Competitions

If you decide to apply, the Innovation Studio can help guide you. Students can apply for grants to cover travel and lodging expenses to competitions so you can focus entirely on representing your concept at competitions. Support for competition costs is for students who work with the Studio on materials before applying and for pitch preparation (upon acceptance). Please reach out if you are interested in applying. 

For questions, please email Andrew Ilnicki, Director of the Innovation Studio

Book a meeting > 

Contact Andrew Ilnicki > 

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  • Accelerate DC

    The Accelerate Student Competition is designed to inspire students to take a business idea, plot out its journey, and engage with a community of entrepreneurs to identify resources and investments for their business idea to succeed. Through the competition, students will engage in creative business brainstorming, practice effective communication, develop collaborative abilities, and interact with business leaders across the community. DEADLINE: September 15

  • CEO Global Pitch Competition

    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. DEADLINE: October 3. More information >

  • VentureWell E-Team Program
    part of the VentureWell Accelerator, supports student ventures as you embark down the path you’re likely to take as an innovator and entrepreneur. We help you advance your invention through a powerful mix of up to $25,000 in grant funding, entrepreneurship training, mentorship by dedicated staff, national recognition, and networking with peers and industry experts. DEADLINE September 30. More information >
  • Baylor New Venture Competition
    The John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise will host the 13th Annual Baylor New Venture Competition on March 28-29 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. Since its inception, more than 600 student entrepreneurs world-wide have applied to compete in the competition. Nearly $1 million in cash and prizes has been awarded to these collegiate entrepreneurs. DEADLINE Oct 1. More information >
  • The Launch Place
    The Launch Place strives to foster an environment for new and serial entrepreneurs to raise capital and garner the support system needed to take their products and/or solutions into the market place. By doing so, The Launch Place has positioned the Danville City and Pittsylvania County region of  Virginia and Caswell County in North Carolina, to become once again a hub for innovation. More information > 
  • TCU Values and Ventures Competition
    Empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs. We invite undergraduate students from around the world to pitch ideas for conscious capitalism ventures that make a profit while also solving a problem. Recycling plants that employ the homeless. Better access to autism treatment. Human-powered farm machines. Real-time organ donor communication. Winners take home thousands of dollars to help make their ideas come true. More information >
  • The Heartland Challenge
    Designed to simulate the process of raising venture capital for a high-growth venture. This graduate student competition allows students to gain valuable experience and networking opportunities, while developing new ventures that may be based on their own ideas/technologies or those developed by others. More information >
  • Startup Runway
    This flagship program is the the Startup Runway Showcase which occurs multiple times a year. It’s an opportunity to show off your work and get access to funding. More information >
  • BioDesign Challenge

    50+ schools across 15 countries participate in Biodesign Challenge, an international education program for students that introduces the intersection of biotechnology, art, and design and connects them to a global network of leaders in academia, industry, and entrepreneurship who are defining the field of biodesign. BDC aims to pioneer, envision, create, and critique transformational applications in biotech. More Information and deadlines >

  • Planet Forward StoryFest
    An annual competition that selects the most compelling environmental storytelling from university students around the world for a chance to win a trip with Lindblad Expeditions on an experiential learning trip. Winning students come from a diverse variety of backgrounds and schools. Their stories cover the innovations and issues impacting everything from local sustainability initiatives to the effects of climate change around the world. More Information >
  • Global Social Innovation Challenge
    The Fowler GSIC inspires student social entrepreneurs around the world to connect and create business solutions that address social and environmental challenges. Since 2011, we’ve connected more than 3,000 students from more than 25 countries around the world - including Australia, South Korea, Rwanda, The Philippines, Ghana, Mexico, and Peru - recognizing their outstanding social ventures based on positive impact and financial sustainability. To date, we’ve distributed more than $700,000 in funding and in kind-services, to seed the most innovative and promising global ventures. And our goal is to increase that impact! More information >