Contest organizers, partnering with the University of Minnesota and Wells Fargo, have announced the Third Annual Minnesota Cup; the statewide contest designed to seek out, support, celebrate and promote Minnesota's newest and most innovative business ideas.

Starting today through May 25, contest organizers are asking Minnesotans to submit business ideas online at www.breakthroughideas.org.

"The past two years have been amazing. We are extremely excited to be kicking off the third year because the contest now has a history which shows entrants are benefiting from the competition and experience," said Scott Litman, one of the contest co-founders.

Over the past two years more than 1,200 contestants have entered. The initial entry form is brief and all entrepreneurs are encouraged to enter; whether they are just putting ideas into a vision or whether they have been building their venture.

Top entrants will be asked to participate in two additional rounds of competition. In the second round of the competition, thirty semi-finalists will be asked to develop a detailed business plan. They will be provided with resources from the James J. Hill Library and have an opportunity to meet members of the CEO Roundtable, a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization of CEOs from fast growing companies. In the final round of the contest, five finalists will present to a prestigious panel of business leaders, investors and notable entrepreneurs.

The winner of the competition will receive $25,000 in seed capital and advice from Wells Fargo and other leaders in finance, accounting, legal and management support services. The winner also will receive the Minnesota Cup, presented by David and Carolyn Cleveland and sponsored by the University of Minnesota. Second and third place winners will receive $5,000 and $2,500 respectively.

Student entrepreneurs may also submit their business ideas for judging. One student winner will receive a $5,000 prize. Students must be enrolled full-time at a Minnesota college or university and have less than five years of professional work experience.

Entries for the Minnesota Cup competition may be submitted individually or as a group of up to four people. The competition will culminate with an awards event in Fall 2007 where the prizewinners will be announced.

One of the contest's core ideas is to connect entrants with leaders in Minnesota's business and investor community. To that end, a board of notable regional investors, entrepreneurs and "C" level executives has been assembled to judge contest submissions.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Business Concept/Idea: We are looking for business concepts with a clear and well-articulated value proposition. Judges will be looking to understand why the market needs this idea. Who is the target audience and how will does product/service standout in a competitive environment? Ideas can be for a product or service entirely new idea or the evolution of a previous idea. Ideas that show the greatest innovation will be viewed more favorably.

• Implementation: What is the entrant's strategy for turning the idea into a high-growth business? Judges will be evaluating ideas on their potential to generate revenue, profits and employment. Judges are looking for ideas that can generate impact within two years.

• Quality of Presentation: As the contest progresses from round one to round two, more emphasis will be placed on an entrant's quality of presentation.

Five finalists will be honored in Fall 2007 at the Third Annual Minnesota Cup ceremony at the University of Minnesota. At the event, the finalists will make their final oral presentation; the three contest winners and student winner will be announced and given their prizes.

Contest entrants should contact the James J. Hill Library with questions and to learn more about the three rounds of preliminary judging and deadlines at (651) 265-5500, or e-mail support@breakthroughideas.org.