$50,000 to be awarded to college student teams in business pitch competition
College students from four area colleges and universities will compete for $50,000 in prize money by pitching business ideas to a panel of judges. The business pitches are fast-paced and held to a four-minute time limit. The Pitch competition is a shark-tank-style contest held at The Fox Club at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin on April 19, 2023. Doors open at 3:30 and the students start pitching at 4:00 pm. This event is free to attend and open to the public
Ten teams of college students are invited to live pitch at this event. Two teams from each of four higher education institutions and two at-large teams are pitching their business ideas. The Pitch is a startup business pitch competition among college student teams in Northeast Wisconsin. Participating colleges include University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Lawrence University, and St. Norbert College. Finalists from each school and an at-large round will present to a panel of judges and an audience of area students, community members, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors. The top three student entrepreneur teams will split $50,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.
“There are many business pitch competitions in Northeast Wisconsin,” stated Paul Werner, an assistant teaching professor of entrepreneurship at UW-Green Bay. “The Pitch awards a substantial amount of cash to the top three winners,” Werner continued. “Many of the business pitch competitions in this region award a few thousand dollars to the top three winners. The Pitch is well-funded, and the prize money is substantial enough to get the entrepreneur into a start-up phase of their business. This is a big deal for start-up entrepreneurs”.
Ten-thousand-dollars in cash is awarded to the top competitor, and they will also receive in-kind services worth thousands of dollars. The influx of cash and resources is substantial enough to get a new business off the ground. The Northeast Wisconsin region has a robust ecosystem where entrepreneurs can develop an idea and receive assistance to make the idea a reality.
“The SBDC [Small Business Development Center] is effective and very active in getting entrepreneurs into business and supporting them once the business launches,” stated Werner. “There are many business pitch competitions, economic development organizations, colleges and universities where entrepreneurs can find resources to support their ideas”.
The Pitch was created by the Fox Connection, a collaboration of the premier colleges and universities in northeast Wisconsin to enhance entrepreneurial education and opportunity for area students. For more information, click here.
