Churchill College Enterprise Competition 2023 Terms & Conditions
In line with the College’s founding mission, the Churchill College Enterprise Competition exists in order to promote and encourage entrepreneurship and mentoring. It is open to all areas of endeavour, be it social, business, scientific or technological. It is run by Churchill College for the benefit of Churchillians.
Prizes
Best business idea to address a UN-SDG.
“Best” encompasses that considered by the judges to be the most innovative and likely to succeed
- £2,000 prize.
- +£1000 value 1st year accounting support, sponsored by S&Tbookkeeping*
This is support like actually registering your business!
Additional prizes:
- £500 Best Pitch
- £500 for the best utilisation of team diversity
All competition finalists:
- one-to-one mentoring support during the competition
- the potential to access ongoing ”in-kind’ investment (advice, networking, mentoring etc) by Board members, depending on the quality and nature of your entry
*Churchill Alum, Dimitrios Alafouzos runs Welland Orwell, a growing firm of Chartered Accountants. They are offering their services free for a year to the business that will be set up to run the venture of the winner at the Enterprise competition. Conditions apply. Equivalent to c.£1000 value, for the winning team. This is all you need to get your venture up and running, including advice on registering your company, so you can focus on innovating.
Eligibility
The competition is open to Churchill College’s current students, both JCR and MCR; Junior Research Fellows; PDBF and Churchill alumni. Entries will be accepted from both individuals and teams. Teams must include at least one member who satisfies the eligibility requirements for individual entries. Prospective entrants are invited to contact the enterprise programme organiser by emailing: rachel.thorley@chu.cam.ac.uk if they have any questions.
Stage 1: Training and Networking
All are welcome to attend all training and networking events, regardless of intention to enter the competition. Equally, attending training is not a prerequisite for entering the competition. We hope that both will be valuable experiences in different ways and encourage you to take full advantage of all training opportunities offered. Full details of all the opportunities are advertised on the Enterprise 2023 website.
Stage 1: Submission
Entry will be via Google Form Google Form submission by the submission deadline of Friday 24 March 2023, midnight.
The entry form consists of a few questions about your prospective company, and the option to upload a supporting document of either 1 A4 page PDF, or a 1 minute video. The questions contained in the form can be read at the end of this page
Stage 2: shortlisting
All valid entries will be assessed and a shortlist of up to 8 entries will be selected to progress to the final round of the competition.
The competition organisers will assign a mentor to each of the shortlisted contestant entries. When approached by the shortlisted entrants, the assigned mentor will provide advice and guidance to assist preparation for the final round of the competition.
Stage 3: Final
The final will be held at Churchill College, Cambridge on 23/3/23, 5-7pm. This will be an open event and open for any members of Churchill’s community to attend. The date will be finalised depending on Judges’ availability.
Each of the shortlisted competitors will be invited to give a 5 minute presentation, with 5 minutes Q&A from the Board.
Optional: 1 slide maximum. If you wish to present a slide, then this must be submitted in advance. Details of required format and submission will be circulated to shortlisted entrants.
The final presentations are to be delivered in person by either the individual or member(s) of the team making the entry.
Key dates
Contact
Notes
- The decision of the judges is final. No correspondence will be entered into regarding their decisions
- The judges will select the winning entry based on a combination of the final presentation and the initial submission.
- Entry to the Cambridge Enterprise competition, or any similar event, does not preclude entry to this competition
- There is no limit on the number of entries an individual or team may make, provided that each entry represents a fundamentally different idea
- Please note that all finalists may be contacted by Churchill College post-competition to request an update on your enterprise story. This may be used for marketing purposes.
- Networking with free refreshments provided at the final pitching event. After this event all participants including entrants, attendees and judges will be invited to formal hall. Booking of this is in the normal way via the college website.
- All competition finalists will be invited to dine in College with the judging panel and competition sponsors
- By entering the competition participants consent to their preferred contact details being shared with the competition headline sponsor, unless they advise otherwise
- By participating in this competition or attending any of the associated events, you acknowledge that images may be captured using digital photography, video or other medium and may be used by Churchill College to promote the organisation and its work, or other future events via the college websites, social media websites and other publicity material (such as internal and external newsletters).
