About
The Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition is considered the most prestigious and well-funded education business plan competition, attracting innovative ideas from around the world. Since 2010, the competition has awarded more than $2 million in cash prizes. Winners and finalists have gone on to secure more than $200 million in funding.
The Milken-Penn GSE EBPC celebrates and nurtures purpose-driven ventures that seek to address systemic inequities in education through innovation.
We share an urgency with education entrepreneurs to transform global education systems to create boundless opportunities and equitable outcomes for all learners, particularly those who have been marginalized and underserved by society. Through our ecosystem of entrepreneurs, judges, mentors, and sponsors, we seek to elevate diverse voices and empower changemakers to design and scale impactful solutions that address the most persistent and emerging issues across the education landscape.
A Legacy of Innovation
Launched in 2010 as a partnership between Penn GSE and the foundations of the Milken families, the Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) culminates with a live competition of education business ventures, judged by a panel of industry experts.
Welcoming entrepreneurs with innovative ideas in education from around the world
Educational entrepreneurship ventures can address a wide range of educational issues. We encourage applications in every conceivable educational setting–from early childhood through corporate and adult training, in settings and contexts anywhere in the world.
By entering the EBPC, participants join an education ecosystem of engaged investors, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and researchers all striving to address persistent and emerging problems in education.
Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition participants work closely with industry experts to hone their pitch and develop their venture along four focus areas:
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Leadership
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Product
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Market
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Finance
Partners
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Michael and Lori Milken Family Foundation
The foundations of the Milken families strive to discover and advance inventive, effective ways of helping people help themselves and those around them lead productive and satisfying lives. The means most conducive to achieving these goals is through education.
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Penn Graduate School of Education
No other education school enjoys a university environment as supportive of practical knowledge-building as the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania. Penn GSE is notably entrepreneurial, launching innovative degree programs for practicing professionals and unique partnerships with local educators, and the first-ever business plan competition devoted exclusively to educational products and programs.
Our sponsors
The Milken-Penn GSE EBPC is grateful to our additional generous and forward-thinking sponsors:
