E+I External Competitions

Coming Up

Baylor New Venture

Registration Opens: Sept 1, 2024
Registration Closes: Nov 3, 2024 11:59 p.m. (CST)

A Transformative Experience

The John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise will host the 12th annual Baylor New Venture Competition on March 28-29, 2025 at Baylor University’s Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. This business plan and elevator pitch competition showcases collegiate student created, managed and led ventures from across the globe. The competition provides participants with personal and professional development through:

• industry-specific mentorship towards sustainable business plans,
• exclusive access to accomplished experts and fellow innovators,
• and a chance to compete for over $250,000 in cash prizes and vital resources.

Registration for this event is open from September 1- November 3, 2024.

Draper Competition for Collegiate Women

New details coming Fall 2024!

The Draper Competition for Collegiate Women Entrepreneurs is an on-ramp for undergraduate women seeking access to entrepreneurship opportunities, capital and networks.

Deadlines Have Passed

Tulane Business Model Competition

Deadline: 23:59:59 UTC on January 14, 2024

Competition: March 11-12, 2024

College entrepreneurs with promising startup ventures are invited to enter the 22nd annual Tulane Business Model Competition for a chance to win their share of a cash prize. In 2023 the cash award totaled $125,000.

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, in a leadership position, 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. The contest rewards those that are creating commercially viable ventures through breaking down an idea into a key business model hypothesis, have tested their assumptions with customers; and applied Customer Development/Lean Startup principles to refine the model for improved success. 

For more information visit the competition page.

Please contact Professor English before applying, yjenglish@gcc.edu.

TCU Neely Values and Ventures

Deadline for applications: February 1, 2024

Event: March 23-24, 2024

A unique annual competition for undergraduate students around the world to pitch plans for businesses, products or services that make a profit while also benefiting the environment, the community or a specific population. Presented by the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX.

Unique Mission 

The Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures^® Business Plan Competition stands out from other business plan competitions by focusing on for-profit enterprises that specifically impact society in meaningful ways. Plans must demonstrate a societal or environmental need to be filled, as well as the profitability of the business. Check out the TCU Neely Website for more information and contact Prof. Yvonne English yjenglish@gcc.edu

Values-Centered Enterprise Concepts 

A values-centered enterprise assures sustainable prosperity while also supporting the needs of company owners and shareholders, employees and their families, suppliers, customers, communities and the environment. Concepts submitted for this competition should seek to contribute to the health and well-being of specific internal or external stakeholders through its proposed products, services and profits. Examples could include contributions to sustainability, innovations in the health and life sciences, innovations in energy or opportunities for under-represented groups in business.

Prizes

Huge cash prizes are up for grabs from a $40,000 grand prize, to $2500 honorable mentions.

e-Fest

Registration Opens: Thursday, Feb 1, 2024
Registration Closes: Friday, Mar 3, 2024 (11:59pm PST)

Event: April 18-20, 2024

Undergraduates from around the country are again invited to compete for an appearance at e-Fest®–a 3-day celebration of undergraduate entrepreneurship culminating in the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge, where students have the chance to compete for over $215,000 in cash prizes.

For more information, please visit the EIX e-Fest® website and check out the e-Fest Informational Flyer.  To register, please contact Prof. Yvonne English englishyj@gcc.edu

Highlight: 2017 e-Fest

Grove City College Entrepreneurship majors Hannah Vaccaro ’18 and Ross Harrington ’17 earned a spot as finalists with their pitch for PeeWee Packs, a toilet training aid, in the 2017 EIX e-Fest National Business Plan Competition.  Read the press release here.

Allegheny College Zingale Big Idea Competition

Deadline:  March 22 (contact Prof. English) 

Competition: April 26-27, 2024

The 2024 Zingale Big Idea Competition is a student-focused seed-funding business pitch presentation competition. The Annual Competition will award a whopping total of $30,000 in prize money among the student winners. This contest emulates the experiences seen on the popular CNBC broadcast, Shark Tank.

To be eligible to compete in the Zingale Big Idea Competition, all contestants must submit an Executive Summary of a business plan to Chris Allison no later than April 5, 2024 via email.  The Executive Summarymust include an overview of the companies financials, including monthly operating costs, startup costs and at least a 1-year income statement.  A three year outlook is preferable.

Please contact Professor English before applying, yjenglish@gcc.edu.

Duquesne University New Venture Challenge

Duquesne University New Venture Challenge is a three-stage business plan competition open to anyone in the Pittsburgh region and beyond.  Entrants should submit a short description of their business idea along with a one-minute video pitch. $3K in cash prizes.  DNVC Committee selects up to 15 semi-finalist teams to advance to Stage II.  Cash and service prizes valued at over $100,000.

Registration for this competition is open through November 12th, 2023 at 11:59 PM.

For more information, please visit the Duquesne University New Venture Challenge website. Should you choose to enter, please let Professor English know as the Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation can assist you in the process. Good luck!

CodeLaunch Dallas

Upcoming 2024 StartUp Competitions in Houston, Minneapolis, and Toronto.

What do you get when you combine a seed accelerator competition, tech tradeshow, a startup conference, and a raucous networking event?

You get CodeLaunch!

CodeLaunch sponsors and partners put thousands of dollars in professional seed services behind the winners of its national seed accelerator competition. CodeLaunch has become a unique and critical amenity to pre-MVP startups.

At the core of CodeLaunch is an annual seed accelerator competition between individuals and groups who have software technology startup ideas.