20 Entrepreneur Competitions To Pitch Your Startup Idea (& How To Maximize Your Chances Of Winning)

Entrepreneurs often have to tap unorthodox sources of money to get their new business idea from the conceptual stage to actualization. In fact, launching a startup may feel like entering a distinct subculture with its own rules and logic. Within that subculture, there are a number of different ways to get your foot in the door for financing.

One popular way for innovative startups to gain visibility and funding is to enter an entrepreneurship pitch competition.

What Is A Pitch Competition?

A pitch competition is a contest where entrepreneurs present their business concept to a panel in the hope of winning a cash prize or investment capital.

Pitch competitions all have specific parameters and rules, but no matter what, business owners will be up against any number of other entrepreneurs with their own business ideas. Even if you don’t win, the pitch competition can be a way to introduce yourself to the elite world of venture capital and angel investment. You will, of course, want to make the best impression that you can.

20 Best Pitching Competitions To Enter In 2021

Pitch competitions happen frequently throughout the year with most taking place annually. Under different circumstances, these entrepreneur competitions require you to show up and participate in person, but COVID-19 has sent almost all these pitch competitions online/virtual. Ironically, this may put some pitch competitions that were geographically out of reach back on the table, at least in the short term. Nevertheless, it’s rarely a bad idea to start building relationships where you have the most presence–in your local and regional community.

AATCC 2021 Fashion Evolution Design Competition

• Location: Research Triangle Park, NC
• Submission Info: Submit by April 1, 2021. You’ll also need a membership by March 25.
• Entry Requirements: Be an undergraduate or graduate, be a member of AATCC
• Website: https://www.aatcc.org/students/competitions/c2cdesign/

Student entrepreneurs are challenged to make sustainable fashions for various fits and body types.

Arch Grants Global Startup Competition

• Location: St. Louis, MO
• Submission Info: Applications open April 1, 2021
• Entry Requirements: Must be a for-profit startup with a plan to scale to national or international impact.
• Website: https://www.aatcc.org/students/competitions/c2cdesign/

Equity-free $50,000 grant competition open to startups from around the world. Special consideration is given to companies that plan to start in St. Louis.

Baylor New Venture Competition

• Location: Waco, TX
• Submission Info: Check website. Entry periods usually open in September.
• Entry Requirements: Be an undergraduate, graduate, or recently graduated alumnus from an accredited not-for-profit university.
• Website: https://www.baylor.edu/business/newventurecompetition/

Student entrepreneurs from across the globe are offered expert feedback, coaching, and a prize package of cash and crucial in-kind business support services to launch and grow their ventures.

Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards

• Location: Deauville, France
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: Business is generating revenue, but has raised less than $2 million; 1-5 years in registered operation. Must be woman-owned.
• Website: https://application-form.cartierwomensinitiative.com/new-application

Worldwide competition for women entrepreneurs who have been in business for over a year. The prize is a $100,000 grant.

Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition

• Location: Germany
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: Age brackets separate youth and adult (30+) competitions.
• Website: https://www.entrepreneurship-campus.org/about-the-competitions/

International competition for businesses pitching ideas that target social, environmental, health, and governmental challenges.

CodeLaunch

• Location: Frisco, TX
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: The startup must be dependent on software development expertise.
• Website: https://www.codelaunch.com/

CodeLaunch provides seed services to early-stage startups.

Disrupt SF

• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: Early-stage startup, must have some tech component to the business idea.
• Website: https://techcrunch.com/events/

TechCrunch’s Disrupt SF brings together investors, entrepreneurs, and developers from around the world.

Draper Competition For Collegiate Women Entrepreneurs

• Location: Northampton, MA
• Submission Info: The application deadline is February 26, 2021
• Entry Requirements: Be an undergraduate or graduate and a woman.
• Website: https://www.smith.edu/academics/conway-center/entrepreneurship/draper-competition

Smith College’s multi-round competition showcases women entrepreneurs. The Grand prize is $25,000 and a scholarship to Draper University.

Founders Live NYC

• Location: New York, NY
• Submission Info: Apply through March 1, 2021
• Entry Requirements: Join Founders Live group
• Website: https://www.founderslive.com/

Periodic happy hour pitch nights. The organization is also active in Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Lagos (Nigeria), and Harare (Zimbabwe).

Hatch Pitch

• Location: Austin, TX
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: The product must have launched in the last two years or be launched six months after the Hatch Pitch event. Your company must have received less than $5 million in funding from third-party investors.
• Website: https://www.hatchpitch.com/

Contest for companies with an innovative technology-based product or service who are seeking active coaching and mentoring.

Hello Tomorrow Global Summit

• Location: Silicon Valley, CA
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: Can’t have raised more than 250,000 euros (around $304,000)
• Website: https://hello-tomorrow.org/summit/

Worldwide competition with startups categories for energy, agriculture, healthcare, AI, new materials, and more.

Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition

• Location: Philadelphia, PA
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: Your business idea must be education-oriented.
• Website: https://www.educationcompetition.org/how-to-apply

A competition dedicated to addressing problems and trends within education around the world.

New Venture Championship

• Location: Portland, OR
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: Must be a graduate or undergraduate.
• Website: https://business.uoregon.edu/nvc/

An annual, six-round competition for students from around the world, now in its 30th year.

Rice Business Plan Competition

• Location: Houston, TX
• Submission Info: Submit application by February 2, 2021
• Entry Requirements: Project is student-created or managed and has not raised more than $250,000 in equity prior to July 1, 2020, or generated more than $100,000 in revenue by that date.
• Website: https://rbpc.rice.edu/

Rice University’s internationally-recognized graduate entrepreneurship competition.

Richard’s Barrentine Values And Venture Competition

• Location: Fort Worth, TX
• Submission Info: Submit application by February 22, 2021
• Entry Requirements: Undergraduates only. No nonprofits.
• Website: https://neeley.tcu.edu//vandv/

TCU’s undergraduate contest for business ideas that contribute to innovations in health, life, or energy.

Seedstars Summit

• Location: Varies
• Submission Info: Check website
• Entry Requirements: Received less than $500,000 is funding to date. Must be scalable.
• Website: https://www.seedstarsworld.com/summit/

Worldwide contest and networking event for tech businesses.

SPIE Startup Challenge

• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Submission Info: Submit application by November 30, 2020
• Entry Requirements: Must have an optics or photonics technology or application to present
• Website: https://spie.org/industry-resources/industry-events/spie-startup-challenge

A contest for startups involved in light-based technology. Applicants choose from one of three tracks based on their development stage.

SXSW Online (Pitch)

• Location: Austin, TX
• Submission Info: Apply no later than January 8, 2021
• Entry Requirements: The product must not have launched earlier than March 17, 2019. Must have raised no more than $10 million in funding. Each company may enter no more than one product.
• Website: https://www.sxsw.com/awards/sxsw-pitch/

SXSW Online is a new, online incarnation of their 13-year old SXSW Pitch contest. The contest includes eight different categories. Some of those categories open to the pitch competition are artificial intelligence, gaming content, future of work, smart cities, and more.

U.PITCH

• Location: Chicago, IL
• Submission Info: Applications open in Fall 2021, but you can join a waiting list now. Must be an enrolled student or have graduated in the last 6 months. Must have raised less than $1 million. Cannot be cannabis related. Must be U.S. based.
• Entry Requirements: U.PITCH is industry agnostic
• Website: https://www.futurefounders.com/u-pitch/

Annual student pitch contest. Open to any industry.

Y Combinator Demo Day

• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Submission Info: Check website. Events are held at the end of March and end of August each year (2021 date not yet set)
• Entry Requirements: Be part of a  Y Combinator batch, apply for an invitation
• Website: https://www.ycombinator.com/demoday/

Y Combinator is one of the premier startup incubators. Companies that have made it through the program can apply to demo their business concept on Demo Day, which occurs twice a year over the course of three days (yes, it’s not really a “day.”) The third day, called Investor Day, lets entrepreneurs sit down with investors and pitch their ideas.

6 Tips To Improve Your Chances Of Winning

Regardless of whether or not you win, entrepreneurship pitch competitions can be a positive experience for you and your company. Nevertheless, you enter these competitions to win them.

So, how can you increase your chances of prevailing against some of the toughest competition around?

Here are Merchant Maverick’s tips for improving your pitch competition presence.

1. Be Concise

In any pitch competition, you’re going to be sharing the spotlight with a number of other entrepreneurs and their businesses. Attention will be at a premium, so you want to make the most of whatever time the judges/investors will have their attention focused on you. Refine your elevator pitches: short, snappy, to-the-point. Make sure the basic concept of your business is easy for someone outside your area of specialty to grasp. Focus on what you want the person to take away from your conversation or presentation.

2. Know Your Audience

Jargon is a bugbear plaguing any number of highly specialized fields. While you are around people in your field, it may allow you to communicate ideas more precisely, as well as signal your belonging to the tribe. However, your specialized lingo may sound like completely alienating gibberish to someone outside of your field. Know when to sound like a specialist, and when to sound like a human being.

3. Make Contacts

You may have the best idea in the world, but that doesn’t mean much if you can’t get access to the resources you need to realize your vision. Building a good rapport with other contestants, judges, and even the audience can make an enormous difference in how your business concept is received.

4. Apply Early

You might think you have everything you need ready to go for your application, but maybe you missed some small little clause hidden deep within the website or documentation. Some people do well under intense pressure, but you’d generally be better off spending time refining your application pitch then scrambling at the last minute to make sure you

5. Be Ready To Answer Questions

Assume you’ll get a lot of questions about your business idea. Have some snappy, easy-to-understand answers ready. Be familiar with the types of questions you’ll be asked, so you won’t be caught completely off-guard.

6. Ignore Online Advice And Be A Maverick

Look, the problem with lists like this is that you’re not the only person reading them. In fact, I can guarantee the other contestants have read the exact same advice that you have. That means that sometimes it’s better to be memorable than to be competent but lost in the crowd. If you’re a person of exceptional charisma, or quirky enough that people can’t stop talking about you, use that to your advantage and make an impact.

Pitch Your Way To A Successful Startup

Pitching competitions can be a great way to get your foot into the door to the investment world. You’ll have a captive audience and the opportunity to make connections that can aid your business endeavors far into the future. And with most of the world locked down in the pandemic, you might even be able to do it from the comfort of your own home or office.