Startup Competitions

Looking to pitch your business idea at a startup competition? Check out the list of comprehensive startup competitions in Canada, USA, and globally. Are you competing at any of these startup competitions? Let us know!

These competitions are the perfect platform for exposure, funding, and mentorship. If have a Startup Competition that you would like to share please submit here.

Startup Competitions
Startup Competitions Location Deadline Link
FoundersBeta Top 100 Global TBD https://www.foundersbeta.com/top-100/
Dobson Cup Competition McGill University $200K Montreal January https://www.mcgill.ca/dobson/entrepreneurship-programs/mcgill-dobson-cup
Startup of the Year USA January https://www.startupofyear.com/
Viva Technology Startup Challenges and Awards Paris January https://vivatechnology.com/challenges
Heartland Challenge $100K Global Student Competition Global January https://entrepreneurship.uark.edu/programs/heartland-challenge.php
Women Innovation Summit Pitch $100K Toronto January https://dmz.torontomu.ca/women-innovation-summit/
Utah Tech Week Pitch by Convoi Ventures Utah January https://lu.ma/utwpitch
Bridging Innovation Pitch Competition Atlanta January https://itsmfleaders.org/bridging-innovation-pitch-competition/
Shark Tank Auditions Las Vegas January https://abc.com/shows/shark-tank/open-call
Web Summit Pitch Lisbon January https://websummit.com/startups/pitch
Proteus Innovation Competition Ontario January https://proteusic.com/
GW New Venture Competition George Washington University Washington January https://newventurecompetition.gwu.edu/
Ontario Agri-Tech Pitch Competition University of Guelph Guelph January https://www.uoguelph.ca/research/innovation/ontario-agri-tech-pitch-competition
Tech Chill Fifty Founders Battle $10K EUR Riga, Latvia January https://www.techchill.co/fifty-founders-battle
EU Startups Summit Valletta, Malta January https://www.eu-startups.com/eu-startups-summit-2024/
TNW Pitch Battle Competition Amsterdam January https://thenextweb.com/conference/startups
Upstart Concordia University Montreal January https://gcesconcordia.com/upstart
5 Across Pitch Competition for Kentucky Entrepreneurs Kentucky January https://awesomeinc.org/events/5across/
Web Summit Rio Pitch Rio de Janeiro January https://rio.websummit.com/startups/pitch/
Thiel Fellowship $100K Global year round https://thielfellowship.org/
Elevator Pitch Competition Global $240K Hong Kong January 8 https://epic.hkstp.org
WMF Startup Competition Italy TBD https://en.wemakefuture.it/call/startup-competition/
Cozad New Venture Challenge University of Illinois Champaign January 28 https://tec.illinois.edu/programs/cozad
Burgess New Venture Challenge, Michigan State University East Lansing January 29 https://entrepreneurship.msu.edu/burgessnvc
Startup Global Pitch Competition Startup Canada Canada TBD https://www.startupcan.ca/explore/startup-global/
Schulich Startups York University Toronto TBD https://schulich.yorku.ca/schulich-startups-program/
Impact Canada Challenges Canada TBD https://impact.canada.ca/en/challenges
Panasci Competition University of Buffalo Buffalo TBD https://www.buffalo.edu/entrepreneurship/programs/competitions/panasci.html
Hult Prize Global January https://www.hultprize.org/how-it-works
FemSTEM Women healthcare entrepreneurs Toronto January 12 – 28 https://h2i.utoronto.ca/resource/femstem/
Young Entrepreneur Scholarship UofT $7.5K Toronto January 14 https://utsc.utoronto.ca/mgmt/young-entrepreneur-scholarship-yes
PITCH With a Twist Mississauga January 15 https://icubeutm.ca/twist/
MassChallenge Boston/Global January 18 https://masschallenge.org
Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award Canada January 15 https://www.womenofinfluence.ca/
Canada's Total Mom Pitch Canada January 19 https://www.totalmompitch.ca/
WISE WeInvest: Venture Capital Incubator for Women USA January 24 https://www.northeasternwise.com/
Open AI Startup Fund Global January 26 https://openai.fund/news/converge-2
T-Mobile's T Challenge Global/Germany January 26 https://telekom-challenge.com/
Hinge's One More Hour: social groups and organizations Gen Z USA January 30 https://hinge.co/onemorehour
Rice Business Plan Competition Global January 31 https://rbpc.rice.edu/
Grand Challenges Canada Canada January 31 https://www.grandchallenges.ca/funding-opportunities/
South Summit Madrid January 31 https://www.southsummit.io/startup-competition/
Visionary Pitch Competition USA January 31 https://www.theenterprisecenter.com/initiatives/visionary-pitch-competition
Cadence Cash Thrive Grant USA January 31 https://cadencecash.com/grant-program/
Athene Black and Brown Business Summit Pitch Competition USA January 31 https://wdmchamber.org/bbbsummit
Skip $10K Kickoff Grant USA January 31 https://helloskip.com/dashboard/opportunity/2024kickoff
CAFE Fintech Accelerator For Financial Wellness USA January 31 https://ftcafe.org/apply/
Dell for Entrepreneurs Pitch Competition USA TBD https://www.dell.com/en-us/lp/dellpitch
Latinas in Tech Startup Competition San Francisco TBD https://latinasintechsummit.org/startup-competition-2024/
START Summit Gallen, Switzerland February https://www.startglobal.org/start-summit
Values and Venture Competition Texas Christian University Fort Worth February https://www.neeley.tcu.edu/Centers/Institute-for-Entrepreneurship-and-Innovation/Values-and-Ventures
Midwest Entrepreneurship Case Competition Indiana February https://www.lib.purdue.edu/parrishcasecompetition
IDeA Competition University of Windsor Windsor February 2 https://www.uwindsor.ca/ohrea/103/idea-competition-2023-2024
Crummer Venture Plan $70K Florida February 4 https://orlandoventureplan.com/
Big Bang! Business Competition University of California Davis February 5 https://innovate.ucdavis.edu/big-bang-competition
Heartland Challenge $100K Global Student Competition Global February 9 https://entrepreneurship.uark.edu/programs/heartland-challenge.php
MIT Water, Food & Agriculture Innovation Prize $30K Global February 9 https://www.mitwaterinnovation.org/apply
Startup Columbia University Venture Competition New York February 9 https://entrepreneurship.columbia.edu/startupcolumbia/
EFFERVESCENCE Start-up Pitch Competition $20K Medtech & biotech Montreal February 12 https://effervescencemtl.com/en/competition-start-up-pitch-2024/
Falcons' Fortunes pitch competition $100K by FACIT Canada February 12 https://facit.ca/falcons-fortunes
INNOVATEwest Pitch Competition $20K Vancouver February 14 https://innovatewest.tech/grizzly-pursuit/
VenturePack Challenge North Carolina State University Raleigh February 18 https://entrepreneurship.ncsu.edu/events-events/venturepack-challenge/
1871 WMNtech Pitch Competition $30K USA February 18 https://1871.com/event/wmntech-pitch-competition/
University of Western Entrepreneurial Summer Internship $10K London Canada TBD https://entrepreneurship.uwo.ca/for-students/internship/
America’s Seed Fund Alexandria TBD https://seedfund.nsf.gov
Velocity Pitch Competition Waterloo TBD https://velocityincubator.com/programs/students/pitch-competition/
New Venture Challenge University of Chicago Chicago TBD https://polsky.uchicago.edu/programs-events/new-venture-challenge/
RedHawk Venture Pitch Competition Miami University Miami TBD https://miamioh.edu/fsb/departments/entrepreneurship/focus-areas-initiatives/start-up-venture/new-venture-capstone.html
CMU Venture Challenge, Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh TBD https://www.cmuvc.com/
Uniting the Prairies (UP) conference Saskatoon TBD https://www.unitingtheprairies.com/
IFundWomen Visa Canada Canada TBD https://www.ifundwomen.com/visa-canada
McMaster Startup Survivor: The Pitch Competition $75K Hamilton TBD https://theforge.mcmaster.ca/pitchcompetition/
Green Alley Award Berlin TBD https://green-alley-award.com
VOA Futures Fund Community Health Incubator USA February 1 https://seedspot.org/community-health-incubator/
Founders First CDC's Chicago Job Creator Grant Chicago February 4 https://foundersfirstcdc.org/grant-demo-mambo
Seed Your Startup London Canada February https://entrepreneurship.uwo.ca/for-students/funding-opportunities/seed-your-startup/
Dragons' Den Canada February https://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/auditions
New Venture Challenge University of Colorado at Boulder $50K Boulder February 8 https://www.colorado.edu/nvc/
Larta Institute’s Venture Fellows program Los Angeles/USA February 15 https://larta.org/venture-fellows/
Pitch Dingman Competition, University of Maryland – College Park College Park, USA February 16 https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/centers-initiatives/dingman-center/initiatives-programs/pitch-dingman-competition
Arch Grants Startup Competition $100K Equity-Free Funding St. Louis February 20 https://archgrants.org/competition/
Utah Entrepreneur Challenge Utah February 21 https://lassonde.utah.edu/uec/
Transit Tech Lab New York/USA February 28 https://transitinnovation.org/
Start in Block Pitch Competition: Paris Blockchain Week $5M Paris February 28 https://www.parisblockchainweek.com/start-up-competition
SPIE Startup Challenge at Photonics West San Francisco TBD https://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/photonics-west/program/startup-challenge#_=_
Falling Walls pitch competition Global Berlin March https://falling-walls.com/
VentureCat Northwestern University Evanston March https://www.venturecat.northwestern.edu/
Inventures Startup Pitch Competition $10K Calgary March https://inventurescanada.com/startup-pitch/
Startup World Cup Global March https://www.startupworldcup.io
FedEx #BackingSmall Business Contest $100K Canada March https://www.fedex.com/en-ca/small-business/backing-small.html
LiONS LAIR Hamilton March https://lionslair.ca/
MN Cup, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Minneapolis March 11 https://carlsonschool.umn.edu/mn-cup
Podim Startup Maribor March 15 https://podim.org/startups/
Galaxy of Stars' Galaxy Grant - women and minority entrepreneurs USA March 31 https://galaxyofstars.org/galaxy-grants/
K-Startup Grand Korea April https://www.k-startupgc.org/
Awards for Diversity and Innovation UofT Toronto April https://entrepreneurs.utoronto.ca/resource/rbc-awards-for-diversity-and-innovation-in-technology/
True North Small Business Grant Contest Canada April https://cloud.connect.purolator.com/grant-winners-2023/closed
Dempsey Competition University of Washington Seattle April 1 https://foster.uw.edu/centers/buerk-ctr-entrepreneurship/entrepreneurship-competitions/dempsey-startup-competition/
Peerless $1 Million - Female founders, Black, & Latine USA April 26 https://www.peerlesspitch.com/
Pitch Slam Austin TBD https://www.naturallyaustin.org/pitchslam
Western University Accelerator $12K London Canada TBD https://entrepreneurship.uwo.ca/accelerator/
AWE USA Startup Pitch Competition Long Beach California May 8 https://www.awexr.com/usa-2024/startup_pitch
TechCrunch Battlefield $100K Global San Francisco May https://techcrunch.com/events/tc-disrupt-2023/startup-battlefield-200/
Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards Global Paris May https://www.cartierwomensinitiative.com
43 North Buffalo May https://www.43north.org/
#UofT PRIDE PITCH Toronto May https://icubeutm.ca/competitions/
Entrepreneurship World Cup Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May https://www.genglobal.org/ewc
#StandWithOwners Telus Competition Canada June https://www.telus.com/en/business/small/campaigns/stand-with-owners
New Ventures BC $250K Vancouver TBD https://www.newventuresbc.com/
Columbia Engineering Entrepreneurship Ignition Grants New York TBD https://entrepreneurship.engineering.columbia.edu/ignition-grants/
PITCH Collision Global Toronto May https://collisionconf.com/startups/pitch
Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge Deep Tech Global/Paris June https://hello-tomorrow.org/global-challenge/
Startupfest Competitions $100K Montreal July 10-12 https://www.startupfest.com/
HardTech Pitch Competition Markham July 26 https://www.venturelab.ca/pitch-competition
Saas North Pitch Competitions Ottawa TBD https://saasnorth.com/
Simon Fraser University Entrepreneurship Competition Vancouver TBD https://www.sfu.ca/vc/competitions/coast-capital-savings-venture-prize.html
Age-well Competition Toronto TBD https://agewell-nce.ca/national-impact-challenge
TriColour Venture fund Kingston August https://smith.queensu.ca/centres/ceisi/events/tricolour/index.php
Groceryshop Pitch Competition Las Vegas TBD https://groceryshop.com/
Columbia Engineering Fast-Pitch Competition $5K New York TBD https://entrepreneurship.engineering.columbia.edu/fast-pitch/
Navigate Brock University Pitch Competition $5K St. Catherines September https://brocku.ca/linc/navigate/
Schneider Go Green Student Competition Global September https://gogreen.se.com/en
The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Women Entrepreneurs Vacouver/Toronto September https://www.theforumpitch.ca/
McCloskey New Venture Competition Notre Dame September https://ideacenter.nd.edu/se/opportunities/mccloskey-competition/
Slush Pitch Competition Global Helsinki September https://slush.org/slush-100/
IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge MIT Boston Sept 19 https://pkgcenter.mit.edu/programs/ideas/
Starter Company $5K Pitch Competition Burlington/Oakville TBD https://www.halton.ca/For-Business/Halton-Region-Small-Business-Centre/Supports-and-Programs-for-Entrepreneurs/Starter-Company-Plus#01
DC Startup Week Washington, DC TBD https://www.dcstartupweek.org
Black Ambition Prize Competition New York TBD https://www.blackambitionprize.com/
The Cansbridge Fellowship Canada October https://www.cansbridgefellowship.com/
CodingitForward Fellowship USA October 16 https://www.codingitforward.com/fellowship
AAGEF Ontario Entrepreneur Challenge Toronto October 1 https://www.aagefchallenge.com/
MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition Boston October 19 https://www.mit100k.org/
Desjardins Startup Prize Pitch Competition $100K University of Toronto Toronto October 16 https://entrepreneurs.utoronto.ca/for-entrepreneurs/2024-desjardins-startup-prize/
The Queen’s Entrepreneurs’ Competition Global October 23 https://www.theforumpitch.ca
Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition University of Texas Austin November https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/centers-and-initiatives/jon-brumley-texas-venture-labs/students/tvl-investment-competition/
Ivey Business Plan Competition $20K Global Nov 1 https://entrepreneurship.uwo.ca/for-students/funding-opportunities/ivey-business-plan-competition/
Enactus Canada Student Entrepreneur National Competition Canada Nov 1 https://enactus.ca/
Michigan Business Challenge, University of Michigan Ann Arbor Nov 1 https://zli.umich.edu/michigan-business-challenge/
Baylor New Venture Competition Global Nov 5 https://hankamer.baylor.edu/baugh-center/new-venture
SXSW PITCH Austin Nov 12 https://www.sxsw.com/pitch/
Kaplan Pitch Tank Chicago Nov 25 https://www.iit.edu/kaplan/events/kaplan-pitch-tank
Canadian Innovation Exchange Canada Nov 29 https://cixtop20.cixsummit.com/
Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge New York Nov 30 https://www.sustainableinvestingchallenge.org/
Sauga Pitch Mississauga Dec 1 https://icubeutm.ca/competitions/
Draper Competition for Women Entrepreneurs Northampton USA Dec 1 https://www.smith.edu/academics/applied-learning-research/conway-innovation-center/students/draper-competition/about
Venture Z Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Dec 1 https://www.icsdi.org/studentscompetitions
Jacobs Startup Competition Global Dec 4 https://www.jacobs-startup.com/
Sustainable Innovation Challenge Mississauga Dec 4 https://icubeutm.ca/sic/
Startup Day Tartu, Estonia Dec 17 https://www.startupday.ee/program/pitching
South Summit Startup competition Brazil Dec 20 https://www.southsummit.io/brazil/startup-competition/
UTSC Startup Competition Toronto Dec 22 https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/thehub/