Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Babson Entrepreneurs

B.E.T.A. Challenge 2018: What You Need to Know Now

2017 B.E.T.A. Challenge Undergraduate Finalists

Want to win $20,000 for your venture?

Now in its seventh year, the Blank Center’s B.E.T.A. Challenge recognizes major milestones Babson businesses have achieved by taking action. Winners of the graduate, undergraduate, and alumni B.E.T.A. Challenge each win a grand prize of $20,000 in cash plus​ “services in kind” donations from corporate sponsors respectively. In addition, $2,500 is awarded to the two other finalist ventures in each of the three competitions.

What you need to know now to apply
We go into detail about the eligibility and guidelines to apply to the B.E.T.A. Challenge on our website, but here are a few things you should know now:

  • The B.E.T.A. Challenge is open to:
    • All Babson students that were enrolled fall 2017 or spring 2018
    • Any alumni with an undergraduate and/or graduate degree from Babson.
    • Olin College of Engineering or Wellesley College venture that is in the John E. and Alice L. Butler Launch Pad and has submitted a participation agreement.
  • If you’re a student, you will need a faculty sponsor. The deadline to submit your faculty sponsor through our submission site is Tuesday, January 30 at 12pm EST. All we need from you is your professor’s name and email. The responsibilities of a faculty sponsor can be found online.
  • The deadline to apply is Friday, February 9 at 12pm EST. Our submission requirements are:
    • Faculty sponsor (if applicable)
    • Executive Summary—two page limit in .doc, .docx or .pdf format.
    • Slide deck—maximum 10 slides in .pptx, .ppt or .pdf format. The 10 slide limit includes cover slide. The slide deck must cover the following; emphasis will be placed on actions taken to date, tasks completed, and the steps to move the venture forward:
      • Description of venture
      • Industry represented
      • Target market, include market analysis
      • Value proposition
      • Backgrounds/roles of team member(s)
      • Milestones completed to date (i.e. completed feasibility study, created website, etc.)
      • Timeline of future goals.
      • Overall potential of opportunity (i.e. has economic and/or social growth potential, can be self-sustainable in current market, can generate revenues from potential/existing customers, etc.)

Not interested in applying to the B.E.T.A. Challenge? There are other ways to get involved:

Participate as an alumni evaluator
If you are an alum of Babson, you can participate in the evaluation process from February 15 through March 1! All of our alumni evaluators review and score each of our applications online. Selected faculty will review the top applicants from the alumni evaluations and will narrow down to the top six semifinalists at the undergraduate, graduate and alumni track. Sign up now to be an evaluator >>

Attend the Venture Expo (B.E.T.A. Challenge semifinals) on April 4
Set up as a fair, you can meet the semifinalists of the B.E.T.A. Challenge face-to-face starting at 4:30pm on Wednesday, April 4 on the ground floor of Olin Hall. Each semifinalist will have a booth where they will display their businesses and chat one-on-one with attendees, including our anonymous judges. As an attendee of the Venture Expo, you get to vote for your favorite undergraduate, graduate and alum business with our entrepreneuros!

Attend the B.E.T.A. Challenge finals on April 12
Our finalists will present in front of a panel of judges on Thursday, April 12. Our distinguished judges will decide who are the winners of the undergraduate, graduate and alumni B.E.T.A. Challenge. We’re excited that we will be changing the format of the finals this year. We don’t want to spoil the surprise now, so save the date; this is an event you don’t want to miss.

Follow all things B.E.T.A. Challenge on our website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, #babsonbeta.