Imagine you had $1 million from a $100 million venture fund to invest in one business—and three companies to evaluate. What questions would you ask? What would shape your decision? How would you value that investment?
It’s a scenario dozens of AU and Kogod School of Business students, along with thousands more from around the world, faced in recent weeks through a national competition that puts students to the test as venture capitalists for a day.
Last month, two teams of AU students traveled to Florida and Texas to face off with more than 100 other university and graduate school teams as part of the regional finals in the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC).
Launched in 1998 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the event is the world’s largest venture capital competition that puts students in the shoes of venture capitalists while providing startups with valuable immersion into the fundraising process.
“It’s an amazing program for students that is 100 percent focused on experiential learning,” said Tommy White, director of the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship.
To select the student teams that would represent the university in the official VCIC regional events, AU students from across campus competed in an internal VCIC-style showdown on January 27 sponsored by the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship, the university’s cross-campus catalyst that promotes the entrepreneurial mindset.
In this month of March Madness, think of it as a “play-in” tournament for the right to advance to the “Big Dance.”
In all, 35 students participated in the on-campus competition and were divided into six groups: three graduate teams and three undergraduate.
“It’s a really engaging exercise where students role play investment analysts for a $100 million venture capital fund," Professor White said.