Contests
Cultura E (with its different components) carries out periodically several contests that have the intention to masificar the entrepreneurship and to strengthen the already existing companies in the city. The contests are five:
• Business Plans Contest.
• Seed Capital Contest.
• Creative Ideas of Business Contest.
• Creation of Innovative Companies Contest.
• New Companies from Results of Investigation Contest.
Business Plans Contest
Business Plans Contest seeks to create sustainable companies that help to dinamizar and to make the productive regional chains more competitive through innovative proposals with a high technological component. For this, it has the accompaniment of recognized businessmen and the support of the manager of each strategic cluster.
This contest receives all the initiatives of the strategic cluster of the city. Alcaldia de Medellin planned the achievement of six convocations (calls) during the period 2004 - 2007 to support the proposals in one or more cluster.
On November 5, 2004 had been carried out the launch of the first Business Plans Contest, which was focused in the cluster of the dressmaking. To date it has been fulfilled with the goal and six convocations have been carried out that they have thrown more than 200 winning projects in all strategic cluster.
The winning participants of the contests receive the following awards:
• Counseling service and consultancy for the improvement of their business plans.
• Supporting in the development of the prototypes needed for the commercial ratification of the product and/or services proposed by the business plan. This support is carried out by the centers of technological development, SENA and the institutions of higher education.
• Participation in access programs to markets: fairs, commercial missions and providers' lounges.
• Support in the search of the financial resources needed for the starting of the company.
Who is it directed to?
The invitation of the contests is opened for all kinds of public. In them can take part university students, employees, businessmen and the citizenship of Medellin in general.
Requirements
To take part in the contests the following requirements must be fulfilled:
• The plans must be presented in the area corresponding to the cluster that is chosen; that is, in agreement with the business opportunities identified for every strategic cluster.
• The proposals must be original of the candidates, respecting the copyright and copyright of third.
• The presentation of the plans must follow and support the formats and methodologies established by the contest.
• Business plans of constituted companies cannot be presented. Only it can be done by projects that are in investigation, prototypage or development of markets stage.
• They must be presented in Spanish.
To take part
The first thing that is recommended to take part in the Business Plans Contest is to go to the diffusion conferences. These are spaces for explaining the details of Cultura E, the conditions of participation and the activities of supporting programmed for each of the contests.
To whom want to take part in the contest, Cultura E puts at their disposal: training in business plans and personalized consultancy.
The process begins filling in the inscription form. As soon as the project is presented, the assessors (Alcaldia de Medellin, entities leaders in the strategic cluster, Incubator of Companies of Technological Base of Antioquia-IEBTA, and units of entrepreneurship of universities) put a grade in a scale from zero to ten to each one of the categories of the model of business plan, where zero represents the entire discrepancy and ten represents the excellence.
Seed Capital Contest
Alcaldia de Medellin, by means of Secretary of Social Development and its program Banco de los Pobres, the Bank of the Opportunities, summons to the citizenship to taking part in the Seed Capital Contest for new microcompanies of Medellin. In this one, 150 projects of productive microcompanies are rewarded with five million pesos each one, in addition to the consultancy and supporting.
Among the remaining ones are selected the best 50 projects presented by women, to whom is offered consultancy for the improvement of the project and the business plan, and seed capital for a total of $2.500.000.
To whom is it directed?
The invitation of the contests is opened for all kinds of public. In them can take part university students, employees, businessmen and the citizenship of Medellin in general.
Requirements
• To register in the offices of Banco de los Pobres, the Bank of the Opportunities, or on the web page of Cultura E.
• To accept all the bases of the contest.
• The projects must be of the economic sectors of services, manufacture, agricultural or trade.
• It is necessary to deliver the finished papers that the Requirements specify.
• All the inscribed persons log in the process of selection. They have to attend the obligatory training that is free and it is given by means of SENA – Comfama agreement, which has a 86 hour long.
Creative Ideas of Business Contest
This is a contest to reward the best creative ideas of business that the students of 10 and 11 year from public and private schools of Medellin.
The students can take part individually or in groups of two (maximum three) pupils of the same or different educational institution.
50 winners are selected who enter to a free course of 15 hours, given by the Center of training in entrepreneurship of the Creame group – Incubator of Companies, which offers to them personalized consultancy in topics related with the entrepreneurship. Also the 10 best presented projects are rewarded with computers and USB memories.
To whom is it directed?
To all the students of 10 and 11 year of Medellin who have a creative idea of business.
Requirements
• To have defined if he/she is going to work at group or individually.
• Clarity in the business idea to develop.
• To fulfill in the inscription form, without blank spaces.
Creation of Innovative Companies Contest
This contest, organized by the Park of the Entrepreneurship, has the objective the innovative projects with high technological value. The intention is to encourage among the students of higher education institutions of the city, the interest to formulate innovative projects that they allow them to think about their own company.
To whom is it directed?
To all the students of higher education institutions of Medellin, it does not matter their level of studies.
Requirements
To be a student of one of higher education institutions of the city and to have an innovative business idea.
New Companies from Results of Investigation Contest
Organized by the Park of the Entrepreneurship, this contest seeks that the groups of investigation registered in Colciencias or the associations of research groups of the city, endorsed by entities of support, have the possibility of converting the results of their investigations into innovative companies or into processes of technological transference to constituted companies.
By means of this call, the municipality of Medellin and the University of Antioquia commit themselves with the support to the technological development towards the innovation, strengthening the link of the groups of investigation with the company and the productive sector.
To whom is it directed?
To the groups of investigation linked to Colciencias or endorsed by affiliations of groups of investigation of the city.
Requirements
To belong to a group of investigation linked to Colciencias or endorsed by affiliations of groups of investigation of the city.
Agradecimientos: Escuela de Idiomas de la Universidad de Antioquia