Competition Details
The 27th Harvard Business School Africa Business Conference hosts the New Venture Competition, once again, to showcase the diversity of entrepreneurs making a difference on the continent. The competition will be held Friday evening February 14th, 2025.
The application form will be open on the conference website from October 17th, 2024 to November 12th, 2024. The deadline for submission is 11:59pm EST on Sunday, November 12, 2024.
From the pool of applications, 10 finalists will be invited to pitch their business in front of over 1,000 attendees and receive feedback from a panel of experienced judges. The competition winner and runner-up, and third place will be awarded cash prizes - the most recent edition of the competition awarded cash prizes of $55,000 in total for the winners.
NVC finalists will have the opportunity to get feedback advice and input from Harvard MBA candidates and investors as mentors before the live competition.
Please feel free to contact hbs.abcconference@gmail.com for any questions or clarifications.
Team Eligibility
- All African and Africa-focused entrepreneurs with businesses focused on shaping Africa's future.
- Early stage startups (for-profit or not-for-profit)
- Africa-focused with a majority or all of its operations in Africa
- Less than 5 years in operation
- Raised less than $1,000,000 in funding to date
Evaluation
The Competition is about assessing the commercial merit and potential viability of each proposed new venture. The judges will evaluate its potential for economic success and the likelihood of achieving that success based upon the team's plan, experience, and the validation of key assumptions and a clear and convincing presentation of the following:
- The Team (relevance to problem/breadth/depth of skills; ability to execute)
- The Problem (what is it, how painful is it, who is facing it?)
- The Solution (product or service? technology or more analog? has it been done before?)
- The Context & Opportunity (timing, market size/need, ability to penetrate, strong value proposition and business model, regulatory/tax/political and industry context)
- Go-to-Market Strategy - (who is your target customer, how will you acquire and scale?)
- Competitive Landscape - (competitors, Barriers to Entry, Differentiation)
- Risks & Unknowns - (how will you mitigate risks and test assumptions?)
- Financials (How will you generate revenue in the short to longer term? what is your model?)
- Traction & Execution (What have you done so far and still need to do in terms of testing, validation, and growth hypothesis as well as defined milestones)
Timeline
- Application Opens: October 17, 2024
- Deadline to be considered for HBS MBA Candidate Advisory: November 1, 2024
- Application Closes: November 12, 2024
- Finalists Announced: December 15, 2024
- ABC New Venture Competition: February 14, 2025
Naturally, the more concrete the plan, the better. Teams that have proven technology, recruited partners or even attracted "beta" customers may raise their chances of success. On the other hand, strong early stage ideas that have yet to be launched but have been thought through and tested will be well-received and considered based on their standalone potential and the team's ability to execute. For the applicant/entrepreneur, the chance to learn and the process of defining a strong idea and business model, testing assumptions, and making a compelling pitch about the viability of a new venture will be invaluable.
For more information, visit: 2025 Harvard Business School Africa Business
0 Comments