and present to a group of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and CEOs. These teams vie to win the right to represent Australia and compete in Global MOOT CORP® Competition, as well as to receive cash prizes and consulting services, to assist commercialisation of their business.
THE John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge is founded on the academic integrity of the entrepreneurship educational programs of participating schools. It aims to:
- Allow the participants to win a package of prizes as seed funding for their start up venture.
- Improve entrepreneurial education in graduate business schools.
- Allow benchmarking against demonstrated best practice.
- Give participants valuable insight into the merit of their business plans via critical analysis by experienced investors.
- Provide participants with the opportunity to make important contacts with members of the business and educational community.
In 2010, the competition will be hosted by the Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre at the University of Adelaide in partnership with QUT on 9 & 10 December.
The John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge and its predecessor, MOOT CORP® Australia, is an incubator for new business. The winners and many other competing teams almost invariably proceed to commercialisation of their product. Plasvacc, the winner of the 2003 competition, is commercialising their canine plasma product in the USA. 2002 winning venture, ZORK, a wine sealant technology, raised $3,000,000 in private equity investment in the 10 months prior to November 2003. The product was successfully launched in the global market place (in Australia, USA, London, Europe), and has achieved first sales with production orders exceeding capacity. In addition, many past individual MOOT CORP participants have become venture capital managers, CEO's and senior managers.
Global MOOT CORP®
The John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge is a preliminary competition for the Global MOOT CORP® Competition which is held annually at the University of Texas at Austin, USA, and attracts entries from over 30 of the world's best business schools from Australia, Asia, United States, Europe and South America. The winning Australian team receives automatic right of entry. Over the past decade Australian teams have excelled in the international competition, winning through to the final round seven times and winning overall three times.