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Statewide competition seeks new business ideas
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
The South Carolina Research Authority, along with FastTracSC and South Carolina’s Council on Competitiveness, launched a statewide idea competition for all South Carolinians at the recent InnoVenture forum.
The competition, titled “New Ideas for a New Carolina,” is designed to help individuals develop an entrepreneurial idea at the earliest stage and fill in the gap between the initial business concept and the bank or venture capital plans.
“We’re excited about sponsoring this competition,” said Jim Stritzinger, executive vice president and general manager of the SCRA’s Public Interest Research division. “We believe it’s important to help promote entrepreneurial endeavors, and this is a good way to help generate new ideas.”
Stritzinger said the contest is designed to promote change and innovation at a grassroots level and to encourage entrepreneurship throughout South Carolina.
“We hope the competition will bring together entrepreneurs with venture capital firms, banks, businesses, government and education leaders,” he said.
The official launch of the competition was at the InnoVenture event at the end of March. Since then, more than 200 entries were received from 23 counties across the state, including 26% from Greenville, 17% from Charleston, 16% from Richland, 12% from Spartanburg, 6% from Lexington and 5% from Horry.
Of those entries, 50 finalists were selected and have been invited to the ThinkTEC Summit on May 8.
The top five winning ideas will be announced at the summit and will receive $1,000 cash and a scholarship to the FastTrac, the comprehensive educational program that provides entrepreneurs with business insights, leadership skills and professional networking connections. The winners will also be assigned a “dream team” of mentors that will help them cultivate their ideas.
The entries will be judged by various South Carolina leaders from angel capital groups, businesses, nonprofit organizations, government entities and educational institutions.
The ideas will be judged in several key areas, including:
Viability. The applicant must make a credible and believable case for the idea. The idea and presentation must be concise and easy to understand. The applicant must demonstrate relevant industry knowledge in areas such as competition, market need, pricing, etc.
Innovation/vision. The applicant must demonstrate creative thought, a revolutionary or new perspective on existing markets and businesses, and extraordinary vision for business in South Carolina.
Profit/revenue potential. The idea must satisfy a need in a commercially significant market. It must demonstrate operational feasibility and/or expertise. The idea must offer a superior alternative to products or services that are available now.
The SCRA is the presenting sponsor of the competition. Other sponsors include Brains on Fire, New Carolina, Innoventure, ThinkTEC and Nelson Mullins.
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