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Student Venture Fund-Cover Page

Center for Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation

Student teams wishing to submit a request for funding through the Center for Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation must first complete this cover page and submit their executive summary, business plan (for the Venture Growth Grant) and requested support material. Please see the Student Venture Fund Application Process form for details.

Date of Application: ______

Type and Amount of Grant Requested: ____Venture Assessment$____(up to $500)

_____Venture Growth$____(up to $3000)

Venture Name: ______

Contact Person: ______E-mail:______

Primary Phone: ______

Street Address: ______

City: ______State: ______Zip: ______

Major: ______Minor:______

Other Venture Partners (include separate page if needed):

Name: ______

Email: ______

Phone: ______

Major:______

Minor:______

Name: ______

Email: ______

Phone: ______

Major: ______

Minor:______

Name: ______

Email: ______

Phone: ______

Major:______

Minor:______

Faculty Advisor (please attach a statement of support):

Name: ______

Email: ______

Phone: ______

Please return this cover sheet and all attachments to

CEBI office, College of Business,Room A123or via Email to .

Deadline for applications:

Ongoing for the Assessment Grant

March 15, 2015 for the Growth Grant

There are two levels of grants available for Kent State University Students:

Venture Assessment

These grants are geared toward students with a proposed business. The proposed business should sell a unique product or service with a clear market need. The purpose of this grant is to establish the feasibility of the business in order to gauge whether or not to invest resources and commit to launching the venture. Once this is established, a Venture Growth grant encourages the launch and growth of the business.

  • Application

A two to three page executive summary must be submitted, along with a resume for each venture partner. Students should convert the application to a .pdf and submit it with their resume(s) as a single .pdf document to with the subject line of“<companynameVenture Assessment Grant application.”

  • Deliverable

Once an application is approved, the student will receive up to $500 in exchange for writing a business plan. This will evaluate the market, the financial concerns of the industry, and specific team issues. This deliverable can then be used to apply for a Venture Growth grant.

Venture Growth

Only teams that have a complete business plan that concludes the proposed business is viable and is committed to launching the venture should apply for this grant. The Venture Growth Grant pushes the team to create a business and pitch to additional investors. The goal is to actually launch the business.

  • Application

Students are strongly encouraged to apply for the Venture Assessment grant before the Venture Growth grant in order to write an effective business plan to submit. If teams wish to bypass the Venture Assessment grant, they must still write a complete business plan outlined in the application. Students should convert this application to a .pdf and submit it with their resume(s) and financial statements as a single .pdf document to by the date listed on the cover page with the subject line of “<companynameVenture Growth Grant Application.”

  • Deliverable

In order to receive the grant, the team must intend to launch their company. Once awarded, the team will construct an investor pitch and include at least one CEBI staff and/or entrepreneurship faculty member on their Board of Advisors.

For the Venture Assessment Grant, please complete 1 and 2 below and attach resumes for each venture partner.

For the Venture Growth Grant, please complete 1, 2 and 3 below.

1. Cover Page (to be provided by CEBI)

2. Executive Summary (maximum of 3 pages)

  • Brief description of your business, including a business concept statement.
  • What you have accomplished to date
  • Goals for your business and how you will measure them
  • What you are asking for and how it will be used.
  • Other sources of funding, support, and donations, etc.
  • Listing of support sources within the university and externally.
  • Business model

3. The Business Plan (maximum of 8 pages plus resumes and financial statements)

The Business

  • The opportunity
  • Description of the business
  • Competitive advantage

Industry Analysis

  • Industry description
  • Industry trends
  • Who are the key players?
  • Why do you want in this industry?
  • Target Market (clearly define who your key customer is, describe your primary target market and a second tier target market)
  • Competitor analysis (identify your key competitors, direct and indirect)

Marketing Plan

  • The Product/ Service
  • Pricing Strategy (How will you price? How does this compare with competitors? How does it compare to what your customers are willing to pay?)
  • Channels of distribution (web, storefront, wholesaler, etc?)
  • Promotion & advertising (details please)

Operations Plan

  • Flow chart of process-going from raw product/service to your customers’ hands
  • Hours of operation
  • Staffing needed
  • Inventory needed
  • Describe your service standards (amount of time to return calls/messages, quality control standards, time from order to delivery, etc.)

Management & Organization

  • Management team (describe each person’s expected role in the organization and include resumes for each venture participant)
  • Advisors
  • Mentors
  • Partners/strategic alliances

Financial Plan

  • Overview of financials (narrative on the assumptions you used to develop your forecast)
  • Sales forecast (monthly for Year 1 and Year end for years 2-3)-include revenues $$ and number of customers
  • Income statement (Years 1-3)
  • Statement of cash flow (monthly for Year 1)

StudentVenture Fund-FAQ

Center for Entrepreneurship & Business Innovation

Who is eligible?

  • Any current student or group of students, whereby at least one member is a major or minor in the College or Business Administrationat Kent State University, are eligible to apply for a grant to launch or enhance their venture.
  • Certain restrictions may apply for students that are non-US citizens or not full-time.

How much can be requested and what can it be used for?

  • We offer two different levels of grants. The first, Venture Assessment Grant, is for eligible students who are exploring an idea and need a small amount of funds to pursue a complete business plan or have basic start up needs (no capital or inventory expenses) and students can request up to $500. The second, Venture Growth Grant is for eligible students who have already completed a business plan and have greater financial needs. Students can request up to $3,000 for the Venture Growth Grant and funds can be used for start-up capital and inventory needs as well as other start-up or growth costs. Funds may not be used to create an open line of credit for the venture.
  • Proposals for all type of enterprises, including small or large-scale, high or low-tech, e-commerce and/or bricks and mortar, profit and non-profit, will be accepted.

What is required in the application?

  • Student applicants need to include a completed cover page, resumes for all venture partners, and executive summary for both grants. For the Venture Growth Grant, students must submit a complete business plan.

What will the Advisory Panel look for in the applications? Preliminary review will look for evidence of the following criteria:

  • Feasibility of the proposed venture and its prospects for success
  • Strengths of the management team, commitment to the venture and their qualifications to make it succeed
  • Prospects for raising additional funding as required
  • Conceptual and/or technical originality and/or social value

When can I apply and how long will the decision take?

  • Students may submit proposals for the Assessment Grant on an ongoing basis. Students may submit proposals for the Growth Grant by the due date of March 15, 2015.
  • Each plan will be given a preliminary review by members of the Entrepreneurship Center Staff, and/or members of the Fund’s Board of Advisors. Students are encouraged to take the opportunity to discuss and develop their proposals in consultation with a Faculty Advisor, members of the Fund’s Advisory Panel and/or mentors.
  • When the CEBI staff, Faculty and/or Board of Advisors decide that a particular proposal is complete, it will be formally reviewed by a committee composed of members of the faculty and the Fund’s Board of Directors. Applications for the Growth Grant that are selected by the reviewing committee will be invited to pitch their business to the committee on March 31st at 1pm in the John Brinzo Entrepreneurship Lab in the College of Business.
  • Funding decisions will be announced after the selected businesses have pitched.

Where will the funds come from and will I need to pay this back?

  • The funds come from independent donors that contribute funds to the Kent State Foundation for the College of Business and the Center for Entrepreneurship to helpstudents launch and run businesses. Granted funds will not need to be returned as long as students use the funds for the purposes approved in the grant. If students do not use the funds as approved, and report to the Board as requested, then the funds will need to be returned to the Kent State Foundation.

What reporting will be expected?

  • The reporting requirements will be included as part of the grant award. Typical reporting will include proof of how the funds were spent, financial statements, a narrative on goals and how they were met or not, overall business results and any future needs.

What if I do not follow through on my business or use the funds as agreed to in the grant application and agreement?

  • If you do not follow through on the business, use the funds as agreed to, or report on your results, then the funds need to be returned to the Kent State Foundation.