Startup Challenge Application 🚀

Startup Challenge Application - Fall 2026

Startup Challenge Overview:

The Startup Challenge is a hands-on program tailored for aspiring entrepreneurs, providing guidance to develop their own startup that addresses a real-world problem. No prior idea is required to participate, making this program accessible to anyone interested in learning about entrepreneurship and developing their skills.

The program provides tools and guidance to brainstorm, validate, and refine ideas from the ground up, ensuring a solid foundation for each participant. Each workshop will include interactive activities, group discussions, and hands-on exercises to ensure participants engage deeply with the material and leave with tangible outputs.

The program runs from October 1 to November 12 and includes four in-person workshops held on Thursdays (except Reading Week) from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the Ronald D. Schmeichel Building for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Each week, participants will also have a brief one-on-one advisor meeting, to help you with your deliverable and to provide personalized feedback and support to help you refine your ideas and overcome challenges.

The Startup Challenge culminates in an exciting final pitch competition, where the top 10 participants showcase their startups to a panel of judges, competing for a chance to win up to $1,700 from a total prize pool of $3,000. In order to qualify for the final pitch competition, all participants must attend all workshops and advisory sessions, as well as complete deliverables each week and show progress towards developing a start-up.

Key Dates and Structure:

Program Duration: October 1, 2026- October 29, 2026
Workshops: Thursdays, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Weekly Advisory Meeting: Booked directly with assigned advisor- times vary
Deliverables and Attendance: Workshops, advisory sessions and key deliverables will be tracked, helping to identify the top 10 contestants for the final pitch competition.
Approx. 5 Hours per Week Commitment: Includes workshops, advisor sessions, and working on deliverables.

Program Schedule:

Workshop #1 (Problem Definition): Thursday, October 1, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Advisor Session #1: Book between October 1-8
Workshop #2 (Exploring Solutions): Thursday October 8, 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Advisor Session #2: Book between October 8-22
Workshop #3 (Interest Validation & Traction): Thursday, October 22, 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Advisor Session #3: Book between October 22-29
Workshop #4 (Business Model Development): Thursday, October 29, 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Advisor Session #4: Book between October 29-November 4
Pitch Workshop (Optional): Tuesday October 27, 1:30- 2:30 PM
miniPITCH Competition (Optional): Wednesday, October 28, 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Final Pitch Competition: Thursday, November 12, 4:00 - 6:30 PM

Final Pitch Competition Prizes:

🥇 1st Place: $1,350
🥈 2nd Place: $800
🥉 3rd Place: $500
🗳️ People's Choice: $350

1. First Name *This question is required.

2. Last Name *This question is required.

3. Faculty *This question is required.

4. Degree

5. Year

6. Western Email *This question is required.

7. Western one card # *This question is required.

9. Have you ever started a business? If so, tell us a little bit about it. *This question is required.

10. What interests you most about Entrepreneurship? *This question is required.

11. Have you been involved in Morrissette Institute programming before? If so, what?

Startup Challenge Application 🚀 - Fall 2026

Startup Challenge Application - Fall 2026