Carbon Venture 2022

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This is a guide to all things Carbon Venture 2022

Carbon Venture 2022 Overview

Venture College,  and the Institute for Pervasive Cybersecurity are excited to offer the first Carbon Venture Competition, with $20,000 in prize money.

Participants will choose a problem statement provided by our industry partners, and form interdisciplinary teams to propose solutions to that problem. These teams will compete for cash prizes as they solve critical carbon & sustainability issues. At the same time, they will be building a viable venture for themselves and making helpful connections to mentors and industry leaders.

Sprint Week

The Venture College will lead participants through a week-long sprint to test, validate, and launch their venture. Teams will be working with industry experts, business leaders, and mentors to help them craft their venture and pitch.

Pitch Competition

The Carbon Venture Challenge will culminate with a pitch competition. Judges include industry experts, entrepreneurs, and investors, providing connections to a network that will last well beyond this competition.

Finals Pitch Competition

The top four teams will pitch for cash prizes during this year’s Boise Entrepreneur Week.

Prize Money

The following prizes will be awarded:

• 1st place - $10,000

• 2nd Place - $5,000

• 3rd Place - $3,000

• Other small awards may be granted.

Problems Statements

If you already have a venture or solution that addresses carbon reduction or sustainability, you are allowed to use it for your this competition. Otherwise, you can use the following problem statements as an inspiration for a starting point:

High Level Problem: How can you help Boise State reduce it’s sustainability score?

Boise State recently scored at 48.87 (out of 100) for it’s sustainability performance. They are looking to improve their score in the near-term; however, secondary education and institutions can be deathly slow - especially if it requires multi-departmental approval, size-able budget, or new resources.

We suggest your solution offers the following:

• Little to no budget. You could suggest re-allocating costs to fund your idea, but we suggest not trying to increase the existing budget.

• Boise State is especially interested in spreading awareness amongst students - with the intentions of changing students' behaviors and habits.

Specific Problems

Problem Selection Tips

Important Dates & Schedule

Tentative and subject to slight changes.

• Out of Town Check-In: 3:00-5:00

• IEC Teams Dinner and Introduction: 6:00-7:00

• Pitch Practice: 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Schedule for Thursday, April 7th

Tentative and subject to slight changes.

• Pitch Competition: 9:00-1:00

  • Your team will pitch 3 separate times to 3 different groups of judges

• JUMP Slides Open for Students: 1:00-2:00

• Lunch: 1:00-3:00

• Tabletop Presentation (mini-tradeshow feel): 3:30-4:30

• Awards Ceremony and Final Pitch Competition: 4:30-6:30

Tips & Suggestions

1. We encourage participants to work on interdisciplinary teams, and to look beyond their own institution to find the right partners for their team.

2. Venture College will help match students to teams when the program begins. If you don’t have a team in mind, not to worry, as we will help!

Main Contacts

Beyond your university or college’s coach, we are here to help you with any questions.

Schedule for Wednesday, April 6th

Tentative and subject to slight changes.

• Out of Town Check-In: 3:00-5:00

• IEC Teams Dinner and Introduction: 6:00-7:00

• Pitch Practice: 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Schedule for Thursday, April 7th

Tentative and subject to slight changes.

• Pitch Competition: 9:00-1:00

  • Your team will pitch 3 separate times to 3 different groups of judges

• JUMP Slides Open for Students: 1:00-2:00

• Lunch: 1:00-3:00

• Tabletop Presentation (mini-tradeshow feel): 3:30-4:30

• Awards Ceremony and Final Pitch Competition: 4:30-6:30

Items We Need From You by March 15th

• Company logo

• Brief company description

• 20-30 Second intro video

• Provide a headshot or photo of your team that will be appropriate for social media and our program

• Sign and return the photo release form

Other Deliverables Needed Before the Competition

• Minimally schedule at least 1 pitch practice with Ryan Vasso or Nic Miller from the Venture College team (we recommend more than 1)

• Schedule a logistics-walkthrough with Cara Van Sant

• Completed Pitch Deck sent to Cara Van Sant

  • Files need to be in PPT or link to Google Slides.

Pitch Details

• All pitches will be 4 minutes or less

• Pitch decks will need to be sent to Cara Van Sant prior to April 6th

• Please follow the general pitch-deck outline

  • Please note the template is merely a suggested guide You may:

    • Change the order of the slides

    • Brand the slides with different colors, titles, etc.

  • No videos are allowed in the slides

• Pitches will be followed up with a Q&A session with judges for 4 minutes or less

• If your team has multiple members, it is not required that they all present during the 4 minutes. It’s your choice.

• Each team will pitch three times during the pitch off. If you take 1st place in your track, you will pitch one more time (against the other track winners) in the Final Pitch Competition.

Scoring Rubric

IEC places a heavy emphasis on companies that are progressing and show traction (i.e. not simply an idea competition). Pitches will be scored on six criteria sections:

1. How well do they understand and address the market and/or customer segment they are going after?

2. Do they have any uniqueness or competitive advantages that would make them more likely to succeed?

3. How much progress/traction have they demonstrated?

4. How likely is the team to launch their idea into the market within the next 3-6 months?

5. How realistic is their business model (including costs/financials, etc.)

6. How was the overall quality of their pitch presentation and Q&A performance?

Pitch Resources

1. Keep your slides simple, with minimal words. You are doing the presenting, not your slides. See pitch deck examples.

2. See examples IEC Finalists Pitches in IEC 2019

3. IEC 2019 - Door Step

4. IEC 2020 - Karmic Outdoors

5. IEC 2020 - CatheterX

6. IEC 2021 - Cargo Made-EZ

7. IEC 2021 - Honu Systems

8. IEC 2021 - 3D Printcess

Table Top Presentation

Between the normal pitching rounds and the finals' pitch-off, each team will stand and present at your table top presentation. There will be two teams to a table. You may decorate or add visuals to your half of the table as you would like, including:

• Banners

• Poster board

• Flyers

• Demo of a physical Prototype

Here are pictures from the 2019 Table Top presentation:

2022 Tracks & Teams