Oct. 23—NEW ALBANY — Indiana University Southeast along with community partners will be hosting its first The Next BIG Thing Pitch Contest next month.
On Nov. 18 the pitch contest will be from 1-5 p.m. at 4201 Grant Line Rd, New Albany in the Hoosier Room. Pitch applications must be submitted by Friday Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. No late applications will be accepted.
This event will give entrepreneurs who are entering the competition the opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of experts, entrepreneurs and mentors who will provide feedback and guidance on their projects.
IUS is doing this as a way to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is a weeklong celebration used to recognize the spirit of entrepreneurship.
The pitch contest is the first one that IUS has done and hopes that this will become a yearly event.
“This is a competition where community members and high schoolers can pitch their ideas,” said Aycan Kara, IUS’ Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship. “We wanted to make it all inclusive. If you have an idea but you don’t have a business plan yet or if you don’t have your product yet, you can still pitch your idea and get some perceived money.”
There will be four categories that people can enter, the High School Fast Pitch, Community Fast Pitch, High School Pitch Tank and Community Pitch Tank.
High School Fast Pitch
The High School Fast Pitch is for students/teams who have identified a problem to solve or a customer need, have executed market research, and have a rough business plan; however, they have not identified or finalized a minimum viable product or service to offer. Participants must be a student in any Indiana high school system.
Community Fast Pitch
The Community Fast Pitch is for individuals/teams who have identified a problem to solve/customer need, have executed market research, and have a rough business plan; however, they have not identified or finalized a minimum viable product or service to offer. Participants must be an Indiana resident or have an existing business organized within the state of Indiana. If the business is not yet organized, winning submissions must pledge to start the submitted business idea within the state of Indiana to receive financial prizes.
High School Pitch Tank
The High School Pitch Tank is for students/teams who have a completed business plan and have identified a specific minimum viable product or service to offer. Participants must be a student in any Indiana high school system.
Community Pitch Tank
The Community Pitch Tank is for individuals/teams who have a completed business plan and have identified a specific minimum viable product or service to offer. Participants must be an Indiana resident and have an existing established business in Indiana or pledge to start the submitted business plan/idea in Indiana.
Prizes include up to $11,000 in cash, office space at NovaParke Innovation & Technology Campus, memberships to Maker 13, and scholarships from IU Southeast and the Make Your Move Program.
“Pitch contests can be scary,” Kara said. “But this is three minutes of what you want to do, you don’t need a full-fledged business plan to be able to pitch your idea. If you have an idea, it doesn’t have to be in a traditional sense of business like opening a bagel shop…Don’t limit your thinking to only what you see on the street.”
