BPC Guidelines

tecBRIDGE and its judges agree to treat Business Plan Competition submissions as the confidential property of the entrant teams; however, all entrants must consider the risks associated with sharing information on venture strategies and activities as part of the Business Plan Competition. 

1. The winning team must establish and maintain their business headquarters in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
2. One or more Collegiate team members must be (i) a full-time undergraduate or graduate student in good standing affiliated with a tecBRIDGE Member and (ii) own 50% or more of the company equity along with primary management responsibilities at the time of submission.
3. Business plans must identify commercial solutions for products or services that leverage technical processes, methods, or intellectual property to create a competitive advantage. For competition purposes, intellectual property includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. 
4. The winning team will receive cash prize payments upon approval of a spending plan for direct start-up expenses authorized by the tecBRIDGE Executive Director; payroll or salary reimbursement are not considered eligible expenses for reimbursement. The winning team must use the cash prizes and in-kind services within one year of winning the Competition. 
5. Final approval of eligibility is reserved for the Judging Committee.

1. Non-Collegiate teams will have earned less than $250K in gross revenues since the inception of the business based on their last tax filing. 
2. Business plans must identify commercial solutions for products or services that leverage technical processes, methods, or intellectual property to create a competitive advantage. For competition purposes, intellectual property includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. 
3. The winning team will receive cash prize payments upon approval of a spending plan for direct operating expenses authorized by the tecBRIDGE Executive Director; payroll or salary reimbursement are not considered eligible salary expenses for reimbursement. The winning team must use the cash prizes and in-kind services within one year of winning the Competition. 
4. Final approval of eligibility is reserved for the Judging Committee.

tecBRIDGE and its community volunteers are not responsible for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind; lost or unavailable network connections; failed, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions; lost, misdirected, incorrect or incomplete entries; or entries that cannot be opened by tecBRIDGE, or travel difficulties of any kind, whether caused by tecBRIDGE, or the judges, or you, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Competition, or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of submissions that may limit a participant’s or team’s ability to participate in the Competition. BY ENTERING, PARTICIPANTS AND TEAMS RELEASE tecBRIDGE, THEIR SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, JUDGES, SPONSORS, AND ALL PRIZE SUPPLIERS FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY INJURIES, LOSSES, OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM ACCEPTANCE, POSSESSION, OR USE OF ANY PRIZE OR PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITION, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.