Elon Innovation Challenge 2025

Graphic of the Grand Prize amount which is $2,500The Elon Innovation Challenge is a dynamic innovation competition designed to inspire and empower students across campus to create innovative solutions to real-world challenges. The competition serves as a platform for students to showcase their early-stage entrepreneurial ideas, receive valuable feedback from industry professionals, and potentially secure funding to take their ventures to the next level. At its core, the Elon Innovation Challenge fosters a culture of innovation, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship among Elon students.

Key Features of the Elon Innovation Challenge:

  • Entrepreneurial Focus:
    The challenge provides a platform for student-led business ideas to be presented, evaluated, and supported by a panel of investors and industry experts.
  • Pitch Competition Format:
    The competition centers around a pitch contest where student entrepreneurs present their business ideas to a panel of judges, vying for funding and mentorship to bring their ideas to life.
  • Networking and Support:
    Beyond the pitch, the Elon Innovation Challenge connects students with investors, mentors, and fellow entrepreneurs, fostering a collaborative environment to grow ideas and build lasting professional relationships.

The event highlights the importance of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in tackling today’s most pressing challenges, offering a valuable opportunity for students to turn their vision into reality.

Whether you’re studying social sciences, technology, business or anything in between:

The Elon Innovation Challenge is your chance to move your innovative idea forward!

Thinking about joining the 2025 Challenge, it’s not too late – send us an e-mail at innovation@elon.edu

 

Guidelines for the 2025 Elon Innovation Challenge

  1. All currently enrolled Elon students in good standing with Elon University are eligible to apply. No more than 5 students on a team.
  2. All applications must be for an idea or an early-stage startup.
  3. All past Elon Innovation Challenge finalists are not eligible to apply to the 2025 competition with the same or a significantly similar idea/venture. Those who are applying with a different idea/venture may be eligible. Please get in touch with the Doherty Center team with any questions.
  4. The application deadline is 8 a.m. on Friday, April 11, 2025.
  5. Schedule of Elon Innovation Challenge Workshops:
    1. Tuesday, March 11, 2025 – Information Session – Sankey 308, 4:30 – 6:00 pm
    2. Tuesday, March 25, 2025 –Business Model Canvas and Testing– Sankey 308, 4:30 – 6:00 pm
    3. Tuesday, April 8, 2025 – Executive Summary and Pitch – Sankey 308, 4:30 – 6:00 pm
    4. Tuesday, April 15th -Elon Innovation Challenge pitches – Sankey 308 and 314, 4:30 – 7:00 pm
      1. All applicants are strongly encouraged to attend all workshops to ensure progress toward a successful application.  If you are not able to attend, you must contact Doherty Center staff to arrange at least one check-in between kick-off on March 11 and the submission deadline on April 11th.
  6. All applicants must commit to presenting their business in person during the semifinals on Wednesday, April 15, 2025, if selected.
  7. The application requires the following:
    1. Executive Summary—two pages in .doc, .docx or .pdf format.
      1. Overview
      2. Market Opportunity
      3. Business Model
      4. Target Market
      5. Customer Discovery/Testing
      6. Team
      7. Basic Financial Projections
      8. Challenges/Next Steps
    2. Slide deck—maximum 6 slides in .pptx, .ppt or .pdf format. The 10-slide limit includes any cover slides or appendix slides. The slide deck must cover the following:
      1. Description of Venture/Opportunity
      2. Target market
      3. Business Model
      4. Team
      5. Challenges and Next Steps
      6. The overall potential of the opportunity
    3. The two-page limit for the executive summary and the 6 slide limit for the slide deck are strict limits. Applicants that exceed the limits may be disqualified.   Examples will be available for review at the Doherty Center beginning March 24th
  8. All applicants must agree that the materials they are submitting are their original work.
  9. Any disclosure of patentable details of the IP (Intellectual Property) in the executive summary or presentation would generally be considered a public disclosure.  You are not required to disclose any details of your IP in your application or at the competition.  You should be able to talk about general concepts of your IP, not patentable details, in a manner that makes you comfortable.
    If protection is at all a consideration, or if you are at all worried about disclosing specific details about your IP in the application or at the competition, please consider doing some research on the filing, starting the process to file, getting legal advice on filing, actually filing a patent application or not participating.
  10. To be considered for the Elon Innovation Challenge, the application files (executive summary and slide deck) must be emailed to: innovation@elon.edu by 8 am on Friday, April 11, 2025.  If you have not received an e-mail confirmation by 3 pm on Friday, April 11, 2025, please text 919-423-2770.  You must receive an email confirmation to be considered for the Elon Innovation Challenge.
  11. By participating in the competition, applicant(s) give the Elon Innovation Challenge organizers the right to share the executive summary and slide deck with faculty reviewers, and judges.
  12. Applicants may be contacted via email at any time during the competition if more information is needed by the Doherty Center.
  13. All applicants will be asked to sign a media release form.
  14. The review process for the Elon Innovation Challenge is structured as follows: All applications submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by faculty.  Up to 12 teams will be selected to present to a panel of expert judges in the first round on April 15th.  The top six teams will advance to the final round. After a short break, the finalists will then present their pitches to a panel consisting of all the judges from the first round.  The three winners of the Elon Innovation Challenge will be announced following the presentations.
  15. Award money to the grand prize winner and runner-ups will be distributed. Winners must submit any requested documents in a timely manner. Recipients are responsible for all taxes, if any.
    1. Grand Prize – $2500 to the top team
    2. 2 Runner-ups – $750 to each of the runner-up teams
  16. The winner(s) of the Elon Innovation Challenge will be determined by a panel of expert judges who will judge based on the overall potential of the venture, feasibility, impact and the ability of the team to execute the idea.
  17. The Elon Center will forward feedback to applicants upon the completion of judging. Feedback is anonymous unless otherwise indicated.