The Sobey School of Business at St. Mary’s University is seeking startups to participate in its annual student venture capital competition and possibly join the international search for “the most VC-backable startup.”

For several years, the Sobey School has hosted the Canadian regional finals for the international Venture Capital Investment Competition, or VCIC. This is an international competition in which teams of graduate and under-graduate students compete to see which one makes the best mock venture capital investment.

SMU will host the 2020 regional finals for Canada on March 6, and the organizers are looking for Atlantic Canadian startups that can pitch to and negotiate with the VC teams. Startups can find more information and apply here.

The organizers will choose six startups for the regional competition -- three for the under-graduate competition and three for the graduate channel. These companies will pitch in person, go through six due diligence sessions (one with each student VC team), have lunch with the VC judges and negotiate term sheets with the teams that choose to invest in them.

The winning student VC team will proceed to the VCIC Global Finals in Chapel Hill, N.C., on March 27-28, where VC teams from seven countries will vie for the top prize. (As the host of the Canadian competition, SMU does not enter its own competition but will again participate in the VCIC regional finals in Boston.)  

Ten startups that do well in the regional finals will also be invited to the Global Finals and will compete to be named the “most VC-backable startup”. The stand-out from the SMU event will be considered to join these companies. 

“Historically, founders come because we have enough VCs in the room to justify the day at VCIC," said Patrick Vernon, VCIC director and clinical associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at UNC Kenan-Flagler. "When they leave, they are surprised by the value of the feedback from students and investors alike, and the expanded network base for future fundraising. Over the years, over 25 percent of the participating startups go on to raise venture capital after the event."

In 2019, VCIC’s Most VC-Backable Startup was Admiral, a Gainsville, Fla.-based visitor relationship management company.

“The competition is daunting, with student venture capital teams ripping apart your business model and leaving no due diligence stone unturned,” said Admiral Founder and CEO Dan Rua in a statement. “Securing multiple term sheets after such a thorough process was rewarding.”