Verified Entrepreneurship Competitions
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Competition Name
Application Open
Fall Quarter
Count11
1
ASU Innovation Open
2
Baylor New Venture Competition
3
Duquesne New Venture Challenge
4
ETHDenver
5
FORGE
6
HealthTECH Startup Competition
7
Longevity Design Challenge
8
Startup Energy Transition (SET) Award
9
SXSW Pitch
10
TigerLaunch
11
Tulane Business Model Competition
12
Rice Business Plan Competition
13
Black New Venture Competition
14
EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP)
15
Innovation World Cup®
16
Kellogg Startup Pitch Competition
17
MIT Climate & Energy Prize (MIT CEP)
18
MIT Sloan Healthcare Innovations Prize (SHIP)
19
Network of International Business Schools (NIBS) Business Plan Competition
20
University of Oregon New Venture Championship
21
WashU Olin's BIG IdeaBounce®
22
Collegiate Inventors Competition
23
D-Prize
24
Kellogg Healthcare Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition
25
Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition
26
Pear Competition
27
University Pitch Madness Chicago
28
VentureCat
29
7th Annual Summer Launch Party & Pitch Battle
30
Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Business Plan Competition (COEBPC)
31
SLINGSHOT 2023
32
Amber Grant
33
Brown Forman Cardinal Challenge
34
CodeLaunch
35
Global Student Entrepreneur Awards
36
Healthcare Innovation World Cup®
37
HITLAB Women's Health Tech Challenge
38
PITCH at Collision
39
Startup World Cup
Application Open
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
Count1
Application Open
Winter Quarter
Count9
Application Open
Spring Quarter
Count7
Application Open
Summer Quarter
Count3
Application Open
Varies
Count8
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Host Organization
Location
Eligible Students
Description
Application Open
Competition Time
Website
Focus Area
Notes
Verified?
Fall 2024 Review
Arizona State University
Arizona
Graduate Students
The ASU Innovation Open is designed to challenge and advance university student innovators who aim to develop hard tech ventures.
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://asu.io/
Hard tech ventures
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Baylor University
Waco, Texas
Recent Alumni
Graduate Students
The Baylor New Venture Competition is a business plan competition offered annually by Baylor University. 10 finalist teams compete for over $250,000 in non-dilutive prizes.
Fall Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://hankamer.baylor.edu/baugh-center/new-venture
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA
Early-Stage company
Our three-stage business plan competition is open to anyone in the Pittsburgh region and beyond. Anyone in the continental United States is encouraged to apply.
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://www.duq.edu/academics/colleges-and-schools/business/team-competitions/new-venture-challenge.php
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Community run
Denver, CO
Anyone
ETHDenver is the largest Web3 #BUIDLathon in the world (fka hackathon) for Ethereum and other blockchain protocol enthusiasts, designers and developers. Blockchain companies from around the world will host events in an open source format, inviting all to attend. Then moving into main event weekend, venues come to life featuring talks and workshops by top blockchain influencers and experts, BUIDLathon space to collaborate on projects, art installations, live music, networking events, food, drink
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://www.ethdenver.com/
Blockchain technology
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
University of Illinois
Illinois
Graduate Students
Early-Stage company
FORGE is the largest student-run startup weekend in the Midwest. The event includes a pitch competition, networking, workshops and speaker sessions.
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://www.foundersillinois.org/forge
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Nemera Innovation Labs and mHUB
Chicago, IL
Early-Stage company
HealthTECH is a competition for startup companies developing medical device or digital health technologies. Teams put together business plans and pitches to proceed to the final round where they compete for a $20,000 prize pool.
Fall Quarter
Fall Quarter
https://insightpd.com/2022-nemera-startup-competition/
Medical Devices; Digital Health
Verified
Need to Review
The Stanford Center on Longevity
Stanford University
Graduate Students
The Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge is a global competition that encourages students to design products and services to improve well-being across the lifespan. In its tenth year, the Challenge is focused on the optimization of health span – the period of life spent in good health, free from chronic diseases and disabilities.
Fall Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://longevity.stanford.edu/design-challenge/#overview
Health, Longevity
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Startup Energy Transition (SET)
Berlin, Germany
Early-Stage company
The Start Up Energy Transition Award is an international competition for startups and young companies worldwide who are working on ideas affecting global energy transition and climate change.
Fall Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://www.startup-energy-transition.com/set-award-2025/
Global energy transition; Climate change; Clean energy
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
South by Southwest® (SXSW®)
Austin, Texas
Early-Stage company
SXSW Pitch showcases innovative new technology to a panel of industry experts, high-profile media professionals, venture capital investors, and angel investors.
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://www.sxsw.com/pitch/
Various technology categories
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Princeton University
Varies - Regionals
Early-Stage company
TigerLaunch is a student-run entrepreneurship competition hosted by students from Princeton. TigerLaunch provides $35k in no-strings-attached funding as prizes, over half a million dollars of Google Cloud Credit and networking opportunities with top venture capitalists.
Fall Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://tigerlaunch.com/home
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA
Graduate Students
Early-Stage company
Hosted by the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Tulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business, this student startup competition is open to teams that include at least one degree-seeking undergraduate or graduate student from any college or university. The Tulane Business Model Competition seeks early-stage ventures that can demonstrate how they are adapting to their customers’ needs.
Fall Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://freeman.tulane.edu/tbmc
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Rice University
Rice University, Houston, Texas
Founder of a startup
Graduate Students
University student entrepreneurs from around the world get real-world experience pitching their startups to over 250 investors and judges at Rice University in Houston. Every startup accepted into the competition is guaranteed a cash prize, and teams must have at least one graduate student.
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://rbpc.rice.edu/
Energy, Cleantech & Sustainability; Hard Tech; Life Sciences & Healthcare; Digital Enterprise; Consumer Products & Services
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
The African American Student Union At Harvard Business School
Graduate Students
Founder of a startup
Early-Stage company
The Black New Venture Competition (BNVC) connects promising early-stage Black founders with resources to develop their ventures into dynamic powerhouses. The competition serves as a launching pad for innovative ventures by providing exposure to capital, mentors, and advisors. Previous winners have gone on to raise more than $10 million in venture funding and have been accepted into prestigious accelerators (Y Combinator, Techstars).
Winter Quarter
https://blacknewventurecompetition.submittable.com/submit
Self-identified Black founders
Verified
Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Varies - Regional
Graduate Students
Sponsored by the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) is a collegiate competition challenging multidisciplinary student teams to develop and present a business plan that leverages high-potential energy technologies. EnergyTech UP awards cash prizes to teams that successfully identify an energy technology, assess its market potential, and propose a strategy for commercialization.
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://www.herox.com/EnergyTechUP
Energy technology
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Varies
Early-Stage company
The Innovation World Cup®, the world’s leading competition for IoT, Wearable and DeepTech start-ups & scale-ups, is welcoming international techpreneurs to make their innovations visible to the world and create valuable business connections. Join the 15th edition of the Innovation World Cup® in the categories Industrial, Energy, Mobility, Security, City, Agriculture, Home, Lifestyle and Sports
Winter Quarter
Varies
https://www.innovationworldcup.com/innovation-world-cup/
IoT, Wearable and DeepTech
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Northwestern / Kellogg
Evanston, IL
Kellogg Students
Organized by the Kellogg Entrepreneur’s Organization (KEO), the Kellogg Venture Challenge gives students an opportunity to pitch their startup idea and gain valuable feedback from members of the startup and Kellogg School community. The competition offers $10,000 in prizes, and is open to Kellogg students only.
Winter Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-research/entrepreneurship/student-experience/competitions.aspx
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
MIT
Boston
Graduate Students
The MIT Climate & Energy Prize (MIT CEP) is the longest running and largest Climatetech startup competition for university students. Over the past 15 years, 100+ CEP alumni have successfully launched companies and collectively raised over $1.7 billion in follow-on funding. MIT CEP teams compete for more than $100,000 in Grand Prize* and other monetary prizes.
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://cep.mit.edu/
Energy, environment, and climate change
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
MIT Sloan
Cambridge, MA
Graduate Students
Recent Alumni
The Sloan Healthcare Innovations Prize (SHIP) is a pitch competition open to entrepreneurs innovating in the healthcare space . The mission of SHIP is to support early stage healthcare startups by providing feedback from, and opportunity to network with, experienced industry professionals. Past winners include Calla Health Foundation (2020), Kano Therapeutics (2021), SanaHealth (2022), and Zeph (2023). Board the SHIP to start your innovation journey in healthcare and for a chance to win prizes
Winter Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://www.sloan-hbc.mit.edu/explore-ship-2025-2
Healthcare
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Network of International Business Schools (NIBS)
Virtual
Graduate Students
Teams are challenged to improve an existing service, or product, or to conceive of a new service or product offering. Teams must then create a business plan and concept pitch video aimed at convincing potential investors to finance the business.
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://www.nibsweb.org/competitions/business-plan-competition/
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
University of Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Early-Stage company
Presented by the University of Oregon's Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship, the New Venture Championship (NVC) is a six-round business competition that has been held for more than 30 years. Teams from elite universities come to Portland every year to pitch their venture plans and vie for more than $50,000 in total cash awards. Teams must have at least one graduate student.
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://business.uoregon.edu/hands-on-learning/competitions/nvc
All industries; must be for-profit
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
WashU Olin and Poets&Quants
St. Louis, MO
Graduate Students
WashU Olin’s 2nd annual BIG IdeaBounce® powered by Poets&Quants is a pitch contest open to all current undergraduate and graduate school students OR any prospect interested in pursuing a graduate business school degree.
Winter Quarter
Winter Quarter
https://news.poetsandquants.com/washu-big-ideabounce
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
National Inventors Hall of Fame
Washington, D.C.
Graduate Students
The Collegiate Inventors Competition is a national competition that recognizes and rewards innovations, discoveries and research by university students and their faculty advisers. The competition encourages students who actively pursue invention.
Spring Quarter
Fall Quarter
https://www.invent.org/collegiate-inventors
Inventions with patentability
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
D-Prize
Virtual
Graduate Students
D-Prize seeds new ventures targeting extreme poverty alleviation at scale D-Prize is for aspiring entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world, of any age, and any background. The majority of our awardees have not launched nor raised any funding. We will consider funding existing organizations only if you are distributing an existing intervention and you have a need for high-risk capital that cannot be supported by your current donors or revenue. Existing organizations applying to D-Prize should
Spring Quarter
Fall Quarter
https://d-prize.org/
Extreme Poverty
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Kellogg Healthcare
Evanston, IL
Kellogg Students
Recent Alumni
Early-Stage company
Two Categories – Life Sciences: BioPharma, medical devices, diagnostics, etc. – Health Care Services: Digital health, software, payer/provider services, consumer health, etc. $70,000 of cash Prizes Each Category: – 1st $25,000 – 2nd $10,000
Spring Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/academics-research/healthcare-at-kellogg/healthcare-entrepreneurship-business-plan-competition/
Healthcare
Contact: hcakentrepreneurship@kellogg.northwestern.edu
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
University of Pennsylvania Graduate School
New York City
Early-Stage company
The Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC) is open to applicants worldwide. We welcome education ventures with innovative solutions to educational inequity from around the world, especially those ventures founded by and serving individuals from marginalized and historically underrepresented communities.
Spring Quarter
Fall Quarter
https://educationcompetition.org/apply/
Education ventures
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Pear
Varies
Graduate Students
Early-Stage company
The Pear Competition awards student startups with a $25k SAFE and a chance to enter the final round of interviews for the Pear Accelerator. Calls for entry are typically twice per year, in the fall and spring.
Spring Quarter
Fall Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://pear.vc/competition/
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Graduate Students
University Pitch Madness Chicago 2023 is an event where student startups from several Universities compete for a chance to win top prizes.
Spring Quarter
Summer Quarter
https://business.depaul.edu/about/centers-institutes/coleman-entrepreneurship-center/events-programs/Pages/Purpose-Pitch-Competition.aspx
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
Founder of a startup
VentureCat is Northwestern’s annual student startup competition and celebrates the University’s most promising student founders. The program culminates in a pitch competition in which more than $300,000 in non-dilutive prize money is distributed to student ventures.
Spring Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://www.venturecat.northwestern.edu/
5 Tracks: B to B; B to C; Energy & Sustainability; Life Sciences & Medical Innovations; Social Impact
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Illinois Science & Technology Coalition and mHub
Chicago, IL
Women & Diverse Groups
We're selecting up to 8 startups to pitch on stage at mHUB for a shot at winning a $3k cash prize. In order to be eligible for consideration, one of your founders / cofounders must identify as a member of a historically under-resourced founder group: Woman, Nonbinary, Person of Color, LatinX, LGBTQ, Immigrant, Refugee, Person with disability(ies), Military veteran or active duty.
Summer Quarter
Summer Quarter
https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-chicago-presents-8th-annual-pitch-battle-and-summer-launch-party/
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization
Tampa, FL
Graduate Students
The act of launching a new venture is the simplest path toward job security & financial freedom for any aspiring business founder. Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ have a great advantage in applying for and obtaining funding from Pitch Competitions, not to mention the lack of direct risk in launching a business.
Summer Quarter
Fall Quarter
https://www.c-e-o.org/globalpitch
Apps due: Sept 25, 2023
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Startup SG
Singapore
Early-Stage company
Deep tech startup pitching competition We are looking for new and exciting startups with innovative solutions to compete in this year's SLINGSHOT competition. Stand a chance to anchor yourself in Singapore - one of the world's top innovation nodes. What's more? Showcase your game-changing solutions to a global audience of investors and key industry leaders from five emerging challenge domains, and compete for over S$1.2 million in attractive prizes! SLINGSHOT 2023's Top 50 Global Startups will w
Summer Quarter
Fall Quarter
https://slingshot.agorize.com/en/challenges/2023-edition
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
WomensNet
Virtual
Founder of a startup
The Amber Grant Foundation awards a monthly $10,000 grant and an annual $25,000 grant for female founders to help support their startups.
Varies
Varies
https://ambergrantsforwomen.com/get-an-amber-grant/
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY
Graduate Students
Founder of a startup
The compact, one-day Challenge at the University of Louisville brings approximately 60 exceptional MBA and other graduate students and their coaches/mentors together for Business Plan and Fast Pitch competitions. The teams will compete for more than $32,000 in cash prizes by presenting their concepts to a panel of judges comprised of venture capitalists, angel investors, and successful entrepreneurs from three states.
Varies
Winter Quarter
https://business.louisville.edu/about/learning-at-cob/entrepreneurship/forcht-center-for-entrepreneurship/cardinal-challenge/
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Improving
Varies
Founder of a startup
Code Launch is a pitch competition where finalists are given free coding services to develop an MVP of their product as well as potential seed funding.
Varies
Varies
https://codelaunch.com/
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Entrepreneurs' Organization
Varies
Founder of a startup
Graduate Students
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) is a global competition for students who own and operate a business while attending college or university. Nominees compete against their peers from around the world in a series of local and/or national competitions in hopes to qualify for GSEA Finals.
Varies
Varies
https://gsea.org/
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Varies
Early-Stage company
The 15th Healthcare Innovation World Cup® is looking for the next generation of smart health devices, medical wearables, digital biomarkers, electroceuticals, intelligent patches, and more. HealthTech and MedTech innovators worldwide are invited to take part in free of charge.
Varies
Varies
https://www.innovationworldcup.com/healthcare/
Healthcare tech
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
HitLab
Virtual
Early-Stage company
This event is a competition to identify emerging technologies that use innovative endeavors in digital healthcare technology to improve the state of women’s health on a global scale. Cash prizes and in-kind services awarded.
Varies
Varies
https://www.hitlab.org/events-wht-official-rules/
Women's health
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Collision
Toronto
Early-Stage company
PITCH is Collision’s startup competition, highlighting promising startups in a pitching battle. First, you must apply to be part of the Collision conference's ALPHA startup program to have the opportunity to participate in PITCH.
Varies
Varies
https://collisionconf.com/startups/pitch
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
Pegasus Tech Ventures
Varies - Global
Early-Stage company
Startup World Cup is a global conference and competition that brings together the top startups, VCs, entrepreneurs and world-class tech CEOs. We are partnering with some of world’s largest conferences and tech events to host 70+ regional startup competitions for North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Australia. Startup World Cup is an international startup competition that offers a $1,000,000 grand prize investment as well as exposure to corporations and investors alike.
Varies
Fall Quarter
Winter Quarter
Spring Quarter
https://www.startupworldcup.io/
All industries
Verified
Reviewed and Updated
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