Knapp Venture Competition

Since 1982, the Knapp Venture Competition has evolved into one of the premier academic business plan competitions in Southern California. It encourages UCLA Anderson students to showcase their talents and learn from insights of successful entrepreneurs and business executives. The Knapp Competition has given more than 2,500 UCLA Anderson students a unique venture creation experience that has been instrumental in launching numerous businesses.

Agenda

5:00 – 5:20 p.m. Welcome and Introduction
5:20 – 5:40 p.m. Presentation: Spottyr
5:45 – 6:05 p.m. Presentation: Pencil
6:10 – 6:30 p.m. Presentation: HelioHite
6:35 – 6:55 p.m. Presentation: Second Helpings
7:00 – 7:20 p.m. Presentation: Ring Bear
7:25 – 7:45 p.m. Fast Pitch Competition
7:45 – 8:00 p.m. Winners Announced

The five finalist teams will pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs for a chance at cash rewards. This year's prize money totals $100,000.

A $1,000 cash prize will be awarded to the audience’s favorite fast pitch team, and $500 will go to the second place team. You must attend the event to vote.

2023 Winners

The Finals event was the culmination of a number of team formation events, seminars, speaker series and the unique situation of having to go virtual. We commend all of the participants for their hard work and dedication, and thank the volunteers and judges for making the Knapp Competition possible.

	First Place - $40,000 HelioHite A disruptive clean technology company developing a turnkey solution to sustainably produce high-purity synthetic graphite and green hydrogen. Unlike other competitors who use energy intensive and high temperature processes, HelioHite utilizes energy from the Sun and creates a unique solution for global decarbonization. Team: Gavin Mcpherson ('24); Robert Gardiner ('24); Yingying Qi (FEMBA '24); Ben Heronimus (UCLA PhD '26); Hengrui Xu (UCLA PhD '26)
	Second Place - $25,000 Ring Bear offers the first carbon neutral assortment of men’s wedding bands and gifts. We provide an enhanced experience at an accessible price while reducing the vast majority of carbon emissions. Worn by men in all 50 states, Ring Bear has developed a more comfortable ring design enabling lifelong satisfaction. Team: David Schoenfeld ('24); Juhie Rathor ('24); Joao Mura ('24); Simran Modi ('24); Tara Kezic ('24)
	Third Place (tie) - $12,500 Pencil A data platform that streamlines the process of installing sustainability improvements in commercial properties. Our product vision is to optimize different improvements in conjunction with one another for existing structures and new buildings. While rooftop solar is our initial focus, Pencil will include energy storage, efficiency upgrades, electric vehicle chargers, and heat pumps. Our mission is to decarbonize commercial properties across the globe. Team: Kyle Brauer (FEMBA '23); Kevin Cohen (FEMBA '23); Andres Aleson (FEMBA '23); Kevin Chung (FEMBA '23)
	Third Place (tie) - $12,500 Second Helpings An upcycled, nutrient-dense instant soups and meals company that helps to fight food waste. When retailers reject produce at the distributor level, we purchase it for a fraction of the cost. We then take that material, dehydrate it to extend shelf life, and produce an instant soup/meal product in our own processing facilities. This provides value to the farmer and retailer by saving costs and diverting waste, while providing consumers with a convenient and tasty at-home meal. Team: Albert Joo ('23); Ashley Klotz ('23); Erica Weisman ('23); Stephanie Benjamin ('23); April Lonchar ('23); Elisabeth Doody ('23)
	Fourth Place - $10,000 Spottyr A mobile-first application for wellness professionals to grow their business by creating and nurturing valuable relationships across their client base to not only increase client retention, but also ensure client fitness goals are being met. Team: Kevin White ('23); David Jackson
	First Place Fast Pitch - $1000 Rook Robotics A fully integrated hardware and software service company with a robot-as-a-service business model that improves hotel delivery operations and reduces their costs. Team: Aaron Meltzer ('23); Alex Wolfson ('23); Kevin Kuhn ('23); Amanda Rabago
	Second Place Fast Pitch - $500 Unphased Food Nutrient dense snack mixes formulated to minimize symptoms of menstrual hormone imbalance. Team: Julia Sweitzer ('23)

Over the course of the academic year, UCLA Anderson students refine business concepts, build management teams, and develop business plans to submit to the Knapp Venture Competition. A select group of business plans are chosen for competition in the semifinals, with the top submissions advancing to the finals in May. The judging panels, which are comprised of entrepreneurs, venture capital investors and senior executives, play a critical role in shaping the outcome and educational experience of the competition. Our judges ask questions to evaluate each entry's viability, and also provide students with constructive feedback and suggestions for going forward with their ventures. After a closed deliberation, the Knapp finalists are announced at a reception.

The Knapp Venture Competition

Competition activities begin each January and culminate with the final round of competition held at Anderson in late May. All dates and deadlines are communicated to students through the Entrepreneur Association email listserv.

Registration

Students will receive e-mail notification regarding submission dates one month prior to the first deadline.
Qualifying Review

Qualified student judges will review the written plans and select up to 25 teams to continue to the Semi-Finals.
Venture Review Night

Selected teams will present to student judges who will provide feedback. Teams will then be permitted to submit revised plans in advance of the Semi-Finals.
Semi-Finals

The semi-finalist teams will present to a panel of judges drawn from LA-based VCs, angel investors, professional service providers, business executives, and entrepreneurs. Five teams will be selected to continue to the finals and will be permitted to submit revised business plans in advance of judging. Please note that semi-final presentations are 15 minutes followed by an additional 10 minutes of Q & A. They are open to the public.
Finals

The five finalist teams will present to a live audience and a new panel of judges. Awards reception to follow.

We strongly advise all team members to review the rules and guidelines before submitting a plan, as there are no exceptions to deadlines.

Event Information

Registration
Students will receive e-mail notification regarding submission dates one month prior to the first deadline.
Qualifying Review
Qualified student judges will review the written plans and select up to 25 teams to continue to the Semi-Finals.
Venture Review Night
Selected teams will present to student judges who will provide feedback. Teams will then be permitted to submit revised plans in advance of the Semi-Finals.
Semi-Finals
The semi-finalist teams will present to a panel of judges drawn from LA-based VCs, angel investors, professional service providers, business executives, and entrepreneurs. Five teams will be selected to continue to the finals and will be permitted to submit revised business plans in advance of judging. Please note that semi-final presentations are 15 minutes followed by an additional 10 minutes of Q & A. They are open to the public.
Finals
The five finalist teams will present to a live audience and a new panel of judges. Awards reception to follow.

We strongly advise all team members to review the rules and guidelines before submitting a plan, as there are no exceptions to deadlines.

Funding Innovation Since 1982.

Learn, Create, and Succeed at the Knapp Venture Competition

Since 1982, the student-run Knapp Venture Competition, hosted at UCLA Anderson School of Management by the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Entrepreneur Association, is designed to provide UCLA Anderson students with an intensive learning experience in the venture initiation process. The competition is named for Cleon T. (Bud) and Betsy Wood Knapp, who in 1997 made an endowment gift to support this annual event, along with other entrepreneurial initiatives.

Virtually all UCLA Anderson students will start, work in, advise, or finance growing businesses at some point in their careers. Participating in the Knapp Venture Competition prepares students - whether they will be founders, financiers, consultants, marketers, or general managers - for these experiences by simulating the process of starting and evaluating an entrepreneurial enterprise.

While a business plan is the tangible outcome of each team's efforts, generating the document in and of itself is not the Knapp Venture Competition's primary objective. Rather, the Knapp Venture Competition encourages a rigorous and cross-disciplinary application of the tools that students have learned in the MBA program. It requires them to integrate concepts from the core curriculum - economics, finance, operations, marketing, accounting, strategy, and organizational development - into a total plan for starting and operating a business.

By refining a concept, researching its feasibility, building a management team, and preparing and presenting a plan, students test the full range of analytical and communications skills that they have developed while at Anderson. Moreover, they learn about their ability to work as a team and manage group dynamics. Finally, the screening and evaluative portions of the Knapp Venture Competition provide a solid feedback mechanism to the student teams. Dozens of entrepreneurs, alumni, and professional investors serve on the judging panels that evaluate each team's efforts. Year in and year out, students report that this feedback is one of the most valuable aspects of the competition.

Two other groups of students benefit from the Knapp Venture Competition. The student organizers are presented with an opportunity to develop their leadership skills, as well as with valuable access to the extensive entrepreneurial networks and resources of the Anderson community. The entire UCLA community is encouraged to view the competition's final presentations in order to support their classmates, prepare for their own participation in future competitions, and to learn the standards that professional investors and entrepreneurs apply in evaluating businesses.

Knapp Venture Competition