Be Part of the Data Economy and Help Transform the World
The UTSA Draper Data Science Business Plan Competition is designed for student entrepreneurs globally to advance business ventures that use data science to create value – with the potential to change the world in which we live and work.
The competition considers data science broadly as a field of inquiry and application encompassing computing, mathematical, or statistical methods and technologies in synergy with domain expertise and big data sets to solve unmet problems.
Teams representing the student-founded and managed business ventures that participate in the Draper Competition have the opportunity to win $100,000 in cash investments in their ventures, while receiving expert guidance from mentors and judges.
Additionally, this competition gives university students an exceptional opportunity to develop marketable skills that complement their classroom knowledge. The competition supports students committed to tackling global challenges while deepening their own learning and broadening their professional skills, including leadership, teamwork and communication.
About UTSA School of Data Science
UTSA is a national leader in the areas artificial intelligence and data science, as well as cloud computing and cybersecurity. The School of Data Science (SDS) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) was established in 2018 and integrates education and research in these areas. It is the newest academic unit at UTSA, a public research university founded in 1969 expressly to advance the education of underserved communities. Today, UTSA strives to be a model of student success, a great research university, and an exemplar for strategic growth and innovative excellence.
SDS is the cornerstone of UTSA’s 10-year plan to develop its Downtown Campus as a destination (1) for producing highly skilled professionals and researchers in data science and analytics and (2) for advancing economic development, personal prosperity, and social mobility in an urban core. Our vision at SDS is to inspire and prepare a generation of diverse data scientists who can make our world more equitable, informed, and secure. We embrace the core values of our university — integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration, and innovation — in our commitment to data science research and education that is focused:
- Fair (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable)
- Open
- Convergence-driven
- Use-inspired
- Security-aware
The Draper Data Science Business Plan Competition, made possible by a $1 million gift from Tim and Melissa Draper, is integral to our vision and exemplifies our values.
Why San Antonio?
San Antonio is one of the top up-and-coming tech markets in the country and has a growing ecosystem to support entrepreneurs and startups. Among the entities of this support structure are Alamo Angels, Geekdom, LaunchSA, the 80/20 Foundation and VelocityTX. The South Texas region is also home to a number of organizations for whom expertise in data science is mission critical. Among these are Rackspace, PWC, USAA, H-E-B, Toyota, Valero and Port San Antonio. This competition will help strengthen ties with these organizations and fuel their programs with talent.
“Data science will drive the greatest transformations of the next few decades. Business plan competitions tend to encourage and attract those people who are going to make those transformations. Melissa and I have found these competitions to be a magnet for progress and change.”
