The Regnier Venture Creation Challenge is sweetening the pot for this year’s business plan competition. The top team will take home $20,000 – twice the size of last year’s award.

The challenge is presented every year by the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Students will compete Thursday and Friday at the university’s Henry W. Bloch School of Management.

A total of $50,000 in prize money will be awarded. About 40 teams from UMKC, Fort Hays State, Lincoln, the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri-Columbia are set to take part.

Sixteen semifinalists will be selected at the end of Thursday – they’ll be announced at 5:30 p.m. on Facebook. They’ll give presentations from 9:30 to 11:10 a.m. Friday. That group will be whittled down to four finalists, who’ll present again at 12:15 p.m. An awards presentation will be held at 2:45 p.m. in Room 218 of Bloch Hall.

“The Regnier Venture Creation Challenge, now in its sixth year, is one of the many ways in which the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation supports and promotes Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Jeff Hornsby, the institute’s director.

“Our portfolio continues to grow steadily, as it did this year with the opening of the Bloch Venture Hub. The Regnier Venture Creation Challenge is special because it is focused on the students and community who will lead our community’s business and job creation process for decades to come.”

The second-place team will walk away with $10,000, with awards of $5,000 and $2,500 for the third- and fourth-place finishers, respectively. And that doesn’t count $12,500 in prize money that’ll be spread across eight other categories.