Global New Venture Challenge (GNVC)

The Polsky Center works in conjunction with the Chicago Booth Executive MBA office to manage the GNVC. The program is divided into three phases, which are outlined below.

• Phase I: Current Chicago Booth Executive MBA students will apply to the GNVC with a feasibility summary. The feasibility summary is the application for the GNVC.
• Phase II: Accepted companies will participate in local programming, mentorship, and feedback opportunities (resources will vary by region). Phase II will conclude with a regional semi-finals event, where top team(s) from each campus will be selected to advance as finalists to Phase III. Each region will send at least one finalist team, based on the number of applicants.
• Phase III: The program will culminate in Chicago during graduation week where finalist teams from each region will pitch in front of a world-class panel of investors and established entrepreneurs. Last year’s prize money totaled $150,000.

• Only second-year Executive MBA students are eligible to apply for the Global New Venture Challenge.
• Entries must be the original work of the entrants and have commercial promise.
  • Each GNVC team must have a minimum of two second-year Executive MBA students per team and a maximum of six second-year Executive MBA students per team. Applicants may not have raised more than $500k of outside investment (angel or VC) at the time of application (personal investments do not apply to this cap).
  • First-year Executive MBA students may participate in an advisory role and attend class, but will not receive credit for the course.
• Teams whose founding members are unaffiliated with Chicago Booth are only eligible to apply to the GNVC if they have a current Chicago Booth second-year Executive MBA student as an integral part of their team, with a 10% equity stake in the venture.
  • Teams may have members who are not affiliated with the Chicago Booth participate on their teams. The Polsky Center encourages teams to identify these individuals, as they likely contribute additional expertise and experience to help the team succeed.
  • No late submissions will be accepted.