McGinnis Venture Competition
The McGinnis Venture Competition, a platform exclusively for Âé¶¹´å's community of student entrepreneurs, brings together Carnegie Mellon's best and brightest student entrepreneurs to compete for over $125K in investments. All participants receive crucial interaction with alumni entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, an opportunity to raise capital and valuable feedback about ventures.
This multi-round competition kicks off in early January, starting with two virtual rounds and culminating in a final live round celebration at Âé¶¹´å.
Direct any questions to Allyson Hince.
The 2026 McGinnis Venture Competition opens on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. The Round 1 submission deadline is on Tuesday, January 13, 2026 via our online platform, . Teams who create a profile, register for the competition and start their submission by Monday, December 1, 2025 are guaranteed to be assigned a coach for the competition; for those who register after December 1, 2025, are not guaranteed a coach assignment.
The final round pitches will be held on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
McGinnis Venture Competition & Social Enterprise Prize Final Round Celebration
Help cheer the final round teams to victory by attending our in person event.
The McGinnis Venture Competition is made possible by a generous endowment from Gerald E. McGinnis, founder of .
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
2:00 - 4:45 p.m. Final Round Team Pitches
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Final Round Team Pitches
McConomy Auditorium
Âé¶¹´å
Jared L. Cohon University Center
5000 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Âé¶¹´å
Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Visitor parking information found here

Thank you to the McGinnis family

The McGinnis Venture Competition is made possible by a generous endowment from Gerald E. McGinnis, founder of .

Thank you to the McGinnis family.
What They Say
Matt Spettel, trainwell
Alex Baikovitz, Mach9
Prize Allocation
Graduate Track
First Place Morganthaler Prize
$50,000
Second Place McGinnis Prize
$30,000
Third Place McGinnis Prize
$20,000
Undergraduate Track
First Place Morganthaler Prize
$5,000
Second Place McGinnis Prize
$4,000
Third Place McGinnis Prize
$2,500
Bonus
Undergraduate track winners are also awarded a place in the .
*Investments are awarded in the form of a SAFE. The remaining $3,500 will sponsor the .

Additional Prizes
Social Enterprise Prize Graduate Prize
$10,000
Gebhardt Sandbox Fund Prize (3 Awards)
$1,000
Crowd Favorite
$1,000
Plus Get
Coaching
The competition includes coaches for each team that declares participation in the McGinnis Venture Competition. The Swartz Center staff will match the appropriate team with an appropriate coach. If a team is not registered by the deadline the Swartz Center cannot guarantee that a coach will be assigned.
Networking Opportunities
Meet and interact with peers who are also passionate about entrepreneurship, and gain access to Carnegie Mellon’s amazing entrepreneurial alumni network. Teams from all rounds enjoy access to exclusive networking events.
Help Along the Way
CONNECTS events are held throughout the year to help teams prepare. Please try to attend the seminars that are focused on the McGinnis Venture Competition & the Social Enterprise Prize.
Here are a few video resources that we suggest to help with your video pitch:
Intro to Âé¶¹´å Libraries Databases for Market & Competitive Research with Jennifer McKeeJen McKee
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST
Virtual
Facilitated by Âé¶¹´å's Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian - - in this session, attendees will receive a guided overview of various business resources which the Libraries provides access to. These tools and databases will heavily supplement your market research, and help competition participants save time and develop stronger pitches!
Important 2025-26 Dates and Deadlines
Tues, Oct 28, 2025
Applications open via .
Application requirements: 4-minute Pitch Video (Youtube Link) and Pitch Deck (PDF)
Wed, Nov 12, 2025
Virtual Info Session
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST-Virtual
Mon, Dec 1, 2025
Create a log in via , register for the competition via Pralent and start your application to receive a coach
If you create a log in via , register for the McGinnis Venture Competition and start your submission to include your team name, team description, team members, and area of expertise by December 1, and you will be guaranteed to be assigned a coach for the competition; for those who do this after December 1, we cannot guarantee that you will be assigned a coach for the competition.
Wed, Dec 3, 2025
Intro to Âé¶¹´å Libraries Databases for Market & Competitive Research with Jennifer McKee
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST
Virtual
Facilitated by Âé¶¹´å's Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian - - in this session, attendees will receive a guided overview of various business resources which the Libraries provides access to. These tools and databases will heavily supplement your market research, and help competition participants save time and develop stronger pitches!
Wed, Jan 7, 2026
Virtual Info Session
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST-Virtual
Round 1 Submission Deadline at 11:59 pm EST via our .
Tues, Jan 20, 2026
Round 1Team Mixer
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Main Space
Âé¶¹´å
Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Thurs, Jan 29, 2026
Teams notified. begins at 2 pm EST.
Tues, Feb 10, 2026
Round 2 deadline at 11:59 pm EST
Wed, Feb 25, 2026
Teams notified. Begins at 2 pm EST
Tues, March 10, 2026
Round 3 Mini-Business Plan [pdf] due at 11:59 pm EST via our .
Tues, March 17, 2026
McGinnis Venture Competition & Social Enterprise Prize Final Round Celebration
2:00 - 4:45 p.m. Final Round Team Pitches
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
***Want a chance to win a pair of AirPods? Register & attend the Final Round Team Pitches in person where three pairs of Airpods will be raffled off at the event by . You must be present to win!***
Final Round Team Pitches
McConomy Auditorium
Âé¶¹´å
Jared L. Cohon University Center
5000 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Âé¶¹´å
Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Visitor parking information found here>
Requirements & Guidelines
Eligibility Details
The McGinnis Venture Competition is open to all current Âé¶¹´å undergraduate and graduate students who have created, managed and owned ventures.
A Âé¶¹´å student should be CEO, CTO or COO. Members of the student team should also own a significant majority of the equity allocated to all parties. Non-Âé¶¹´å students may be members of the venture’s management team and may participate; however, current Âé¶¹´å students should deliver the majority of the content in all of the rounds.
Track Details
How to determine which track you are competing in:
- If you have all undergraduate students on your team you will be considered in the undergraduate track.
- If you have all graduate students on your team you will be considered in the graduate track.
- If your team is made up of both graduate and undergraduate students you will be considered in the graduate track. You will not be eligible to compete in the undergraduate track.
Deliverables: Round 1
Deliverables: Round 2
Deliverables: Round 3
Confidentiality & Intellectual Property Guidelines
The authors of the executive summaries and mini business plans will retain all rights to the executive summaries and mini business plans regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below. Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant.
All public sessions of the competition, including, but not limited to, oral presentations and question/answer sessions, are open to the public at large. Any and all of these public sessions may be broadcast to interested persons through media that may include radio, television and the internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged or presented in these sessions.
Âé¶¹´å may make photocopies, photographs, videotapes and/or audiotapes of the presentations including the business plan and other documents, charts or material prepared for use in presentation at the McGinnis Venture Competition. Students retain all proprietary rights. The university may use the materials in any book or other printed materials and any videotape or other medium that it may produce, provided that any profits earned from the sale of such items is used by the university solely to defray the costs of future competitions. The university has 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.
Judging & Coaching Guidelines
View our judging guidelines
View our coaching guidelines








