💡 "If you fund it, they will come."
💡 "If you fund it, they will come."
One of the best ways universities can uncover new startups and encourage entrepreneurial thinking is by organizing a pitch competition -- students have a real tangible incentive to put their ideas into action.
Of the hundreds of competitions/applications hosted on StartupTree, there are a few standouts in terms of engagement, number of applications, and overall page views. Continue scrolling to learn more about these events and some of our tips on how you, too, can boost the entrepreneurial activity at your center.
Without further ado... the official round-up of the most highly engaged applications/competitions ever hosted on StartupTree:
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Disclaimer: Our fifth ranking on the list technically has the most participants of any event hosted on our platform (the most judges, too, as the students judged themselves!), but it was observed as a co-curricular competition as part of a required class assignment. The rest of this list are verified organically circulated, extracurricular applications and competitions.
What is it?
"Making an impact with your creative ideas eventually requires you to make your case for how the world will be better if your idea reaches its full potential." Students enrolled in UCF’s ENT 3613 Creativity and Entrepreneurship are required to submit a video submission for the course’s Big Idea Competition. The focus is on students’ ability to clearly explain a unique value proposition and back up justifications for continued "investment" of attention, time, effort, and resources to determine their ability to enroll other supporters to their proposal. The top 50 ranked proposals earn extra credit and students judge each other for the ranking.
Total Applications: 476
Unique Visitor Count: 3176
What is it?
The three-day event drew students from seven different colleges at UNLV to the Paul B. Sogg Architecture Building, where teams competed for prizes — including prototype materials and mentorship opportunities — and learned about prototyping, pitching and more from a number of speakers.
Assembling mentors from Harvard, MIT, and Cornell, along with young entrepreneurs from the East and West Coasts (and here in Las Vegas), this was an interdisciplinary experience bringing together art, architecture, business, design, engineering, entrepreneurship and hospitality students to hack, make and create innovative solutions using programming and rapid prototyping techniques featuring arduino. All making was done in an open and collaborative studio environment to incubate creative ideas. This year, the theme was the future of food along three tracks: food + health, food + hospitality, and food + data/A.I.
Total Applications: 128
Total Event Page View Count: 1422
What is it?
The Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund ("The Lang Fund") is opening up its fall selection process for early-stage, CBS alumni-founded startups. Winning companies typically receive $25-$50k investments. Graduating students who intend to work on their ventures full-time after graduation are eligible to apply for funding from the Lang Fund Board.
Total Applications: (# redacted for privacy)
Total Event Page View Count: 3269
What is it?
The Think Like an Entrepreneur Summer Academy is a competitive, non-residential, educational experience for rising high school juniors and seniors. Select participants work collaboratively with mentorship from Rowan students, faculty, and industry, to develop solutions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. "The innovativeness of the solutions our TLAE students develop are always a great source of inspiration. From fostering equality to addressing food insecurity to providing greater access to clean water, bold solutions are abundant," said Dr. Eric Liguori, Rohrer Chair of Entrepreneurship in Rowan's William G. Rohrer College of Business.
Total Applications: 145
Total Event Page View Count: 2533
And last, but certainly not least..
What is it?
Venture Devils supports all ASU student, faculty, and community-based entrepreneurs. The program aims to catalyze the entrepreneurial success of founders by connecting them with Venture Mentors who provide regular, ongoing support.
Participation in Pitch Playoffs is available to all eligible Venture Devils who are vying for a spot to compete at an upcoming ASU Demo Day event. Ventures are required to submit a recorded 5-minute video pitch (no in-person pitches), a polished one-page executive summary and to share some necessary information about your venture. Pitch Playoffs is required as a precursory competition and selection process to advance to Demo Day, where funding is awarded to deserving ventures ($500,000 annually). Venture Devils Pitch Playoffs is only available to ventures that have been accepted into the Venture Devils program.
Total Applications: 148
Total Event Page View Count: 1521
And that's a wrap!
One thing we've noticed here at StartupTree is that there's a direct correlation between the number of visitors your page has and the number of applications your competition/application receives.
We've put together this handy guide below to show you how you can boost your applicant numbers by doing promo RIGHT, with insights from our data reports.
If you're interested in seeing how StartupTree can help your center with applications and competitions, book a demo today!