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Ilitch School Startup Technology Pitch Competition

​This annual competition is designed to promote innovation and entrepreneurship with a technology focus, across Wayne State University (WSU).

Prizes for startup technology pitch competition: 1st place, $10K, 2nd place, $5K, 3rd place, $2.5KCurrent WSU students of any major, enrolled either full-time or part-time, are invited to submit a technology pitch for this competition, which will be held Friday, March 28, 2025. All team members must be in good standing during the Winter 2025 semester. Teams can be composed of two to four current undergraduate or graduate students. Prototype/minimum viable product is recommended and cash investments are awarded to winning teams. 

Pitches should be technology-based, examples include mobile apps, a software application, manufacturing hardware, consumer products, a medical device, AI driver, sustainability tools and more.

Contact information

The competition is hosted by the WSU Ilitch School Entrepreneurship and Innovation program and Department of Technology, Information Systems and Analytics and powered by the Belinsky Entrepreneurial Learning Lab. It is led by Kevin Ketels, Associate Professor, Teaching, Global Supply Chain Management and Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation programs and Rhoda Joseph, Chair, Department of Technology, Information Systems and Analytics.

For inquiries, email TechPitch@wayne.edu. You may also sign up to receive email updates about the competition.

Timeline

Phase 1

  • September 9, 2024: Competition Announcement and Launch
     

Phase 2

  • October 7, 2024 at 5 p.m.: Information Session (Optional for Teams)

The information session will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Mike Ilitch School of Business, Room 319, 2771 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan 48201. All individuals and teams interested in learning more about the competition or planning on submitting a proposal are encouraged to attend to learn more about the competition.  

  • November 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: Tech Pitch Student Speed Networking at WSU College of Engineering (Optional for Teams)

A speed networking event will be held jointly with the WSU College of Engineering. The event will take place in the Ford Activity Room at the College of Engineering located on central campus at 5050 Anthony Wayne Dr., Detroit Michigan 48202.

  • Friday, February 14, 2025, by noon: Digital Submission, Proposal Submission (Required for teams) 

Teams will submit a PowerPoint presentation, report, and video describing their proposal. The video should be no longer than 10 minutes in length. The report should be approximately 5 pages.

Phase 3 - February 28, 2025, at noon: Email Notification, Proposal Selection (Feedback to teams) 

A maximum of eight teams will be notified if their proposal has been selected to move on to the next phase of the competition. These teams will be matched with a mentor who will provide feedback on their report and pitch. These teams will be invited to submit a refined entry for the competition's final phase. 

Phase 4 - March 26, 2025, at noon: Detailed Proposal Submission (Required from the finalist teams)  

Submission instructions will be provided to finalists. Teams will submit a PowerPoint presentation and report containing the details of their proposal. The proposal must be short enough to be delivered in 10 minutes. The written report should have more detail and be 5-10 pages in length. The presentation and report will include the following information:   

  1. Business Description/Needs Analysis - Present an overview of the business and identify the need that it fills.  
  2. Leadership Team (2-4 students) - Include a 1-paragraph bio on each member of the team. 
  3. Market/Competitive Analysis - Describe the current industry, market size and growth trends in that domain. Identify the primary competitors in that domain. 
  4. Marketing Strategy - Identify the target audience for your product or service. Indicate the methods that you will use to promote your product or service. 
  5. Financials - Provide income statement/cash flow projection for five years into the future. Include your break-even point for your idea. 
  6. Impact - Discuss the social and economic impact of your proposal. This impact can focus on a specific geographical region such as Detroit, Michigan, a specific region, or be international.  
  7. Investment Plan - Discuss the proposed use of competition funding. 

Phase 5 - March 28, 2025: Startup Technology Pitch Competition

Attendance is required for the finalist teams.

  • 9 a.m. - Welcome remarks 
  • 9:15 a.m. - Pitch presentations 
  • 11:30 a.m. - VC, Founder Panel 
  • 12:15 p.m. - Lunch and networking, student club and industry tables available 
  • 1:00 p.m. - Entrepreneur & Innovation Award Announcement 
  • 1:15 p.m. - Judges announcement 

Data sets

In today's data driven economy, there are many publicly available data sets. These data sets can be used as the basis for analyzing solutions to different problems. These data sets can be used to support proposals that require the use of data. 

Below is a sample list of publicly available data sets: