The College of Business Entrepreneurship Program along with Catapult Creative House is hosting the first annual Southeast Startup Pitch Competition; this is a great way for students to show off their creativity and possibly win cash prizes.

Dena Hale, assistant professor, Department of Marketing and management said “This competition is similar to a Shark Tank, when you run into someone with an idea, or someone you want to carry your product, you’ve got an elevator pitch. There is a limited amount of time for you to really sell your idea and that is what we’re trying to incorporate within our entrepreneurship program. It is a chance for people to really pitch their ideas to venture capitalists.”

The idea for this competition came from the late dean Gerald McDougall. Dr. Dena Hale said, “This is something that is done in industry all the time. There is an actual industry in which people take full ideas and they try to get $50,000 in investments. So, we thought why don’t we bring that reality to SEMO now that we have an entrepreneurship major because the entrepreneurship mindset is something that sets us apart from other universities.”

In order to compete in the competition, you must attend one of the mandatory networking/ info sessions on February 15 or 21. Each competitor must submit a three minute video pitch and a 1-2 page executive summary by Friday April 6th. The top five contestants will then present on May 2 at Common Hour in Glenn Auditorium to win. The prizes are $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place.

“The purpose of this competition is for the students to get their ideas out there, the prize money does go directly to the team so they can use it however they like. We may find that the individuals who are judging this are actual entrepreneurs in our community. The judges might find an idea that they want to back and if the students want to take it further they may decide to work with them even if they’re not the winning team.”

The University hopes to see students from all different fields of study participate in this contest. The informational meetings are still going on, feel free to stop by to get more information.