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Three University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students will head to Madison to compete April 5 in the inaugural Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament contest.

The UW Oshkosh students are among ten teams of University of Wisconsin student-entrepreneurs competing to represent the state in May at the International Business Model Competition. There, $100,000 in awards will be distributed to top teams.

UW-Extension and partners are presenting the Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament contest. The top finisher will also have the opportunity to be selected into Stage 1 of the Ideadvance Seed Fund, created by UW System and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

The finals provide an opportunity for students, faculty, the business community and the general public to support Wisconsin’s young entrepreneurs and see the Lean Startup process in action – in person or via live online streaming from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 5 at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. The link for online streaming is: http://bit.ly/WiBigIdea

Teams from UW Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse and UW-Milwaukee  will have 15 minutes each to present their validated business idea involving a marketing innovation, a 3-D printing service and a phone app. Their Lean Startup process and idea scalability will be judged by Lisa Johnson, Vice President, Entrepreneurship and Innovation for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation; Dan Reed, Director of Business Development, Investments for American Family Insurance; and Troy Vosseller, co-founder of gener8tor.

In addition to the judges selecting the top finisher, the team that gets the most mentions via Twitter from 9 a.m. to Noon on April 5 will win The People’s Choice Award. Watch the event in person or online and tweet support for a team using @WI_Big_Idea and #WIBigIdea.

“This year’s Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament is a demonstration pilot to introduce the Lean Startup concept and curriculum,” said Mark Lange, executive director of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development for UW-Extension. “We encourage UW students, staff and faculty to watch the finals this year and contact us about participating in the fall of 2014.”

Initial support for this project is covered by a matching grant provided by UW System, with program management by UW-Extension, and in partnership with the International Business Model Competition. Additional sponsors include the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, American Family Insurance and WPS Health Insurance.

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