Dream. Design. Dedicate BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION 2016 COMPETITION GUIDELINES 1
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Welcome to the African Innovation Prize Business Plan Competition again in 2016!! If you have an idea for a new venture or innovation, we can help you make it a reality. The African Innovation Prize started with a goal of encouraging entrepreneurship within African University students. AIP s business plan competition that was successfully launched in 2010 in partnership with the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Rwanda. We are now looking for YOU, new student entrepreneurs for 2016. Our goal is to unleash the entrepreneurial potential of students to develop their ideas, skills, and experiences through enterprise. Our business creation competition, along with training and mentoring events can take you from idea to business in under a year. You can enter in one or both stages of AIP s competition. Entering the AIP business plan competition is an excellent opportunity to benefit from: Chance to win cash prizes at each stage (Phase I and Phase II) Training in essential business skills Feedback on your business idea from world class judges Media exposure for your business idea Introduction to network of global entrepreneurs, investors and potential partners Students: this handbook is your guide to the competition process. If you have any questions, please get in touch at david@africaninnovationprize.org or info@africaninnovationprize.org 3
The Challenge You can enter one or both phases of the African Innovation Prize at the following colleges, University of Rwanda: College of Business and Economics College of Arts and Social Sciences College of Science and Technology College Agriculture and Veterinary science College of Medicine and Health sciences College of Education Akilah Institute for Women Phase 1: The Business Idea Challenge Phase 1 opens: Thursday, November 19 th, 2015 00:00am Phase 1 closes: Monday, February 29 th, 2016 11:59pm It is easy: just submit your idea in 250 words or less to start a business venture in Rwanda. The idea should be commercially viable solution to a problem you intend to solve. The challenge is to summarize what you want to say and get all the major points across in just one paragraph. There is no need to give away any private information a public summary is enough to win this challenge. Remember that business professionals and sponsors will see these summaries so a well-written entry is a great way to get yourself and your idea noticed. Method of Submission: Entries should be submitted online via the startup compete platform http://aiprwanda2016.startupcompete.co/ before 11.59pm on February 29 th, 2016. Within all the participating colleges, the 20 best ideas in this Business Idea Challenge round will each win a prize of 200,000 RWF to help them progress from idea to Business Plan. Phase 2: The Business Plan Challenge Phase 2 opens: Monday, March 14 th, 2016 00:00 am Phase 2 closes: Sunday, July 31 st, 2016 11:59pm Phase 2 is about developing the business opportunity and writing a full business plan for your idea in up to 2,000 words. You will need to clearly identify and quantify your market niche. You must build a team to make your idea happen. The Business Plan Competition Challenge rewards proposals that show practicality, financial viability in Rwanda and strong teams. Method of Submission: Entries should be submitted online via http://aiprwanda2016.startupcompete.co/ before 11.59pm on July 31 st, 2016. Seven successful teams or individuals from all the participating colleges will each win one prize of 2,000,000 RWF. 4
Competition Rules 1. Eligibility 1.1. All students at all levels of education and from the above stated colleges registered with the University of Rwanda and the Akilah Institute for Women for the year 2016 are eligible to enter. This includes visiting, exchange students and graduates that have been out of school for less than 12 months. 1.2. Other people that do not meet requirement 1.1 may join or form teams, provided that team leader who submits the entry meets requirement 1.1. For the business creation competition, it is understood that the winning team must, upon incorporation, have at least one member meeting requirement 1.1 as a director. 1.3. Competitors are encouraged to seek the involvement of faculty members, past winners, postdoctoral researchers and other staff. Multidisciplinary teams tend to do best. However, there are no restrictions on the size or composition of your competition team. 1.4. Teams that have already secured arrangements for capital from any source must disclose the amounts and sources clearly in their entries. Example sources of capital include cash generated from sales revenues or contracts, research grants and personal or family funds. 1.5. Entries must describe an entirely new business and/or a start-up. Projects within existing businesses are not eligible for entry, nor are executive summaries of already existing companies that have been in operations for more than 12 months. 1.6. All entries must be submitted in English, the official language of higher learning institutions in Rwanda. 1.7. Students may submit more than one entry per phase of competition. 2. Entry Fees There is no entry fee for any phase of the African Innovation Prize. 3. Content 3.1. All entries must be the original work of the entrants. 3.2. All entries must be factual. 3.3. Entries should be made with full understanding of University regulations on Intellectual Property Rights. It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that no third party, such as a research sponsor or another member of the University who participated in your research, has any rights on the contents which may prevent its exploitation. Proprietary information about the idea should not be disclosed in the public summary, posters, or presentations, as this information will be published (see rules 4.3 & 5.5). 3.4. Software related entries should make clear what parts of the software product have been created by the team. It is the responsibility of software team entrants to ensure they have acquired all necessary rights to the parts of the software product that are not the sole property of the entrants 5
4. Phase 1: The Business Idea Challenge 4.1. Entries should be submitted online via http://aiprwanda2016.startupcompete.co/ before the stated deadline. 4.2. Entries may be no more than 250 words in length. Entries longer than 250 words may be truncated without notice or consultation before being passed to judges. 4.3. Entries summaries may be circulated via press releases and AIP publications for promotional purposes. 5. Phase 2: The Business Planning Challenge 5.1. Entries should be submitted online via http://aiprwanda2016.startupcompete.co/ before the deadline. 5.2. Hard copies of the signed Disclaimer and Non Disclosure Agreement may be requested by AIP no later than 5.00pm the day after the deadline. 5.3. No entries will be accepted after the deadline. 5.4. Business plans should be a maximum of 2,000 words excluding text in financial statements. Keep in mind that the judges appreciate brevity and clarity. 5.5. An executive summary of no more than 250 words will be required as part of the submission. It may be circulated via press releases and AIP competition publications for promotional purposes. 5.6. Content beyond the 2,000 word limit for the business plan and the 250-word limit for the public summary will be disregarded. 5.7. Incomplete submissions with missing documents, incomplete fields or missing signatures will be rejected. 6. Judging 6.1. The judging panels of all of the competitions are coordinated by the African Innovation Prize team. The panels include seasoned entrepreneurs, business experts, members of our advisory board, an Akilah Entrepreneurship staff and the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development at CBE. They are highly experienced and respected members of the wider Rwandan entrepreneurial community and are under the coordination of AIP to ensure the impartiality of judging. 6.2. The judging panel reserves the right to disqualify any entry that, in its opinion, violates the letter or the spirit of the competition. 6.3. Judging criteria for Phase 1 and Phase 2 are available in this booklet. 6.4. All prizes are awarded at the discretion of the judging panel and the African Innovation Prize. 6.5. All judging decisions are final and not subject to appeal. 6
7. Prizes 7.1. Prize money awarded to the winning teams must be claimed in installments linked to agreed milestones in creating the business. Prize money will only initially be released to business registered with appropriate local authorities. Further terms and conditions of cash prizes are presented to the winners after winning. 7.2. Judges reserve the right not to award a prize if no prize worthy entries are available. 8. Entry Confidentiality 8.1. All judges with access to the entries will sign a non disclosure agreement. 9. Intellectual Property Protection 9.1. The African Innovation Prize, its sponsors and the organizers of the business ideas and creation competitions have taken reasonable measures to ensure the confidentiality of your entries. 9.2. The sponsors of AIP and the judges of the competitions include organizations and individuals that work with entrepreneurs and invest in their ideas. Sponsors, judges and mentors will agree to a confidentiality agreement which extends for 12 months after the public announcement of the competition winners. 9.3. The African Innovation Prize cannot, and will not, take further responsibility to protect the intellectual property or other rights of the entrants. 9.4. The protection of intellectual property or other rights of the entrants is the ultimate responsibility of each entrant. Entrants are urged to mark as confidential any portion of their entries that they consider to be confidential. Entrants should take care about disclosing any patentable concepts in the entries. 9.5. Entrants looking to incorporate are strongly advised to seek professional advice on the issues surrounding Intellectual Property Rights. 9.6. Please also refer to the Intellectual Property Guide on the following pages. 7
Phase 1 Judging Criteria Clarity of Market Each entry will be judged independently by 3 judges. They will be graded between 0 and 5 The highest score an entry can score is 15 Weak = 1 Weak to Moderate = 2 Moderate = 3 Moderate to Strong = 4 Strong = 5 Competitive Position Product or Service Reality Presentation Vague unsubstantiated assertions about market size and growth rate. Poor description of existing competitors. No obvious reason for continued growth. No defensible/sustainable position. Unclear how product will work or what value it gives the customer. Rambling structure, missing information, typographical errors. Adequate description of market, size and growth rate with limited factual support. Adequate coverage of existing competitors, some issues on competitive edge, defensibility / sustainability. Convincing story on how product will work but limited idea of future generations. All concepts clearly presented and reader can follow easily. Thorough fact-based description of market, size and growth rate based on direct experience. Existing competitors described. Clear edge for the proposed team. Defensible / sustainable position. Convincing story of how the product will work and capability of diversifying into new areas. Well-organized. No irrelevant sections, no careless errors, all claims are supported. 8
Phase 2 Judging Criteria The entrepreneur Clarity of Market Each entry will be judged independently by 3 judges. They will be graded between 0 and 5 The highest score an entry can score is 15 Weak = 1 Weak to Moderate = 2 Moderate = 3 Moderate to Strong = 4 Vague reference to their passions, inspiration and rationale for starting. No reference to wider team involved. Vague unsubstantiated assertions about market size and growth rate. Adequate mention of passions and inspiration for starting. Brief mention of wider team involved. Adequate description of market, size and growth rate with limited factual support. Strong = 5 Thorough and clear reference to rationale for starting, linked to personal passions, back up by strong team. Thorough fact-based description of market, size and growth rate based on direct experience. Competitive Position Product or Service Reality Potential for impact Poor description of existing competitors. No obvious reason for continued growth. No defensible/sustainable position. Unclear how product will work or what value it gives the customer. Vague reference to the potential economic or social impact that the venture can have. Adequate coverage of existing competitors, some issues on competitive edge, defensibility / sustainability. Convincing story on how product will work but limited idea of future generations. Makes reference to the potential for social and economic impact but not fully tangible. Existing competitors described. Clear edge for the proposed team. Defensible / sustainable position. Convincing story of how the product will work and capability of diversifying into new areas. The potential for social and economic impact is very clear and tangible. Financial planning & considerations Very little, incoherent or no financial information included in conjunction with the plan Financial plan and additional information is included, but is somewhat limited. Financial plan and additional information is clear, and realistic. Presentation Rambling structure, missing information, typographical errors. All concepts clearly presented and reader can follow easily. Well-organized. No irrelevant sections, no careless errors, all claims are supported. 9
Intellectual Property Guide Introduction Intellectual property covers a range of topics including patents, copyright (for example in software), trade secrets, database rights and design rights. Some rights are protectable through registration, such as patents and design rights, and some are automatic, such as copyright. Patent protection is often very important to technology-based companies and this sheet looks at some of the basic issues involved in obtaining patent protection, and ownership of intellectual property within the University. Should I Think About Patents? The following is a basic rule-of-thumb guide as to whether or not your idea should be investigated further for patent protection. Answer yes or no to the following questions. Is it novel? If it has been made public in any way (e.g. through a conference paper, poster, publication, abstract or public talk, including on the internet) then it is no longer novel, but some countries do benefit from a grace period allowing 6 or 12 months for filing a patent application after a disclosure by the inventor(s). Is it inventive? If your idea is obvious to someone knowledgeable in the field then it may not be inventive. Does your idea have industrial utility? You cannot patent something that does not have an identifiable use. If you have answered yes to all of the above questions then it is worthwhile asking the advice of a patent expert. You should also check the University policy on IP to ensure that you are entitled to exploit your idea. Exceptions There are a few classes of invention that cannot be patented: Discoveries Scientific theories Mathematical formulae Surgical procedures Plant or animal varieties Business scheme It may be possible to protect these classes of invention in other ways. In addition to the usual scientific abstract databases there are websites that allow you to search published patent applications. If you are a member of staff, its provisions do affect the ownership of intellectual property that you create and you cannot assume that you can use it freely. The ownership of IP created by students is a complex issue and depends on a number of factors. Staff and students should ask themselves these questions: Might the idea be covered in any way by contractual obligations undertaken by the University e.g. through research grants, collaboration, studentships or material transfer agreements? Might the idea be pulling on the intellectual property of others in the department, or make significant use of departmental facilities? 10
If you are a graduate student, are there relevant terms in your studentship or research contract? If you have answered yes to any of the above questions then it is worthwhile asking the advice of your professors. Co-Inventors Consider carefully whether anyone else has been involved in the invention. Is there anyone else who could legitimately say that they have made an intellectual input to the invention? This means that they have been more than a pair of hands doing what was instructed, but actually contributed intellectually, making an inventive contribution. If so, then again you should consult your university team. You need to establish whether a co inventor who is not part of your team could have rights which would affect your ability to exploit your idea. Contact: For further details and/or inquiries about this competition handbook, please feel free to contact the African Innovation Prize s team at the following address: African Innovation Prize BHC Building KG7 Ave, 3 RD Floor Kigali, Rwanda +250-788-498-661 info@africaninnovationprize.org www.africaninnovationprize.org African Innovation Prize @AIPrize 11