Applications Are Open for the 21st Annual New Venture Competition
Applications are now open for the 21st Annual New Venture Competition, an annual competition that awards over $64,000 to early-stage start-ups founded by BU students and recent graduates.
The competition began in 2000 and was previously organized by Questrom School of Business and later by the BUzz Lab (which was absorbed by Innovate@BU). Since it’s inaugural competition, more than 600 BU-led start-ups have participated in the competition. The competition has been housed under Innovate@BU and the BUild Lab since the initiative formally launched in March 2018–since then, 324 student teams have competed and $171,000 in cash prizes has been awarded.
The 2021 New Venture Competition format is as follows:
- All competition activities will take place virtually.
- The competition is open to all current BU students and Class of 2020 alumni.
- The competition will begin with an online application that is due by February 18, 2021.
- Applicants can choose from the following tracks: General Ideas and Social Impact Ideas. Cash prizes are awarded the top three winners in each track.
- Up to 40 applicants will be chosen to move on to Round 1 where they will present a 2-minute pitch to a panel of judges and live audience.
- Semi-finals and Finalist pitches will be closed to the public.
- Finalists will be announced and awarded at Innovator’s Night on Friday, April 16, 2021.
Last year’s competition grand prize winners were Clean Seat, a company that has designed a retrofittable toilet seat that cheaply and effectively prevents common toilet messes, and Patient First, a company that is building a digital medical record platform that connects physicians, patients, and pharmacies. You can learn more about ventures and competition experience here.
Learn more and apply to the New Venture Competition
