Semi-Finalist Teams – Press Release – Mark Challenge 2022
Press Release – After Registration – Mark Challenge 2022
Monaco, March 1st 2022
Mark Challenge is delighted to announce that 112 teams coming from 46 international Universities and Business Schools will participate in the 9th edition of the competition. Registered teams group 299 students and professionals representing 49 nationalities.*
This year, the highest number of applications came from institutions in the United Kingdom, Italy and France with 9, 9 and 8 Universities and Business Schools registered respectively.
Mark Challenge 2022
Mark Challenge is a business plan competition, powered by the International University of Monaco (IUM), aiming at connecting students and professionals with community leaders and academic professionals. The competition is conducted in the form of a pitch, and the projects must meet the following prerequisites:
- Be a luxury or premium product/service
- Have an international scope
- Have an environmental or social impact
- Target High Net Worth and/or Ultra High Net Worth Individuals
IUM organizes the competition with the support of a committee consisting of University faculty, students, and alumni communities, as well as local and international professionals.
For the 9th edition, we have 2 categories of competing teams:
- category 1: Bachelor students, Master students (only teams of 2-4 are allowed to compete);
- category 2: MBA, Executive MBA, Alumni, professionals with or without university degree (NEW: mono entrepreneurs will be allowed to compete alone).
They will compete in 3 qualifying rounds:
- Round 1: submission of business concept
- Round 2: submission of business plan
- Round 3: online battles on April 22nd (further details will be announced)
The 6 Finalist teams, proposed by Jury 2 and confirmed or modified with the Online Battles, will have the opportunity to pitch their entrepreneurial ideas to the final Jury.
If sanitary situation permits, the Grand Final 2022 will be held in the prestigious location of the Monaco Yacht Club on May 19th, 2022. Otherwise, the event will be held online the same day.
During the Grand Final, besides the Best Business Plan awards for category 1 and 2, two Special Awards will be conferred:
- Fashion and Accessories,
- Yachting;
Prizes
Each winning team of category 1 and category 2 will receive the following prizes from our sponsors:
- A Sales Optimization Workshop worth 3.000 EUR offered by Neos Chronos
- A Premium Virtual Business Card offered by VBC – Virtual Business Card
The Special Award in Yachting is proudly sponsored by Yachting Ventures and in partnership with the Monaco Yachting Cluster.
The Winner will be awarded a fully sponsored spot on Yachting Ventures’ next accelerator program, as well as access to all of the support, mentorship, and community resources offered via the Yachting Ventures platform.
More prizes will be announced in the coming weeks.
Registrations for the ninth edition of the Mark Challenge are now closed. Registered teams will have until March 14th to upload the requested documents for Submission 1.
First Round Jury Members
- Jukka Aminoff
- Glyn Atwal
- Matilde Bini
- Andrea Bookhagen
- Giovanni Luigi Bordone
- Alessandro Brun
- Eleonora Cattaneo
- George Christodoulides
- Julien de Grandbois
- Alberto Festa
- Bilal Hassan
- Marko Majer
- Guido Mantovani
- Jan Erik Meidell
- Julia Riedmeier
- Marika Taishoff
For more information about the Mark Challenge and to stay up to date on all the latest news, please visit our website and social media pages (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook).
*please note that numbers of the 9th edition indicated in this document can be different from the ones published on our website as participants could name their institutions in different ways during the online registration or create an account twice.
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Only 15 days left to register for the Mark Challenge 2022!
Newsletter – Mark Challenge, 9th edition
The registration deadline for the ninth edition of the Mark Challenge is only 15 days away.
From March, 1st, it will no longer be possible to register and participate in the competition.
Then, registered teams will have until March, 14th to submit their business concepts.
The selected finalists will compete in Monaco, in the prestigious frame of the Monaco Yacht Club, on May 19th, 2022.
Mark Challenge 2022
Mark Challenge is a business plan competition, powered by the International University of Monaco (IUM), aiming at connecting students and professionals with community leaders and academic professionals. The competition is conducted in the form of a pitch, and the projects must meet the following prerequisites:
- Be a luxury or premium product/service
- Have an international scope
- Have an environmental or social impact
- Target High Net Worth and/or Ultra High Net Worth Individuals
IUM organizes the competition with the support of a committee consisting of University faculty, students, and alumni communities, as well as local and international professionals.
For the 9th edition, we have 2 categories of competing teams:
- category 1: Bachelor students, Master students (only teams of 2-4 are allowed to compete);
- category 2: MBA, Executive MBA, Alumni, professionals with or without university degree (NEW: mono entrepreneurs will be allowed to compete alone).
They will compete in 3 qualifying rounds:
- Round 1: submission of business concept
- Round 2: submission of business plan
- Round 3: online battles on April 22nd (further details will be announced)
The 6 Finalist teams, proposed by Jury 2 and confirmed or modified with the Online Battles, will have the opportunity to pitch their entrepreneurial ideas to the final Jury.
If sanitary situation permits, the Grand Final 2022 will be held in the prestigious location of the Monaco Yacht Club on May 19th, 2022. Otherwise, the event will be held online the same day.
During the Grand Final, besides the Best Business Plan awards for category 1 and 2, two Special Awards will be conferred:
- Fashion and Accessories,
- Yachting.
A few words from Dr. Jean-Philippe Muller, General Director of the International University of Monaco
It is important for the University to engage and support students’ entrepreneurial spirit, especially in the luxury sector, since it is an important area of expertise in Monaco.
It is in the DNA of the University to help students become more informed about real life and to have an experiential learning education by developing real projects in front of a professional jury.
A few words from Dr. Annalisa Tarquini-Poli, Founder and Director of The Mark Challenge
We are now in our ninth edition and we have received a large number of projects from students and professionals coming from Universities and Business Schools all over the world.
We are able to organize this competition and create this incredible event year after year thanks to the generous contributions of professors, Program Directors, and Jury Members, who are essential in ensuring the neutrality of the selection process.
We rely on you to make sure that this edition’s numbers increase as they have done in the previous years.
A few words from Dr. Julia Riedmeier, Founder & Managing Director of Code Luxe, Strategy Consultant and Adjunct Professor
The annual business plan competition “The Mark Challenge” is an excellent opportunity to fuel the entrepreneurial spirit in the luxury industry, to lead business ideas into a more sustainable future, and to connect students with industry professionals and academics.
Over the years, the Mark Challenge has become an integral part of my second semester luxury course in the Master’s program at Munich Business School.
The business concept is equivalent to the midterm exam, while the business plan is related to the final – whether or not my students pass the first or second competition hurdle. In this way, the students can directly apply their knowledge from different disciplines, sharpen their luxury business mindset in relation to social and environmental pillars, and enhance their entrepreneurial skills. Another element is our Luxury Insight Talk, to which I invite, for example, the winners and finalists of the 2020 edition from our program.
During these talks, the alumni share their experiences and serve as a sounding board for new ideas. We truly embrace the full potential of this enriching initiative as it supports moving the luxury business to a better future and educates the upcoming talents of the industry.
A heartfelt thank you and applause to Dr. Annalisa Tarquini and the International University of Monaco, who initiated the competition in 2014, and to the fantastic Mark Challenge team for bringing this incredible opportunity to life.
It is definitely an annual highlight not to be missed for any luxury enthusiast!
If you are a professor or Program Director and would like to include the Mark Challenge into your teaching program, please contact us at themark@monaco.edu. We can organize personalized information sessions for your students and provide you with all the information you need to participate.
Ambassadors wanted!
We are looking for ambassadors for the Mark Challenge.
If you were a participant, if you registered, or if you plan to register to the competition, and you want to tell us what inspired you to do it, please contact Valentina at themark@monaco.edu.
You will have the opportunity to be featured on the competition’s social profiles.
N.B. If you have registered or intend to register for this edition, the videos must not contain any reference to your project for reasons of neutrality in the jury’s evaluation of the projects.
Take a look at the last information session!
You can access the information session that took place on January, 24th by clicking on the following link: https://we.tl/t-sDbeaIJ88v
Stay tuned on our social media profiles for updates on upcoming information sessions.
For more information about the Mark Challenge competition, please feel free to visit our website and follow our social media pages (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook).
