BEST (Best Ecolonomic Student Training) of the Best Program

Program Summary:

Nourish the Planet is launching a business accelerator that will change the face of education and ecopreneurship. We call it The Best of the BEST (Best Ecolonomic Student Training) Entrepreneurial Program (BOTB). These fellows will embark on an intensive one year program with the goal of having a cash flowing, low-tech green business upon completion. We will be selecting from a worldwide section of applicants and be narrowing it down to 50 teams/applicants.

NTP will focus on people, as much as, if not more than ideas, in its selection process. Those 50 teams/applicants will be then invited to come to our Draft Day where we will pick the Final Ten. Those Final Ten will be matched with Qualified Placement Partners with particular interests in Green projects, with the anticipation of being  funded for $100,000 (see details below). These Qualified Placement Partners will be provided an opportunity to interact and explore relationships with the most dynamic and driven ecolonomic minds across the spectrum of ecopreneurship.

Qualified Placement Partners will also be exposed by NTP to possible investment opportunities in green businesses that are owned by selected Members of the NTP Membership Community.

The BOTB Program Elements:

The BOTB program involves synergistic connections between  Qualified Placement Partners, Best of the Best Fellows, Nourish the Planet Community Member Ecopreneurs and Nourish the Planet, L3C. Qualified Placement Partners have the ability to profit from connections made with both NTP Community Members and BOTB Fellows and NTP benefits by its role in enabling more ecopreneurs to Teach the World to Feed Itself.

Any funding of BOTB Fellows or NTP Community Members from Qualified Placement Partners will occur directly between those parties, without the direct involvement of Nourish the Planet, L3C. NTP is providing a business accelerator environment for BOTB Fellows and business development services to NTP Community Member Ecopreneurs. NTP will also facilitate presentations for BOTB Fellows and NTP Community Member Ecopreneurs with outside angel and venture capital funding sources.

BOTB Fellows:

Possible BOTB Fellows (Fellow Candidates) will submit formal applications to NTP that will be due approximately two months before the semi-annual Draft Day selection process. Fellow Candidates can be teams of one to three people. History at other business accelerators shows that teams of two or three are often more attractive and successful than single person Fellow Candidates. If selected through the intensive BOTB screening process and final Top Ten Draft they will be matched as available with the Private Placement Partners to be provided their funding requirement. The Private Placement Partners will be monitoring the entire selection process and will ultimately make decisions about possible funding.

The Fellow’s will come to our Loveland, Colo. campus for one year of intense training and business development. They will be given appropriate space to work, business coaching, supplies and mentoring. NTP, as well as the matched Private Placement Partners, will monitor the Fellows to make sure that they are meeting all of their metrics. The Fellows will be the kind of people that eat, sleep, live, and breathe their business ecopreneurial passions. Anything less will result in failure.

At the end of their year of residency in the BOTB Program the Fellows will present their developed and first stage funded (by the Private Placement Partners) business plans to a broad audience of potential second stage funding sources, which could include the Private Placement Partners. After their year as Fellows the now Alumni Fellows are encouraged to stay engaged with the NTP Program as ambassadors and evangelists.

BOTB  Private Placement Partners:

The Private Placement Partners will go through a vetting process for eligibility, which includes funding at minimum of a $100,000 into a trust account. The funds posted to the trust account are the Private Placement Partner’s funds and can be withdrawn at any time at the Placement Partner’s option. Once vetted and proven qualified, Private Placement Partners will be afforded the opportunity to directly connect with BOTB Fellow Candidates and even allocate Units (see eligibility criteria) toward a project if agreed upon with the BOTB student/fellows.

Private Placement Partner Membership Fees:

A fee of $10,000 is charged by NTP for Membership and determination of eligibility.

Private Placements:

Each Fellow Candidate will make known a certain number of units and the cost per unit (with a maximum of 20 and a minimum cost per unit of $5000) that the Fellow Candidate is seeking for his or her project. NTB will have reviewed with each Fellow Candidate their proposal to assist in determining an adequate and/or appropriate funding requirement as part of the Fellow candidate’s educational regimen in the BOTB Program. If a match is made with a Fellow Candidate and a Placement Partner, the Partner may allocate funds from the trust account by designating a number of units the Placement Partner wishes to provide. Upon a match, a Placement Partner can place blocks into any of the 10 finalists’ projects or they can use all of them on one project. Placement Partners are provided a “match draft order,” meaning to first put their money into an escrow account and this will get the first match opportunity.

Example of a Private Placement of  a Fellow Candidate:

It is anticipated that the Fellow Candidates will most often be seeking $100,000 for their business and Fellowship funding. The $100,000 funded into the Fellow’s business is anticipated to be broken down as follows: $50,000 for tuition, business development space and overhead of the program;$25,000 for living expenses for the team; and $25,000 for supplies and equipment. NTP may from time to time allow Fellows to be funded for longer than one year, but that will be on a case-by-case basis. Once the year is complete, the Private Placement Partner will have first opportunity to fund the second round of capital needs and/or work with the Fellow to get the second round of funding accomplished.

Nourish the Planet, L3C Role:

Nourish The Planet does not provide investment advice. The content available is for informational purposes only. NTP or its affiliates may have equity in placements made. Any such interests shall be disclosed as such interests are known to NTP. The Fellow and Private Placement Partners will all be made aware, in advance of Draft Day about the corporate structure, documents, and ownership shares, as established by the Student. Once the draft has taken place, the Sponsor (s), the Fellow, and NTP will execute a new company formation.

Other Funding Possibilities for Private Placement Partners:

Selected NTP Membership Community Members can present business opportunities to the Private Placement Partner Members for funding. All the same eligibility and placement criteria described above for the BOTB Fellows will apply. These opportunities will become available randomly throughout the year, and will be presented to the Private Placement Partners on a first come first served basis. NTP’s role in the connection of Private Placement Partners to selected NTP Community Members will be as described for the BOTB Fellows. NTP will not provide any investment advice.