The New Venture Challenge
The New Venture Challenge (NVC) is a multi-round, multi-event entrepreneurial competition and signature program of, where teams can win up to $320,000 and pitch to a live audience at the Boulder Theater!
Carefully review the guidelines for the competition below. Not every circumstance can be anticipated. Any team that violates the rules, regulationsor spirit of the competition may be disqualified.
⚠Registration for the 2025 is open.Interested in competing in future years?
2024-25 New Venture Challenge Eligibility, Details and Deadlines
- 2024-25 Dates & Deadlines
- Deep Tech Category Eligibility
- Open Category Eligibility
- Competition Format
- Prize Pool
- Submission Guidelines
- General Notices
- Judging Rubric
- Registration and Application
- FAQs and Help
2024-25 Dates & Deadlines
- Nov. 1: NVC RegistrationOpens
- Feb. 8,3:00 p.m. MT:Deadline to register ventures
- Feb. 19, 6:30 p.m.: Company Formation Workshop*
- Feb. 20, 5:30 p.m.: Mentor Matching Session*
- Feb. 26: Intellectual Property Workshop*
- Feb. 26: NVC Rubric and How to Build Your Pitch*†
- March 5, 6:30 p.m.:NVC Rubric and How to Build Your Pitch*†
- March11, 6 p.m.:Pitch Practice Workshop*†
- March12, 6 p.m.:Pitch Practice Workshop*†
- March13, 6 p.m.:Pitch Practice Workshop*†
- March 19, 3:30p.m.: Funding Workshop*†
- March 21, 3:00 p.m.: Round One NVC Executive Summaries and video pitches due
- April 3: NVC Round One
- April 4, 3:00 p.m.: Semi Finals Executive Summaries and video pitches due
- April 7: Semifinal Competition
- April 18: Finalists video pitches, pitch decks and Executive Summaries due
- April 23, 6:30 p.m.:NVC Finals at the Boulder Theater
* optional events and opportunities
†each workshop in these series is a standalone event;attendees should choose one to attend
Eligibility
Outside Funding Limitations
Competing ventures must be built around a scientific or technological innovation that i) has been developed using a fundamental scientific discipline such as physics, chemistry, biology or mathematics, and ii) has been experimentally demonstrated."
Ventures can be non-profit or for-profit entities. Ventures that have raised more than $1,00,000 in Investment capital from sources other than the members of the CU team or their friends and families before Feb. 8th, 2024, are excluded. Investment funding awarded as part of an accelerator/incubator program counts toward funding limits.
The following do not count toward the funding limit: Research and other grants, competition winnings, traditional loans and any friends and family funding.
Revenue Limitations
Ventures with more than $100,000 in revenue in prior academic years (before August 1, 2024) are excluded.
Prior Activity
Both student and other team members may have worked on an idea or new technology in previous academic years, or in the case of the student team members, even prior to entering CU, provided that their venture’s revenues and equity capital raised do not exceed the above limits.
Ventures that compete in the NVC Finals may not compete in the NVC competition in subsequent years. Competing team members, who reached the finals in a prior year, may participate in the NVC more than once if entering with a new venture or new technology.
Team Composition
As of Feb. 8, 2025, at least one founding team member (at least 10% equity owner) must:
- be a current student or employee of CU Boulder,
- or graduated from CU Boulder after Nov. 1, 2024.
OR
- the team’s company has executed an IP option or license agreement with the university
Team Size
There is no team size requirement – minimum or maximum.
Nature of Ventures
The competition is for new, independent ventures in the seed, start-up or early growth stages. Generally excluded are the following: buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchises, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area and spinouts from existing corporations.
Attendance
To be considered for any award, teams must present, in person, at the required competition times and locations. Failure to show up for the designated “pitch time” will result in disqualification.
Copyrights andPermissions
If a team uses copyrighted materials and/or images from a third party in their submissions or presentations, they must obtain permission and authorization in advance from the owners to use this material.
Information presented by the company in the NVC competition is the company's sole responsibility. CU Boulder and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative have not taken, and do not intend to take, any steps to verify the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, materials or statements presented by the company. The company, and not NVC, is responsible for ensuring the company’s compliance with all applicable federal, state and other securities laws, and it is solely the company’s responsibility to comply with any of such laws that are applicable. NVC does not give investment advice, endorsement, analysis or recommendations with respect to any securities and is not a broker, venture fund or investment advisor.
Required Forms
To compete in the NVC Finals, you will have to provide a founders’ agreement.
No prizes will be awarded without the required forms submitted.
Eligibility
Outside Funding Limitations
Ventures can be non-profit or for-profit entities. Ventures that have raised more than $1,00,000 in Investment capital from sources other than the members of the CU team or their friends and families before Feb. 8th, 2024, are excluded. Investment funding awarded as part of an accelerator/incubator program counts toward funding limits.
The following do not count toward the funding limit: Competition winnings, traditional loans and any friends and family funding.
Revenue Limitations
Ventures with more than $100,000 in revenue in prior academic years (before August 1, 2024) are excluded.
Prior Activity
Both student and other team members may have worked on an idea or new technology in previous academic years, or in the case of the student team members, even prior to entering CU, provided that their venture’s revenues and equity capital raised do not exceed the above limits.
Ventures that compete in the NVC Finals may not compete in the NVC competition in subsequent years. Competing team members, who reached the finals in a prior year, may participate in the NVC more than once if entering with a new venture or new technology.
Team Composition
As of Feb. 8, 2025, at least one founding team member (at least 10% equity owner) must:
- be a current student or employee of CU Boulder,
- or graduated from CU Boulder after Nov. 1, 2024
Team Size
There is no team size requirement – minimum or maximum.
Mentor Involvement
Every team MUST have a mentor.
Teams do not have to have a mentor to initially register by the Feb. 8 deadline but must have worked with a mentor before competing in April.
Each team must submit a mentor endorsement with their application by the deadline.
Each team must have the endorsement of a mentor. Mentors can be acquired through the platform. A faculty member who is actively teaching a class in which you are enrolled does not qualify as a mentor.
Nature of Ventures
The competition is for new, independent ventures in the seed, start-up or early growth stages. Generally excluded are the following: buy-outs, expansions of existing companies, real estate syndications, tax shelters, franchises, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area and spinouts from existing corporations.
Attendance
To be considered for any award, teams must present, in person, at the required competition times and locations. Failure to show up for the designated “pitch time” will result in disqualification.
Copyrights andPermissions
If a team uses copyrighted materials and/or images from a third party in their submissions or presentations, they must obtain permission and authorization in advance from the owners to use this material.
Information presented by the company in the NVC competition is the company's sole responsibility. CU Boulder and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative have not taken, and do not intend to take, any steps to verify the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information, materials or statements presented by the company. The company, and not NVC, is responsible for ensuring the company’s compliance with all applicable federal, state and other securities laws, and it is solely the company’s responsibility to comply with any of such laws that are applicable. NVC does not give investment advice, endorsement, analysis or recommendations with respect to any securities and is not a broker, venture fund or investment advisor.
Required Forms
To compete in the NVC Finals, you will have to provide a founders’ agreement.
No prizes will be awarded without the required forms submitted.
Competition Format
The NVC is an investment pitch competition consisting of the following components:
Round 1 Competition
Each venture will submit a 2-minute video pitch and an executive summary during the first round. A panel of judges will assess all video pitches and executive summaries. Each venture will also present a live 5-minute in-person presentation and 5-minute Q&A to a different panel of judges. The two scores will be combined to determine the semifinal ventures.
Every team must have a mentor to compete in the first round.
Teams may not observe other teams presenting during the first and semifinal rounds.
Semifinal Competition
Ventures will submit a 5-minute video pitch and executive summary. Ventures will also have an in-person 5-minute presentation and Q&A session.
Every semi-final team must attend the “funding” workshop to compete.
Teams may not observe other teams presenting during the first and semifinal rounds.
NVC Finals
The fivetop ventures will be asked to compete in the Final Showcase at the Boulder Theater. Each venture will have a 5-minute in-person pitch and 7-minute Q&A.
Every finals team must have a founders’ agreement in place to compete.
Prize Pool
The Grand Prize Pool will be awarded as follows at the NVC Finals:
| 1st Place, Deep Tech | $144,000 awarded as a SAFE investment |
| 2nd Place, Deep Tech | $10,000 Awarded as an Innovation & Entrepreneurship grant |
| 3rd Place, Deep Tech | $6,000 Awarded as an Innovation & Entrepreneurship grant |
| 1st Place, Open | $144,000 awarded as a SAFE investment |
| 2nd Place, Open | $10,000 Awarded as an Innovation & Entrepreneurship grant |
| 3rd Place, Open | $6,000 Awarded as an Innovation & Entrepreneurship grant |
Submission Guidelines
The first round of the NVC General Competition will involve the submission of:
- Executive Summary
- 2-minute video pitch
- Slide deck for your in-person 5-minute pitch (must be in PowerPoint)
- Mentor endorsement
All other elements of the competition will consist of in-person presentations at CU Boulder. All documents and presentations must be in English.
Executive Summary
Files must be submitted as a PDF and named as follows: ES_VentureName.pdf. Executive Summaries should be submitted as part of the team’s online application.
Format:
- Executive Summaries should be a minimum of 1 and not more than 3 pages.
- Cover page and table of contents do not count toward page total.
- An appendix of up to 2 pages may also be included, as long as it is used to provide detailed financial information or to include materials that support the findings, statements, and observations in the plan.
- Format is 1.5 line spacing with 1-inch top, bottom, left and right margins and 12-point font. This line spacing and font requirement applies to the textual content of the document and not to titles and descriptions accompanying pictures, graphs, tables or worksheets.
- Startup name, team members, and contact information should be listed in the document.
We recommend including the following information in the Executive Summary:
- Opportunity summary: In 1-2 paragraphs, describe the problem the company is addressing, the size and growth rate of the marketand your solution.
- Product or service: Describe in more detail what your product does/how it works, the current state of developmentand any technology validation to date (i.e., the evidence you have that the technology works) and your competitive advantage.
- Competitive differentiation: Explain the competition and show what makes this company better than competitive alternatives.
- Market and customer analysis: Describe trends in the market, targeted customer segments, identified customers, and the value proposition to customers. Describe any customer/market validation (i.e., evidence you have that customers will pay for this product).
- Intellectual property: Provide a status of patents, licenses, or other IP (if applicable)
- Management team/advisors: Show how this team has the expertise to successfully launch this startup.
- Financials: Show 3-5 year projections of revenue, profit and cash. If your team is generating revenue or has received outside funding, please be specific on where your funding has come from (see Section III for funding/revenue limitations).
- Investment: Describe what you would do with the winning investment funds ($50,000) and any additional investment funding you would seek.
Video Pitch
The video pitch should be saved to a Google Drive or another platform, and the file link should be submitted in StartupTree. Be sure to include the venture name in the file name.
Format:
- Be sure you have good lighting and sound.
Slide Deck
Format:
- Your deck must be in PowerPoint
- File name: Venturename.PPT
- We do not recommend using any embedded video or internet functionality in your presentation. Wi-Fi access is not guaranteed during your presentation.
- All presentation technology will be provided—you are not allowed to use your own computer to present.
Mentor Endorsement
Format: File format should be mentor_VentureName.pdf.
- Have your mentorwrite a brief paragraph that outlines the approximate time spent mentoring your venture and the areas in which mentorship was provided (product development, marketing, etc.).
- Submit this as a PDF in StartupTree.
- You need to submit only one mentor endorsement. If you are working with multiple mentors, pick one.
General Notices
Use of Competition Materials
The University of Colorado, and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative and their agents may make photocopies, photographs, video recordings and/or audio recordings of the presentations, including the business plan and other documents, charts, media or other material prepared for use in presentation at the New Venture Challenge. The above entities may use the materials in any book or other printed materials and any videotape or other medium that they may produce for promotional and/or educational purposes only. These entities have non-exclusive world rights in all languages, and in all media, to use or to publish the materials in any book, other printed materials, videotapes or other medium, and to use the materials in future editions thereof and derivative products.
Intellectual Property
Teams requiring non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) may not want to participate. NDAs can be signed by first and semifinal rounds if needed. The finals are open to the public. The competition may be broadcast to interested people through media, which may include radio, television and the Internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged throughout the competition should be considered information that will enter the public domain. If you have questions, you should seek the counsel of an IP attorney
Decisions Regarding the Competition and the Winners
All decisions regarding the competition rules, procedures, and processes are at the sole discretion of the NVC organizers. Changes and/or interpretations of these rules may be made by the organizers at any time even though they may be (or may appear to be) in conflict with previously published information. The selection of the teams to compete and the selection of the winners are at the sole discretion of the judges and the organizers. Best efforts will be made to make decisions in accordance with this Official Rules document.
2024 Judging Rubric
Scale of 1-6:1, Strongly Disagree; 2, Disagree; 3, Slightly Disagree; 4,Slightly Agree; 5,Agree; 6,Strongly Agree
Topics | |
| Promising Idea - 30% | |
| There is a clear need or problem is being addressed. | Score 1-6 |
| The idea provides a solution to a validated problem being addressed. | Score 1-6 |
| There is a clear way to make money or create impact. | Score 1-6 |
| Progress - 40% | |
| The venture has practical milestones and timelines for executing this company. | Score 1-6 |
| The venture has proven they understand their customer through (10, 100, 1000) customer discovery interviews. The venture has identified who their first customer is and how they will sell to the customer. | Score 1-6 |
| The venture has demonstrated traction in the market (prototype, MVP, pilot, website, social media, app, etc) | Score 1-6 |
| Team – 20% | |
| The team has the necessary skills to execute this venture. | Score 1-6 |
| The team has identified uses of funds to move the company forward. | Score 1-6 |
| Presentation - 10% | Score 1-6 |
| The company presented a clear, compelling, professional, logical presentation, and answered questions well. | Score 1-6 |
| TOTAL SCORE |
Registration
⚠Registration for the 2025 competition is open.
The NVC uses the Startup Tree platform to manage applications. To enter, each of your team members must create a user profile on the platform. Then, your main point of contact will create the venture profile on the platform and invite all team members to the venture profile.
There is no cost to apply or to compete.
Feb. 8 Deadline
At this point, you are only submitting venture information. This must be completed by 3:00 p.m. on Feb. 8, 2025.
Youdo not have to have a mentor to register. If you do not have a mentor yet, just type "Looking" in the registration form where it asks for your mentor.
Later in February, you will be invited to submit the next round of information for the competition.
March 21 Deadline
You will need to upload the following:
- Executive Summary
- 2-minute video pitch
- Slide deck for your in-person 5-minute pitch – Must be in PowerPoint
- - You need to submit onlyonementor endorsement.
All material must be submitted by3:00 p.m. onMarch 21, 2025.
Step 1: Review competition rules and dates
Ensure you have reviewedallthe eligibility requirements, competition rulesand dates.
Step 2: Create your user profile
- .
- Input your name and Identikey email address and create a password. The password selected must be at least 8 characters long and have one symbol, one lowercase letter and one uppercase letter.
- Upload a profile picture and specify your gender identity (optional) and your location (optional).
- Select your affiliation with CU Boulder. If you select alumni or student, you will see an additional input area appear, allowing you to specify your graduation year, college and degree type.
- Input any applicable skills.These will appear on your profile, allowing other users to find and understand your background.
- Input your bio. This will help your profile stand out and provide helpful information to users and mentors.
- Please answer the additional questions for the NVC operations team.
Step 3: Create a Venture Profile
- .
- We recommend Bookmarking this link for future use as you participate in this year's NVC.
- Once you have created your personal profile in StartupTree, you will need to create a Venture Profile, .
Step 4: Add your team members to the venture profile
- Use the .
- All team members must create a StartUp Tree
Step 5: Register your new venture for the New Venture Challenge
- .
Need Help?
Teams that have any questions about their eligibility should contact Stan Hickory, director of the NVC at hickorys@colorado.edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to register or compete in the New Venture Challenge to compete in either the NVC Women Founders Competition?
No! While we encourage anyone eligible to compete, each competition is a standalone opportunity. Please check the eligibility of each competition before applying.
Can non-profit organizations or ventures compete in NVC?
Yes! Non-profit organizations and ventures are strongly encouraged to participate. You can compete in the Social Impact Competition! If you have any questions – for example, about eligibility, company structure or how prizes are awarded – please do not hesitate to contact Stan Hickory, director of the NVC at hickorys@colorado.edufor help.
Are there legal requirements or best practices for drafting a Founders' Agreement?
It is important for a company’s founders to have an agreement among themselves even before creating an entity. Founders’ agreements are the product of conversations that should take place among a company’s founders at the early stages of formation rather than later in the life of a company.
Join a venture or find partners
Are you interested in joining a venture that is competing or looking for partners to join your competing venture? Learn more about how to build your team for this year's New Venture Challenge.
Find a mentor
CU Boulder'sentrepreneurial mentor networksupports innovative activity on campus led by students, faculty and staff. CU Boulderentrepreneurs at any stageof development—from ideato launch—need experienced professionals to help them on their journey.
