America's Startup Contest

A national undergraduate collegiate startup competition to spotlight early-stage business ideas.

Eligibility:

• Must be an undergraduate student enrolled at an accredited U.S. college, university, or trade school
• Must be a legal resident of the U.S., D.C., or a U.S. territory
• Minimum age: 13+
• One entry only per person
• May apply solo or with a team (up to 4 proposal partners)

Award Details:

• Selected teams may advance through additional review stages
• Top teams invited to an in-person pitch experience
• No specific prize amounts mentioned

Geographic Scope: United States, D.C., and U.S. territories

Focus Areas:

• Early-stage startup business ideas
• Innovation and entrepreneurship

What Not to Submit:

• Do not include confidential information, trade secrets, or sensitive IP details (submissions are considered public disclosure)
• Use of AI to create the proposal or pitch video is prohibited

Application Process

Submission Period: Sunday, February 15, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. ET through Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET

Required Materials:

1. Mission statement (maximum 100 words)
2. Why your Business Entity is necessary (maximum 500 words)
3. Pitch video (maximum 2 minutes)

Judging Criteria:
All proposals evaluated using a national scoring rubric. Each proposal scored across seven equally weighted categories on a 1-5 scale (1 = lowest, 5 = highest):

• Why You — Why This Team
• Attractiveness of Market / Market Size
• Product (Insight + Direction)
• Barrier to Entry (Future Moat)
• Competitive Landscape
• Supply Chain / Execution Path
• Business Model

Important Restrictions:

• Do not include confidential information, trade secrets, or sensitive IP details
• Use of AI to create the proposal or pitch video is prohibited
• One entry only per person

Review Process:

1. Proposals reviewed by panel of experts using the scoring rubric
2. Selected teams may advance through additional review stages
3. Top teams invited to in-person pitch experience