February 28, 2005
University of Chicago Takes First in Regional Finals of Venture Capital Investment Competition

AUSTIN, Texas—After spending three days perfecting a cohesive investment strategy, a team of MBA students from the University of Chicago won first place at the regional finals of the 2005 Venture Capital Investment Competition. Eight teams of top MBA students participated in the competition, held at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin Feb. 24.

The McCombs School’s team won their regional final earlier this month in Denver and will meet the Chicago team and others at the finals in North Carolina April 7-9.

The VCIC®, the nation’s premiere strategy competition for venture-minded and entrepreneurial MBA students, gave students a taste of the real-world venture capitalist experience. The teams interacted with top Venture Capital Firms in Texas and had three days to weigh investment options and prepare term sheets before presenting their decisions.

The University of Chicago team consisted of Peter Shannon, Justin Marcucci, Pat Basu, Holbrook Forusz and Ori Eyal. Students from the University of Colorado took second place and will also advance to the finals in North Carolina. The team from Emory University took home the Entrepreneur’s Choice Award.

“We were thrilled to win at Regionals this year and have a chance to go to Nationals in April,” Shannon said. “For me, venture capital is where I want to build my career, so pursuing the VCIC was a logical choice. It serves as a skill-building experience as well as a networking opportunity.”

Other competitors included teams from Northwestern University, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and the University of Wisconsin.

The Central Region competition of the VCIC® was sponsored by Access Ventures, AIC Ventures, Andrews Kurth, CenterPoint Ventures, The Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Center for Private Equity Finance at McCombs and The IC2 Institute. Acting as judges were representatives from Access Ventures, AIC Ventures, Andrews Kurth, The Austin Technology Incubator, Austin Ventures, Blue Sage Capital, CenterPoint Ventures, Focus Strategies, Gefinor Ventures, Hunt Ventures, PTV Sciences and Smartprice.com.

The event was hosted by the Venture Fellows, a select, student-run group at the McCombs School of Business which provides future business leaders with learning opportunities through firsthand experience working with venture capital firms.

To learn more about the Venture Capital Investment Competition, or about the Venture Fellows program at The McCombs School of Business, please contact Justin Mabey at (512) 825-3434.