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Farmer School to host VCIC regional finals this weekend

2019 is first time Miami has hosted event

2019 is first time Miami has hosted event

Part one of a prestigious invitation-only international undergraduate business competition will, for the first time, take place at the Farmer School of Business this weekend as the Venture Capital Investment Competition holds its Central Region finals.

The Farmer School competition team – Laura Mena, Kat Mena, Ben Sandler, Ethan Retcher, and Andy Newman -- will compete against teams from the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Northwestern. Teams may also have non-presenting research support teams. Hunter Enama, Kevin Myers, and Nico Katasfanas will serve as the Farmer School support team.

The competition begins Thursday evening when the teams receive materials such as pitch decks and financial models from actual startup companies and begin digging into their business models. Throughout Thursday evening and Friday, the teams work to research markets, perform due diligence, and often connect with subject matter experts in various spaces to better understand the businesses at hand. 

On Saturday, the student teams formally hear the startup pitches and have the opportunity to sit down with the entrepreneurs in a Q&A-style due diligence session. After interacting with all of the startups, the student teams finalize a term sheet and hold partner meetings in the afternoon where they present their case for an investment in one of the startups. After a period of deliberation, the judges announce a winner and runner-up, with the winner traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C. on March 23 for the national finals.

Miami teams have only competed twice before, coming in third at nationals in 2018 and tying for second at nationals in 2017, both times after winning the Central Region finals.

“The competition presents students the opportunity to sharpen their investment analysis skills, judges the opportunity to interact with entrepreneurs and potential talent, and the startups the time to refine their pitches and get in front of more institutional investors,” senior finance and analytics major and 2018 competition team member Max Davis explained.

Go RedHawks!