Deadline Extended for Ed Business Plan Competition - New Prize Announced

October 29, 2010 - Penn GSE and the Milken Family Foundation have announced the 2011 Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition, the first contest specifically aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship and addressing challenges in education, has extended the deadline for first-round submissions to December 10.

In addition, a new prize category has been announced. Along with $25K and $15 first- and second-place awards, the new prize will go to the plan that best leverages openly licensed content to change teaching and learning. Called the Startl Prize for Open Educational Resources, this prize is funded by a gift from the Hewlett Foundation.

Entering its second year, this global competition is designed to connect social entrepreneurs to venture capitalists and other funders interested in improving education. Its goal is to support new ideas in education. These ideas can be non-profit or for-profit, focused on any learner from infants to seniors, and can take the shape of business services, technological tools, professional development programs, curricula, etc.

Initial summaries are due December 10; semi-finalists will be announced on January 25, 2011 and invited to submit complete business plans.

“Connecting people with great ideas for educational improvement to venture capitalists and to others who have similar imagination and energy can be challenging,” Andy Porter, dean of Penn’s Graduate School of Education, said. “In its first award cycle, this business plan competition proved that making those connections is possible – we helped brinug robust, well-tested ideas to the marketplace. We think this is a very powerful strategy and we’re confident the momentum will continue through the competition’s second year.”

“More money is spent on education than on health care in the U.S., but with little results,” Doug Lynch, vice dean of Penn’s Graduate School of Education, said. “Innovation and entrepreneurship can address problems in education.  We’re excited to see what great ideas will come from this competition.”

“The Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition is designed to challenge the status quo and transform the education space,” said Gregory Milken, a member of Penn GSE’s board of overseers and the Milken Family Foundation board of trustees. “This competition will create opportunities for entrepreneurs, educators, and ultimately, students.”

Last year’s first prize winners, Shaun Sims and Andrew Mills from Austin, Texas, created “Digital Proctor,” a system that analyzes student behavior in online classrooms, identifies suspicious activity through keyboard usage and algorithms, detects financial-aid fraud and helps to increase student-retention rates. It outshined 125 submissions from around the world.

Supporting Penn GSE and the Milken Family Foundation in the business plan competition are Penn’s Wharton School and Fels Institute of Government.

Based in Santa Monica, Calif., the Foundation has been an innovator in education reform since 1982.  Additional information is available at www.gse.upenn.edu/entrepreneurcomp <http://www.gse.upenn.edu/entrepreneurcomp> or educomp@gse.upenn.edu.

Media contact: Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu