2022 INCubatoredu National Pitch Competition — Call for Submissions!

Gear up Entrepreneurs!

We’re so excited as we love getting glimpses (and being inspired) by your students and their INCubatoredu journeys!  But I’m thinking you might have questions about the National Pitch Competition … Am I right?

Q1: Remind me again….What is National Pitch?

The INCubatoredu National Pitch brings together student teams from across the nation to pitch their businesses and compete for funding. The National Pitch competition encourages INC teams to level up their entrepreneurship skills by pitching their business idea to a board of startup business investors at the national level.

👉National Pitch will occur at Convene in Chicago, IL, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022, from 3:30-5:00 PM CST.  This event is a highlight of the 2022 Uncharted Learning National Summit. 

Q2: When is the deadline to submit my school’s team?

Nominations open Friday, April 15, 2022, at 8:00 AM CST and are due by Friday, May 27, 2022, at 5:00 PM CST.

Q3: Do my students have to travel to Chicago to pitch?

We understand that we are still in uncertain times. We invite student teams to decide as a team whether they will pitch live in Chicago or live virtually via Zoom. In either case, we ask students to pitch in real-time, not submit a recording.

Q4: Is the event open to the public?

Finalist teams may invite mentors and family to attend the live event. Teams will submit attendee names closer to the event date. The event will be live-streamed as well.

Q5: How does a student team enter?

INCubatoredu member schools can nominate one student team to represent their school’s INCubatoredu program. Either the teacher or student nominee should complete THIS FORM. We recommend videoing all final pitches and then editing the video for the submission team. Students and their slide deck must be visible in the recording. Teams are judged by the quality of content and their ability to pitch, not the recording quality.

Q6: Can I submit more than one team?

At this time, we ask that you only submit one team to compete in the National Pitch competition; however, if you would like to share what multiple teams are doing, we encourage you to share their stories with Michelle!

Q7: What are you looking for this year?

Our scoring will be the same as it has been in years past—see the criteria below. Five finalists will receive an invitation to attend the INCubatoredu National Pitch on July 13, 2022.

• Business Overview: problem and solution, customer segment, competitors, value proposition
• Investment Highlights: TAM/SAM, results of MVP and adjustments made, revenue growth (marketing, sales plan, etc.), financial projections (presented through model and summary)
• Required Capital: capital required with the use of funds, proposed structure, clear exit strategy with estimated returns
• Professionalism: Presentation was credible, Visual elements on all slides and bullet points when verbiage is needed.
• Pitch is no more than 10 minutes in length. If sharing a recording from an event, please edit the video to only include the pitch, no Q&A.
• Teams must host their pitch video on YouTube or Vimeo. Ensure the share settings allow people with the link to view the video.
• Students and their slide deck must be visible in video recording.
• If the volume of the video is inaudible, we will remove the submission from consideration.
• Judging will be on the quality of content and the team's ability to pitch, not the recording quality.
  
  

Q8: When will we know if we're a finalist?

A committee of judges will review all submissions to identify quarter-finalists, semi-finalists, and finalists by June 10, 2022.

GOOD LUCK and reach out to me with any questions!