Through its Collegiate Pitch competition, The Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs (GSE) encourages innovation and entrepreneurship by engaging students from Kentucky’s colleges and universities with an opportunity to develop and pursue their business ideas. The competition rewards Business Models judged by an independent panel as the most innovative and complete, and the most likely to result in successful ventures that create new jobs for Kentuckians. All university and college students throughout Kentucky are encouraged to compete. The competition is organized and governed by the Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs with support from the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet and KY Inno. Download all Rules & Guidelines here.
Collegiate Pitch offers two tracks: An Exploratory Track for newly formed ideas, and a Developed Track for more advanced ventures and existing companies.
Collegiate Pitch has two rounds:
(1) a Business Model submission,
(2) a pitch during the final event.
Up to 16 teams will be chosen based on the judging results from the Business Model submission, and only those teams advance to the second round of the Collegiate Pitch competition. Typically, there will be up to 8 teams for each Track, but this can vary based on the submissions.
The final event culminates with an awards presentation where judges determine the winners of the following cash prizes. Final Competition Awards Competition prizes are scaled to provide larger prize packages for existing ventures, or those that are more developed and closer to commercialization.
Smaller prize packages are awarded for Business Models or ideas in earlier stages of development.
Developed Business Track Prizes:
1st Place: $15,000
2nd Place: $7,000
3rd Place: $5,000
Exploratory Business Track Prizes:
1st Place: $5,000
2nd Place: $4,000
3rd Place: $3,000
The GSE Bonus Bump Any team that places 1st, 2nd, or 3rd will receive an extra $1000 “bump up” in their award amount if they have an alum from the GSE Summer Startup program as a team member. The total Bonus Bump per team is $1000 regardless of how many GSE alums are on the team.
ELIGIBILITY OF TEAMS & STUDENTS
The competition is open to students who:
● Are enrolled in their school’s current fall semester.
● Are student teams that won their individual school’s most recent competition.
● Have been selected using another method as determined by their school and approved in advance by Collegiate Pitch. The competition is for student-created, student managed, and student-owned business “ventures” (proposed businesses). In other words, students must:
● Have played a major role in conceiving the proposed venture
● Have key management roles in the proposed venture
● Own significant equity in the proposed venture
2025 COMPETITION TIMELINE
December 6, 2024, 11:00 PM ET: Intent to Compete Due
February 3, 2025, 11:00 PM ET: Business Model Due
February 11, 2025, 1:00 PM ET: Final Teams Announced
February 24, 2025, 1:00 PM ET: Pitch Deck PowerPoint Due
March 1, 2025, 10:00 AM ET: The 2025 Collegiate Pitch Final Event northern Kentucky region
QUESTIONS? CONTACT US
Rules and exceptions are up to the discretion of the Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs. Direct any questions about eligibility to the Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs at info@kentuckygse.com