Deadline: 22-Mar-23

The Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition is now open for applications to celebrate purpose-driven ventures that address persistent and emerging problems in education.

The 2023 Milken-Penn GSE EBPC unveils new incentives and more value to competitors than years past:

Dedicated advisor for venture and pitch development. Through the Catalyst @ Penn GSE virtual accelerator, Catapult, finalists will receive a complimentary, personalized assessment of their venture’s development and get matched with a dedicated, strategic advisor to advance their venture and perfect their pitch before the final competition.

Live, in-person finals. For the first time since 2019, finalists will deliver their pitch live and in-person, gaining more exposure among investors and potential customers at the Finals in October.

Promotional opportunities. Finalists will have multiple opportunities for in-person and virtual promotion, including participation in the Finalist Showcase in association with ISTE’s global conference in Philadelphia this June, and digital promotion across Catalyst’s multimedia programming.

Focus Areas

Since 2010, areas of focus have included:

• Urban Education
• Connecting Research to Practice
• Teaching & Learning
• Technology in Grades K through 12
• Special Education & At-Risk Students
• Open & Collaborative Solutions: The Education Ecosystem
• Online & Distance Learning in Higher Education
• Global/Borderless Education Solutions
• Early Childhood Education
• Workforce Learning

Funding Information

Ventures who have generated up to $1,500,000 in revenue in the last twelve months are now eligible to apply.

Eligibility Criteria

• The EBPC is open to applicants worldwide who are committed to tackling systemic barriers in education through innovation and to advancing equitable opportunities for all learners and communities.
• They welcome education ventures with innovative solutions to educational inequity from around the world, especially those ventures founded by and serving individuals from marginalized and historically underrepresented communities. They encourage applicants working in every conceivable educational setting–from early childhood through corporate and adult training. They also welcome both nonprofit and for-profit submissions.
• Any individual is eligible to enter the Competition by submitting an Entry (defined below), except the following individuals are not eligible:
  • Anyone who is under 18 years old;
  • Any Competition judge;
  • Anyone who previously was named a Finalist or Winner of a prize in this Competition. (However, if a previous finalists or winner wants to enter a new educational entrepreneurship business plan, which the University determines, in its sole opinion and determination, is unrelated to the previous winning educational entrepreneurship business plan, then the previous winning Applicant may do so, subject to their or its compliance with all of the other eligibility requirements.);
  • Anyone for whom it would be illegal to enter this Competition in their legal jurisdiction of residence;
  • Any Penn Graduate School of Education faculty, lecturer, administrator, staff, or other employee. (Note: Faculty, lecturers, administrators, staff, employees, and students from the University of Pennsylvania and its schools, centers and institutes, other than the Graduate School of Education, may enter the Competition, provided that they have first disclosed their product or service or technology or concept or intellectual property to the University’s Penn Center for Innovation or its successor (“Penn PCI”), using the disclosure form required by Penn PCI, in order for Penn PCI to determine whether the University has an ownership interest in such product or service or technology or concept or intellectual property by virtue of its intellectual property and employment policies.

For more information, visit Milken-Penn GSE EBPC.