SPRING/SUMMER 2023 ENTREPRENEURSHIP PITCH COMPETITIONS FOR KIDS AND TEENS
Learn and showcase your skills to win cash!
2023 is here! And so is our semi-annual roundup of entrepreneurship pitch competitions for kids and teens. By joining these competitions, young girl entrepreneurs can showcase their businesses and meet seasoned entrepreneurs with valuable startup advice. Your girls could even bring home the top prize money and trophy! Read on for more information about some of our favorite pitch competitions.
Bizworld.org YES! Young Entrepreneur Success
Bizworld’s YES! Young Entrepreneur Success program runs for 12 weeks. It then ends with a live pitch competition where kids of the best businesses can secure up to $30,000 as seed funding. Registration is free, and when your girls join, they learn from industry experts, connect with peers, and have access to one-on-one startup mentorship. The 2023 Summer Cohort’s key dates are May 11 for the application deadline, June 12 for the start date, and August 31 for pitch day.
Female Strong, the Chicago-based non-profit organization that offers mentoring and entrepreneurship programs for girls, works with the Chicago chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) program and its YEA! Investor Panel 2023. On March 10, Female Strong’s YEA! Girls will pitch their business ideas to a panel of business leaders with the possibility of tapping into a $15K+ pool of seed funding for their businesses. The winner moves on to the YEA! National Saunders Competition. Registration is ongoing.
The 2023 pitch competition from i.Invest, a national youth business competition, is open for applications from March 1 to May 1. Participants meet investors and collaborate with mentors about building and sustaining a viable business. Registration costs $39; young teen entrepreneurs, 16 and under, must secure guardian/parental consent, and all participants must submit a business concept profile with a pitch video. They also have to participate in a three-day virtual Bootcamp and attend the virtual Pitch Finale. For more information, visit the i.Invest Knowledge Center.
Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
On May 27th, the Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (GYEC) is hosting a virtual business competition open to 14 to 19-year-old high schoolers from all parts of the world. Teams of up to 8 members (minimum of 3) must pitch a viable and sustainable enterprise solution that solves any global problem with science and technology. The “How to Join” page has more details, and the application period is from February 1 to March 31, 2023. Registration is free.
Technovation Girls Challenge for young female tech entrepreneurs ages 8 to 18 runs across 100+ countries. Participants will have access to a 12-week curriculum and work with mentors to develop a mobile app and launch a startup that solves everyday problems with technology. Girls must complete all the necessary steps, from coding to writing a business plan. Register by March 22nd for this year’s Technovation World Summit month in August. The rest of the important 2023 dates can be found here. There is no cost to participate.
There’s still time to join this year’s Paradigm Challenge. With the deadline for entries on May 1, students aged 4 to 18 worldwide can submit an idea, invention, mobile app, or any solution for real-life problems such as home fires, waste reduction, personal health, food security, and biodiversity. Participants with the top idea from each age division (4-8, 9-13, and 14-18) move to the next round and compete for The Paradigm Challenge Prize of $100,000. Registration is free.
Venture Lab’s upcoming youth pitch event will be online on May 4 (5-6pm CST). Applications for this pitch competition open in March 2023. Slots tend to fill quickly, so we encourage you and your girls to check their website by March. Those selected to pitch will receive actionable feedback to help them tweak their respective business ideas and improve their pitches. Registration is free.
Venture Dash is a platform for running entrepreneurship competitions, and the site also curates and posts the latest schedule and entry rules of nationwide startup competitions, innovation challenges, and pitch battles for kids and teens. The locations vary, and some still offer online pitch competitions. Most are also free to join. It’s a handy website to bookmark if your girl is interested in joining more than one entrepreneurship pitch competition this year. And so far, Venture Dash has updates on select 2023 pitch competitions with an option to view by location.
Entering this year’s Young Entrepreneur Institute pitch competition is easy. First, your girls have to think of a business idea–a product, service, social enterprise, or tech-related business. And starting this year, teams with a max of 4 members can join! Second, participants have until February 24 to submit their 30 to 90-second pitch video. Entries will be judged on creativity (from ideation to business name, even video production), persuasiveness, and overall quality of the idea, pitch, and video. Open to K-12 students who reside in Northeast Ohio.
Young business owners (6 to 21 years old) from Colorado are encouraged to apply to this year’s Spotlight on YouthBiz Stars business competition when registration opens in February 2023. All levels of entrepreneurs, from first-timers to established business owners, can become finalists and earn up to $5,000 in prize money! You and your girls can watch the 2022 Spotlight on YouthBiz Stars here.
These entrepreneurship pitch competitions come with requirements and challenges, and that’s a good thing. The whole experience will empower your girls to be goal-oriented and think critically about every aspect of their startups. By joining any of these contests, your girls will gain exposure for their businesses and engage with prospective customers and investors. Your girls’ business ideas could even positively impact the community to make a difference. And bringing home the trophy (and a check) is a bonus!
Are your girls excited to prepare their pitch and wow the judges? We wish them the best!
