The 2nd DBJ New Business Plan Competition for Women Entrepreneurs:Announcement of Application Guidelines and Judges for Final Review

Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ; President and Chief Executive Officer: Toru Hashimoto) has announced the application guidelines for the 2nd DBJ New Business Plan Competition for Women Entrepreneurs and the judges for the competition’s final review.

Applicants will be evaluated on the originality and business potential of their business plans and on their own ability to run a commercial enterprise. The first examination will be based on submitted documents and the second will take the form of an interview. There will then be a final review by the judging panel listed below, followed by the selection of winners.


Application Guidelines for the 2nd DBJ New Business Plan Competition for Women Entrepreneurs
1.Eligibility
Plans will be accepted for women-run businesses which are innovative ? offering original technologies, services, or business models, or promising high added value ? and show outstanding potential for commercial growth. Both first-time entrepreneurs and those who are starting a second business (either in a different business category or as a start-up) are eligible.

2.Prizes
There will be two prizes: the DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Grand Prize and the DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Prize. Winners will receive business incentive funds ? up to 10 million yen for the Grand Prize winner and up to 5 million yen for the Entrepreneurs Prize winner ? and one year of mentoring to maximize their chances of success.

3.Schedule
(1)　Acceptance of business plans:December 25, 2012 (Tuesday) ?February 28, 2013 (Thursday)
(2)　Seminar “How to write a business plan“:January 21, 2013 (Monday)
(3)　Announcement of results of 1st review:Mid-April, 2013
(4)　Announcement of results of 2nd review:Mid-May, 2013
(5)　Final review:June 4, 2013 (Tuesday)
(6)　Announcement of winners:Late June, 2013

4.Application flow
Applicants are asked to submit an Entry Sheet, Executive Summary, and Business Plan. Please see the Application Guidelines for details.


Final Review Panel for the 2nd DBJ New Business Plan Competition for Women Entrepreneurs

	Name	Organization and Position
Chair	Sakie Fukushima Tachibana	President and Chief Executive Officer, G&S Global Advisors Inc. (Vice-chairman, Japan Association of Corporate Executives)
Members	Sakie Akiyama	President and Chief Executive Officer, Saki Corporation
	Shigeo Kagami	Professor and General Manager, Division of University Corporate Relations (DUCR), Tokyo University
	Noriko Nakamura	Chief Executive Officer, Poppins Co., Ltd.
	Yoshinari Morimoto	Director, Executive Partners, Inc. (Member, Investment Decision Committee, DBJ Capital Co., Ltd.)
	Tatsuo Yamakawa	Editor-in-Chief, Nikkei Business, Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.
	Toru Nabeyama	Chief Economist, Economic & Industrial Research Department, Development Bank of Japan Inc.

Providing aspiring businesswomen with integrated support is in keeping with the DBJ corporate philosophy: “Applying Financial Expertise to Design the Future.”

Inquiries:
DBJ Women Entrepreneurs Center
Corporate Finance Department, Division 4
Telephone: +81-3-3244-1652