Lazaridis MBA students take home silver at Venture Capital Investment Competition

March 28, 2018

Lazaridis MBA students put their classroom theory to the test, winning silver at the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), which was held at St. Mary’s University on March 2. This Canadian competition is based on the international VCIC, which sees more than 75 universities from around the world compete annually in North Carolina.

The VCIC prides itself on its unique style. It is unlike any other case competition business students can compete in, and is the only place students immerse themselves as venture capitalists. At VCIC, community-based startups pitch their businesses to groups of students who, working as angel investors, choose not only which business they would fund, but also the terms of the funding and their reasons for their support.  Students are judged by industry professionals on their analysis, insights and rigour over the course of the competition.

“I am very proud of our students’ strong performance at the competition,” says Dr. Brian Smith, BMO Financial Group Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance, Lazaridis School of Business & Economics. “Having attended both an angel investing seminar at the Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN) and an MBA class in entrepreneurial finance at the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, they were well prepared to assess the two early stage companies seeking financing.”

The Lazaridis MBA team - consisting of full-time program students Henry Baulier, Pietro de Bottis, Joon-Woo (John) Lee, Raymond Haffar and Marcus Monocha – was one of six Canadian business schools represented at this one-day competition. The Lazaridis team was first in Ontario.

“The members of our team all come from engineering or deep science backgrounds,” says team member Raymond Haffar. “I’m excited by our result as we approached this competition from similar levels of business knowledge and understanding. I really believe that our success in this competition demonstrates the practical application of what we’re learning in our MBA studies.”