The Venture Capital Investment Competition® began in the middle of the technology bubble in 1998 as an educational event for MBAs to learn about venture funding. Now in its 11^th year, through good times and bad in the venture industry, VCIC® has evolved into a marketplace for entrepreneurs seeking investors and a training ground for future venture capitalists. In 2008, VCIC included 40 events in North America, Europe and Asia, and served 500 students, 150 venture capitalists and 100 entrepreneurs. The program is akin to a network of mini-venture fairs, wherein about a quarter of the entrepreneurs who present go on to raise venture funding.

At the core of the event is a creative turn of the tables. Unlike business plan competitions in which students pitch their own ideas to investors, at VCIC the students are the investors, and real entrepreneurs pitch to them. It is a very powerful learning experience for both parties. Add to the mix a dozen VC judges, and you have what the VCIC website describes as a "win-win-win." Students learn (and win cash), entrepreneurs connect with investors and VCs get an early peek at some viable deals.

How viable? About 25% go on to raise venture capital after participating at VCIC, remarkable considering that most of these events occurred post-bubble, including a dismal one-out-of-30 in 2002. At the finals, 2 of 5 go on to get funded.

The organizers of VCIC are quick to point out that the mission of the program is educational, not commercial, and none of the deals are known to have been initiated at a VCIC event. "We’re not in the business of playing dealmaker," comments VCIC director Patrick Vernon from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. "We are focused on teaching students about financing new ventures, and the most effective way to do that is to expose them to the best deals and investors. Lucky for us, the best entrepreneurs and VCs like to meet each other, too."

And the students also like meeting the VCs. Many of the competitors aspire to become venture capitalists, a dream that is difficult if not impossible to fulfill. Nonetheless, quite a few have achieved it. Six VCIC alumni have gone on to participate in the prestigious Kauffman Fellows Program, working in VC firms from Silicon Valley to Munich, Germany. A dozen VCIC alumni working in VC, headed by Don Herzog from the 2000 Carnegie Mellon championship team, organized a new alumni prize money fund in 2006, then came to the finals to deliver the 2nd place prize money check. "I have been back to judge the finals every year since I competed as a student," commented Herzog, who currently works at Bluegrass Growth Fund. VCIC has even had individuals play all three roles in different years: competed one year as a student, got a job at a VC firm and returned as a judge, then went on to start a new company and came back to pitch. (For the record, it is most fun being a judge.)

What began as an experiment in 1998 at UNC in response to the bubble of business plan competitions popping up at most business schools, VCIC has grown into a virtual venture job fair and marketplace. In 2008 the program will include eight regional and 30 single-school events in North America, Europe and Asia. World-wide, 50 top business schools will participate. The program culminates every April in Chapel Hill, NC, with the International Finals, where the winning teams take home $10,000 in prize money. 

If you would like to get involved with VCIC, regional events run from January to April and will be held in Boston, Silicon Valley, New York, Los Angeles, London, Charlottesville, Boulder and Chapel Hill. To learn more, go to www.vcic.org and click on the corresponding link for students, entrepreneurs, VCs or Sponsors, or contact Patrick Vernon at (919) 962-9257 or  

For more information about programs offered by the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at UNC’s Kenan–Flagler Business School, please visit our website .