UC innovators sought for Entrepreneur Pitch Competition
November 19, 2018 •
UC has launched its third annual UC Entrepreneur Pitch Competition, a systemwide effort to connect veteran and new UC entrepreneurs with coaching, resources and exposure to a network of investors to advance and scale their startups.
The university’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship is inviting startups with at least one UC student, faculty or alumnus founder to pitch their startups to investors and strategic partners by submitting a pitch video and an associated pitch deck to the competition website. Video submissions will be featured on that university website, showcasing the impressive entrepreneurial activity and rich innovative spirit of the UC community.
There are two tracks in the competition: an early-stage track for startups in funding round pre-Series A, and a later-stage track for startups in Series A and beyond. A panel of distinguished corporate mentors will review and select a dozen finalists: six startups in the early-stage track and six startups in the later-stage track.
All finalists will receive individualized coaching from their mentors before their final presentations at the 4th Annual Global Corporate Venturing & Innovation Summit in Monterey on January 30-31, 2019. Finalists will then pitch their startups to more than 700 business leaders and venture capitalists. The winner in each of the two categories will take home a $15,000 prize for his or her company.
Students, faculty and alumni interested in competing should submit their materials to the competition website by 11:59 p.m. PST, on Dec. 12, 2018. The 12 finalists will be announced in early January.
UC generates an average of five inventions per day and holds more patents than any other university in the country. In 2013, President Napolitano launched the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative to leverage the scale and diversity of the UC system to build an even more vibrant entrepreneurial culture.
