A team of USC undergraduates competed for the first time at the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) 2025 Global Finals held April 11–12, tying for fourth place. Global VCIC is one of the largest venture capital competitions, giving students a chance to act as venture capitalists and present analysis and recommendations on real startups. At the regional level, 48 teams competed, and USC’s undergraduate team was one of nine teams to advance to the global finals.

VCIC is a one-day due diligence experience, where students are able to put themselves in the shoes of venture capitalists by simulating the VC due diligence process. Real startup founders pitch to student teams, and in turn, student teams interview founders, ask questions, and finally propose an investment decision that is pitched to real VCs who are participating as judges. In the end, a winning team and winning startup is named.

The undergraduate team featured USC Marshall students Carson Davis, Akshay Manglani, Henry Miller, and Wednesday Satterlee, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences student Vedant Kapoor, and USC Viterbi School of Engineering student Debra Erdenemandakh. The students advanced after winning VCIC West, held at Brigham Young University on February 8. It is the first undergraduate USC team to advance to the VCIC Global Finals.

The USC Marshall Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies hosted a four-part VCIC-focused workshop in the fall preparing participating graduate and undergraduate students to compete in the worldwide competition. The workshops, led by William Hsu, founding partner of Mucker Capital, covered term sheets, cap tables, valuation, VC funding strategies, and more.

The team was also supported by the Greif Center’s faculty and staff, including director Elissa Grossman and managing director Monica Dean. Each team member came to the competition with the mindset of resilience and a desire to learn about their own ability and potential.

“Last year, our team came in third place in the VCIC regionals,” said Manglani, a senior finance major. "It was painful to lose and I wanted to prove that Trojans are capable."

Davis, a sophomore at Marshall, said his athletic background compelled him to be a part of a team, work toward a goal, and try to get a win. However, getting a win was not easy. The competition took place over two days, during which the team got little sleep. Davis said the biggest challenge was staying level-headed through the rounds despite the sleepless nights and long days.

“You have to be open to learning after you’ve been awake and constantly working,” said Satterlee, a business administration major at USC Marshall. “Keeping a positive mindset after doing an intense amount of work is an immense challenge.”