The New Venture Challenge is open to all Mississippi innovation and technology entrepreneurs in 3 categories:  student-led companies, Pre-Revenue companies, which is made up of companies that are currently generating little to no revenue and the Revenue Generating division, which is made up of companies generating over $5,000 in revenue annually or in the past 12 months.  Companies can be start-ups or existing companies with a new venture opportunity, but the new venture must be innovation-based.  Innovation-based ventures derive their primary business from proprietary products, processes, or business systems – whether protected by intellectual property or not.  For existing companies, judging will be based solely on the new venture opportunity.