Visa Contest Courts Young Entrepreneurs

Visa USA targets young inventors with an online contest dangling seed money to produce their inventions.

The essay contest, dubbed Ideas Happen, fields entries from 18- to 29-year-olds who describe their big idea (in 250 words or less). A panel of judges rates each entry, then chooses a total of 90 in three categories ("community," "self-expression" and "entrepreneur"). A second panel of judges—celebrities, this time—chooses 30 semi-finalists (10 in each category), and then consumers vote online for their favorites. The top 12 vote getters each win $25,000 to produce their invention.

The contest garnered 150,000 entries last year, its inaugural year. Category sponsors are Wells Fargo ("community") Bank of America ("entrepreneur") and First National Bank of Omaha ("self-expression") as well as overall sponsor, San Francisco-based Visa. The contest runs Sept. 1 through Jan. 14, 2005.

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