Cardinal Ideas Pitch Competition is a new revived pitch competition hosted by the Entrepreneurship Institute at Íæż½ã½ã. The purpose of the competition is to bring the best Lamar students, faculty, staff alongside community entrepreneurs to pitch innovative ideas and business plan to their peers and a panel of esteemed judges for cash awards.
The competition will create an environment for our competitors, judges, sponsors, attendees to connect, learn from each other, pursue big ideas and make a powerful impact on people's lives.
Monday, August 25th 2023, 12 p.m. | Applications open through online portal. Applicants must complete online application to be qualified. |
Wednesday, September 20th 2023, 12 p.m. | Cardinal Ideas Information Lunch and Learn: How to create a strong application |
Tuesday, October 10th 2023, 5 p.m. | Applications close. Applications will be evaluated and scored for eligibility. |
Wednesday, October 17th 2023 | Finalists announced and mentors assigned. |
Tuesday, November 14th - Wednesday, November 15th 2023 | Practice Session with feedback |
Thursday, November 16th - Friday, November 17th 2023 | Cardinal Ideas Pitch Competition |
Note: A detailed itinerary will be published closer to the event date
The presenting team must include at least one current student or recently graduated student.
The elevator pitch round on Thursday November 16th will have one member from each participating team make a one-minute presentation to the audience and judges. Use of slides is NOT permitted as part of elevator pitch. This round will be scored as its own category.
The Cardinal Ideas Pitch Competition will consist of 2 rounds. In these rounds, each team will be given 10 minutes to present (with slides), followed by a 5-minute question-and-answer period between the presenting team and judges. Teams will present to 2 different panel of judges. Top three scored teams will move on to finalist pitches.
In the final pitch round, which will occur in the afternoon before the networking lunch. The finalist team will be given 10 minutes to present, followed by up to a 10-minute question-and-answer round period. Winners will be announced after the networking lunch with an awards ceremony.
At least one member of the team (and up to three members) will participate in every round of the presenting the teams pitches on Thursday and Friday, November 16-17:
Details of the 2023 prize pool will be announced closer to the competition date. There are opportunities to win prize money, including the overall Cardinal Ideas Pitch Competition and Elevator Pitch Competition.
Every team will be assigned a faculty mentor, Center staff member and/or community mentor to help prepare teams for the Cardinal Ideas Pitch Competition. Teams are encouraged to take support from assigned mentors, and attend information sessions for the finalists. If you are interested in being a mentor for the teams, please email cardinalideas@lamar.edu for more information.
Contact Us
For more information or questions about Cardinal Ideas Pitch Competition - email cardinalideas@lamar.edu