Introduction

Background

Young Entrepreneurs Development Council (YDC) is a non-profit organization established by home grown entrepreneurs and professional who believe Entrepreneurial Spirit (ES) holds the key to helping young people of Hong Kong achieve their potentials in life and ensuring the betterment of our society. Entrepreneurial Spirit (ES) is best described by its core attributes – creative, risk-taking, driven, integrity, to name a few. ES is not only important to entrepreneurs who aspire to start their own business, it is a dynamic mindset that can help us excel in life and realize our dreams.

YDC organizes E-Challenge, a business plan competition for all students and affiliates of local Universities, as part of its continuous efforts to promote and develop Hong Kong's talents in a rapidly evolving technology and knowledge based society. Working in collaboration with the business and education communities, E-Challenge is YDC's longest running and most recognized programme. YDC's E-Challenge, a business plan competition open to all full-time tertiary students in Hong Kong universities and other tertiary institutes, has been annually organized since 2000. The competition is designed to provide participants with exposure to the entrepreneurial community, innovation and technology. It helps participants to develop the skills by providing training, workshops and mentorship programme with professional partners, high-profile professionals serving as trainers, mentors and judges. Up to 2010, there are over 6800 participants from 9 local universities and tertiary institutes since inception.

YDC plans to broaden our networking scope to include 4 networking events, in which two of them will be industry-based, with proposed industries focused on Information Technology and Healthcare. Having witnessed an emergence of entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas spilling over from local post-graduates, YDC E-Challenge 2011 is now open to all part-time and full-time tertiary students at all levels, alumni, researchers, faculty and staff from local universities and local tertiary institutes. People studying aboard are welcome to team up as well. However, all teams must have local full-time tertiary student participating.

Prizes

Grand Prize	The value of in kind prize exceedsHK$30,000
1st Runner Up	The value of in kind prize exceedsHK$20,000
2nd Runner Up	The value of in kind prize exceedsHK$15,000

Provisional Competition Schedule

Phase I - Preliminary Round
January to February	Briefings to be held at universities in Hong Kong
11th February (Fri)	Start of Registration
19th February (Sat)	Workshop I
5th March (Sat)	Workshop II
24th March (Thu)	Deadline for submission of Executive Summary (no more than three pages)
Phase II - Semi-final Round
6th April (Wed)	Email announcement of semi-finalist teams
2nd April (Sat)	Workshop III
27th April (Wed)	Deadline for submission of investment proposition teaser (no more than five pages) and VCD of 5-minute presentation
Phase III - Final Round
11rd May (Wed)	Announcement of finalist teams
May – Mid June	Metorship programme for finalists
14th May (Sat)	Workshop IV
9nd June (Thur)	Deadline for submission of business plans (no more than 30 pages of text, graphics and appendices)
18th June (Sat)	Presentation by finalists to Final Judging Panel
28th June (Tue)	Press Conference to announce the Winning Teams

Introductory briefings will be held by YDC at all the universities in Hong Kong in January to February 2011. Students interested to participate in this competition are welcomed to attend. The briefing schedule will be announced soon while seat reservation can be done via email at echallenge@ydc.org.hk.

Workshops are key components of YDC E-Challenge 2011. The workshops are scheduled to correlate with milestones in the competition process. Students who would like to attend are required to complete Online Registration for E-Challenge 2011, or Workshop Registration. The deadline for joining YDC E-Challenge 2011 will be 24th March 2011. For
details, please refer to Guidelines or via email at echallenge@ydc.org.hk.

We highly recommend all participants to join the workshops. Participants will find it interactive and be able to have their questions answered by experts in their fields. These workshops will be useful both in preparation for YDC E-Challenge 2011 and exposing participants to entrepreneurial experiences. Details and registration method of the workshops will be announced via email to students who successfully complete the Online Registration process. All competition registrants are welcomed.

To help finalists prepare their final business proposal for judging, YDC with the effort of our supporting partners of recruited seasoned entrepreneurs to act as mentors and advise the final teams on their specific business ideas. First mentorship meeting between teams and their mentors will be arranged by YDC. Finalist teams are required to present their business ideas and the blueprint of the business plan to the mentors during the meeting. To know more about Mentorship Program, please visit Words of Mentor.

For the details about competition and registration, please refer to the Guidelines.