Penn GSE and the Milken Family Foundation announced the winners of the sixth annual Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) today. Winning ideas included platforms to connect parents with teachers, apps to provide personalized lesson plans for students with special needs, and programs to keep low-income students on track to finish college.
As the largest competition of its kind, the EBPC features multiple cash and in-kind prizes totaling $140,000. This year’s competition included a new path devoted to Idea-stage ventures as well as a competition pathway devoted to more mature, but still early stage, start-up Ventures. Prizes were awarded in both categories. All Idea and Venture Path finalists will receive access to a suite of tools through Microsoft BizSpark. Finalists may also be invited to join the Fall 2015 cohort of The Education Design Studio Inc. (EDSi), a hybrid incubator and seed fund built specifically for education ventures that was launched in collaboration with Penn GSE in 2013. Today’s winners include:
Venture Path
Grand Prize: $40,000
Additional Venture Prizes: $20,000 each
Mosa Mack Science
Idea Path
Grand Prize: $10,000
Additional Idea Prizes: $2,000 each
Voter’s Choice (crowd vote): $1,000
Considered the most prestigious and well-funded education business plan competition, the EBPC has earned a name for itself by attracting innovative ideas from around the world and spotting winning education innovations early on. Previous finalists include Raise.me, Eneza Education, and Citelighter – all of which have gone on to grow their ventures, attract investors, and have a positive impact on education. The EBPC is made possible through the generous support of the Milken Family Foundation, ACT, American Public University System, Educational Services of America, K12 Inc., McGraw-Hill Education, Microsoft, TSL Education, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Finalists are selected through crowd-sourced judging from teachers, investors, entrepreneurs, and researchers.
The Milken family—several of whom are Penn graduates—embody the Franklin spirit and through successful educational entrepreneurship. From pre-K services through college education for working adults, as well as investments in educational enterprises, they have demonstrated a commitment to the leaders of tomorrow. In their four decades of philanthropic activities, the Milken family has made education—particularly innovation in education—a cornerstone of their work. Visit the Milken Family Foundation for more information.