Your guide to non-local startup pitch competitions

When Technical.ly asks entrepreneurs about their pain points, it’s always funding for their early-stage startups. And when you’ve done every pitch competition in town, what’s next?

To be sure, not everyone pursues capital via pitch competitions — that is, events where founders compete against each other for thousands of dollars by selling judges on their young company’s growth potential. But these events are where many in the tech world get their first bout of external funding, in part because the value isn’t just said funding. Pitch competitions can also be useful for networking and generally spreading the word about what you’re working on, sometimes in the hopes of connecting with mentors or investors who might fund your company in a future venture round.

We looked at pitch competitions in nearby markets to see if there are opportunities where local entrepreneurs can travel an hour or two to another city and pitch, and it turned out to be a bit of a challenge. Most non-national pitch competitions are either attached to colleges — so you must either be a student or an alumni of that school — or they are specifically for entrepreneurs in a given city, state or region.

Still, there are pitch competition opportunities out there that have no geographic limitations. For some, you don’t even need to leave home to participate. In other cases, you apply with a pitch deck or video online and if you’re selected you’ll have to travel for the finals — often out of your own pocket, but the tradeoff is that most of these competitions have significantly higher funding potential than local competitions.

The list we pulled together below includes remote competitions (including a couple of startup grants); national-facing, in-person competitions; international competitions; equity-minded competitions geared toward people of color, LGBTQ and/or women; and competitions for veterans. Other than equity guidelines and some industry/size/startup-age guidelines, these competitions are open to entrepreneurs based anywhere in the US, and none have student requirements. While the timelines and time commitments vary, none are extended accelerators (though Y Combinator is worth looking into if you’re interested in competing in Silicon Valley).

Finally, while the amount of cash prizes offered ranges widely, it’s important to look at the funding opportunities a competition gives you access to, not just the cash prize amount. For instance, a competition with big investors in your field that offers only investment opportunities could easily be more valuable than a less industry-focused competition with a $10,000 to $50,000 cash prize. And remember, even with the smaller cash prize competitions, there is opportunity to connect with investors.

Below, find your quick guide to pitching away from your home turf. (And if you’re new-new to pitching, catch these young founders’ advice for landing a solid pitch, too.)

Remote competitions and grants

America’s Seed Fund

• Location: Online
• Eligibility: Impact tech, <500 employees
• Max prize: Up to $2 million grant
• Applications open: Always

Snowflake Startup Challenge

• Location: Online
• Eligibility: For SaaS applications using Snowflake cloud technology
• Max prize: Up to $500,000 investment
• Applications open: “Register your interest” is open

FedEx Small Business Grant

• Location: Online
• Eligibility: Must have FedEx account, <99 employees
• Max prize: $30,000 grant
• Applications open: TBD

Pitch Force

• Location: Online
• Eligibility: Varies
• Max prize: Investment opportunities
• Applications open: Yes

National in-person competitions

Startup World Cup

• Location: Regional (seven US cities including New York City), San Francisco (grand finale)
• Eligibility: Any domain, any stage
• Max prize: $1 million
• Applications open: 2024

SXSW Pitch

• Location: Austin,
• Eligibility: Product conceived no earlier than March 9, 2022
• Max prize: Investment opportunities
• Applications open: through Nov. 12, 2023

CEMEX Ventures Construction Startup Competition

• Location: Las Vegas
• Eligibility: For “builders of the future” startups
• Max prize: Unspecified investments from construction industry corporations
• Applications open: Spring 2024

AARP Social Connection Pitch Competition

• Location: Berkeley, California
• Eligibility: Agetech startups
• Max Prize: $10,000
• Applications open: 2024

THRIVE Global Impact Challenge

• Location: San Francisco
• Eligibility: Agtech startups
• Max prize: All participants receive $50,000 investment
• Applications open: TBD

ABC’s “Shark Tank”

• Location: Culver City, California
• Eligibility: Most startups are eligible
• Max prize: Investment opportunity
• Applications open: Yes

International competitions

Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge

• Location: Varies
• Eligibility: Early-stage deep tech
• Max prize: Varies
• Applications open: June 2024

INVENTURE$ Pitch Competition

• Location: Calgary, Canada
• Eligibility: Tech startups (six categories including green tech, agtech, esports and health data)
• Max prize: $10,000
• Applications open: Through March 15, 2024

We Make Future Pitch Competition

• Location: Rimini, Italy
• Eligibility: Startups Worldwide
• Max prize: €100,000+
• Applications open: Soon

Elevator Pitch Competition

• Location: Hong Kong
• Eligibility: Startups worldwide in fintech, proptech and mobilitytech
• Max prize: Cash and investment opportunities
• Applications open: Through Dec. 31

Equity-minded competitions

National Black Pitch Competition

• Location: Online
• Eligibility: At least 51% Black-owned
• Max prize: $10,000
• Applications open: TBD

Fever Pitch

• Location: Online
• Eligibility: Black entrepreneurs
• Max prize: $10,000
• Applications open: TBD

Latino Flash Pitch

• Location: Online
• Eligibility: Latino-owned startups under two years old
• Max prize: $5,000
• Applications open: 2024

L’ATTITIUDE Startup Pitch Competition

• Location: San Diego
• Eligibility: Latino-owned startups
• Max prize: $2 million
• Applications open: 2024 (pre-registration is open)

Pow Wow Pitch

• Location: Online and at various local powwows
• Eligibility: Indigenous entrepreneurs of North America
• Max prize: $25,000
• Applications open: TBD

SoGal Global Pitch Competition

• Location: Silicon Valley (regionals located in various cities)
• Eligibility: Women and diverse entrepreneurs, LGBTQ, veterans
• Max prize: Investment opportunities
• Applications open: TBD

TIE Pitch Competition

• Location: New York regionals, finals are in Singapore
• Eligibility: Women and minority startup founders
• Max prize: $50,000
• Applications open: 2024

LGBT BIZ PITCH

• Location: Denver
• Eligibility: LGBT-certified businesses and businesses that are at least 51% LGBT owned
• Max prize: $50,000
• Applications open: 2024

Startup302

• Location: Wilmington, Delaware
• Eligibility: Focus on underrepresented founders; categories inclued fintech, green and blue tech and life sciences
• Max prize: Varies ($20,000 in 2023)
• Applications open: 2024

Visionary Pitch Competition

• Location: Philadelphia
• Eligibility: At least 51% minority-owned
• Max prize: $250,000
• Applications open: through December 2023

 

Veteran competitions

Veteran Shark Tank

• Location: Philadelphia
• Eligibility: Veteran-owned startups
• Max prize: $50,000
• Applications open: 2024

Bunker Labs Pitch Competition

• Location: Washington DC
• Eligibility: Active, retired, and separated veterans with a discharge type of “Honorable” from the US military and their eligible family members.
• Max prize: $50,000
• Applications open: 2024

VetsinTech Pitch Competition

• Location:
• Eligibility: Veterans and military spouses
• Max Prize: Investment opportunities
• Applications open: TBD

Do you know of a pitch competition that should be on the list? Let us know at holly@technical.ly.