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Queens Pitch Competition 2021

A Big Idea Competition for Student Innovators.

Annual Pitch Competition

Tuesday, March 23, 4:00 - 5:30pm

Virtual

The Queens Pitch Competition gives undergraduate students from all majors the opportunity to compete for up to $5,000 in prize money for their innovative business ideas.

Throughout February, teams will meet with entrepreneurial experts to learn the foundations of how to build and deliver a successful pitch. Teams are expected to work on their projects on a daily basis leading up to the competition.

There will be two rounds in the competition. For the first round, teams will submit a video recording of their pitch, which will be judged by local entrepreneurs. Three or four teams will be selected as finalists for the live competition.

On March 23, teams will pitch their business ideas live on RingCentral in front of a panel of experts and audience!

All faculty, staff, students and community members are welcome to tune-in to the competition on March 23. Please register below to receive the webinar log-in instructions.

Register Here

2020 Sponsors

2020 Winning Pitches

View the 2020 Pitch Competition recording here.

  • First Place: “Gate” by Flor Arenas ’20, International Studies, Polina Lapshina ’20, Business Administration, and Michael Barillas Sosa ’20, Finance
  • Second Place: “Infinity Veterans’ Community” by Fatima Lewis ’21, Interior Architecture & Design
  • Third Place: “The Porter Pit” by Oli Porter ’21, Business Administration
  • Fourth Place: “Cooli” by Ave Johnson ’21, Studio Art and Ben Hudson ’20, Communications

Who is eligible?

Current undergraduate students from any major and class year can participate. All applicants must have:

  • 1-4 team members. (Note - Students are allowed to participate without a team if they'd like to pitch individually.)
  • A burning passion for what you’re trying to build!
  • A desire to prioritize the Pitch Competition this spring!

How to Apply

Complete the online application by Wednesday, February 3, at 5 p.m.

What you need to know before applying:

  1. Companies representing any industry or sector — from no-tech to high-tech — are welcome to apply.  What’s important is that you can clearly articulate how and why what you want to build meets a real need.
  2. Applying to the pitch competition means you agree to participate in three weekly educational sessions, as well as meet our expectation that you will make good use of the resources made available to and curated for you.
  3. Students at any level from any discipline are welcome. We encourage applicants to incorporate a diversity of backgrounds and experience — these tend to be some of the most creative, capable and resilient founding teams!
  4. All companies are accepted into the program on a trial basis. However, only those companies who fully participate in the development sessions will be eligible to participate in the competition.

Learn More

Attend an interest meeting to learn more about the competition process.

  1. January 12 @ 1:00pm, via RingCentral
  2. January 27 @ 10:40am, via RingCentral

Developmental Sessions

Session 1: Feasibility of an Idea

Monday, February 8 at 10:40 a.m. on RingCentral
Speaker: Louis Foreman

Session 2: How to Make a Pitch

Monday, February 15 at 10:40 a.m. on RingCentral
Speaker: Alexis Carreiro

Session 3: Developing a Financial Business Plan

Wednesday, February 22 at 10:40 a.m. in Sykes 326
Speaker: Cass Ward

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Pitch Competition?

The Queens Pitch Competition is a pitch competition open to Queens undergraduate students. The winner(s) will receive up to $5,000 in prize money from Queens and a group of generous community sponsors. Any organization or individual interested in supporting the Queens pitch competition can do so through a donation to the McColl School of Business.

What is the purpose of this competition?

The purpose is to stupport students who are launching or are interested in advancing an innovation, product or service, or accomplishing a significant milestone in getting their big idea off the ground.

What if I don’t have a business idea but want to be part of a team?

Indicate on the application that you need team members and we will match you with a team that has similar interests and needs.

What if I don’t know how to write a business plan? Or deliver a pitch?

We will teach you! Our entrepreneurial experts will coach you on how to write a business plan and deliver a successful pitch during the workshop series.

How many teams are eligible to win?

Up to four ventures could receive prize money. The decisions will be at the discretion of the judges and the audience.

What does my team need to look like?

Each team must include at least one currently enrolled undergraduate Queens student(s). At least one currently enrolled undergraduate Queens student must deliver the pitch and answer questions from the judges.

Do I need to be incorporated to compete?

Teams may compete and win without being incorporated (or, in the case of a limited liability company, organized).

What is the cost to participate?

There is no cost! Just your commitment to the competition and the time you will devote to working on your pitch.

When will we find out whether we are selected for prize money?

The panel of judges will deliberate and decide that evening. We will publicly announce which teams have won prize monies directly following the pitch portion of the program.

Resources

Contacts

Fine Print

Confidentiality and Permissions

Confidentiality of information is not guaranteed and teams should not include any confidential information in their submissions, including trade secrets or other proprietary information that would be at risk for disclosure. Entry into this competition may be considered a public disclosure for patent purposes. If teams plan to file patent protection on an aspect of their business, they should consult with an intellectual property attorney before entering. Intra-team confidentiality is the sole responsibility of team members.

Additional Rules

Teams are subject to the Honor Code. Teams may be disqualified at any time before, during, or after the pitch competition for failing to comply with these general rules or the conditions set forth in the program participation agreement.

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