Introducing McKinsey Venture Academy

Do you have a business idea with a social or environmental purpose that can make a difference to those that need it most? Are you a university student based in Great Britain or Ireland? If yes, then the McKinsey Venture Academy competition might be for you. If you have an idea which could help one or more people, in any field, McKinsey Venture Academy can help you transform it into a reality. All ideas are good ideas - be they big or small, community based or global, simple or complex, technological, creative, innovative, ingenious …

We are now accepting video submissions from our successful Round 1 teams. Closing date for submission is Sunday 17th March at 12pm. Looking forward to being inspired by your videos!

What is McKinsey Venture Academy?

McKinsey Venture Academy is a social enterprise competition for university students based in the UK and Ireland. It is sponsored by McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Our aim is to help you tap into your creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit, which will enable you to transform your seedling ideas into social enterprises that make a difference. This is your opportunity to make a real difference!

Want to get involved?

The competition is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate university students based in the UK or Ireland, regardless of the subject they study. We are looking for groups of 2-8 creative and enthusiastic individuals with a great idea and a desire to create change. You can enter with a social enterprise at any stage of development: from a brand new idea to a business that is already running that you are trying to grow. In last year's competition, the vast majority of entries (and our winner) were very early stage ideas…

Last year’s winning entry sought to provide small-scale tomato farmers in Mexico the opportunity to deploy simple and sustainable farming techniques on their own farms, increasing the farmers yields and profits and reducing waste.

Last years winners

Entering is easy and is divided into four stages:

Firstly, you just need to register you team and send us a brief overview of your idea. If your idea is selected to go through to the next stage, we will invite you to a workshop with McKinsey and some leader social entrepreneurs from the UK and Ireland to help you develop your idea. Then we will ask you to create a short video pitch outlining the idea. Next we will ask you to submit a business plan for your idea and provide you with a mentor to help you develop the plan.

The final stage of the competition involves presenting your business plan to a panel of judges.

Stage 1 Registration & Executive Summary	Stage 2 Video pitch (workshop beforehand on 1 March)	Stage 3 Full business plan submission	The Final Present to judges

What support will we receive?

All teams will receive feedback to help develop their enterprises. Teams who pass Stage 1 will be offered the opportunity to attend a workshop in London on 1st March 2013 with some of the UK and Ireland's social enterprise leaders. McKinsey consultants will mentor teams to help develop their ideas into business plans.

What’s the prize?

The winning team will receive seed funding of £5,000 and on-going support and mentorship from McKinsey to help transform their idea into a real social enterprise.