Join the most unique entrepreneurial competition on planet earth.
Startup Prize: Focus on Health connects entrepreneurs with mentors and investors that can help grow their health-related business from early stage status into a successful business. We aim to match viable startups with potential investors that can give them the much-needed capital to realize their vision. Our main goal is to create a pathway to success for startups far and wide.
STARTUP PRIZE IS SPONSORED BY
What Sets Startup Prize Apart
Startup Prize is a unique entrepreneurial experience.
We say it all the time. Startup Prize is not a pitch competition. While pitching is important, it is only one aspect of building your business. This program is part education, part power networking and a full on battle test for your startup that connects you with experienced subject matter experts and investors who will give you the tools to prepare you for success.
Our mentors will guide you on your path to success.
We use our Qualifying Events and other opportunities to put you face-to-face with experienced business professionals and investors who will help evolve your startup for the best chance to advance to the Final Round. These mentors are handpicked to enable you and your startup the best chance for success.
Big cash prizes are nice. Investment is nicer.
Sure, you can win $10,000 in cash, but that’s what we call the “Small Prize”. The “Big Prize” we offer is the opportunity for connections and real investment in your business. Win, lose or draw, all startups who enter the Startup Prize have access to viable investors, and all finalists have the ability to present their concepts to a panel of Investor Judges for potential investment dollars.
How to Compete in Startup Prize: Focus on Health
As you might have guessed, there are requirements to be part of Startup Prize, but we make it easy. Check out the process of participating in Startup Prize: Focus on Health with the handy step-by-step guide below.
Step 1: Register Your Medical or Health-Related Startup
The first part of participating in the competition for Startup Prize: Focus on Health is to register your startup for competition on the Registration Page. In registration, you will also select one of two “tracks” — the FDA track is for startups whose product or service will require FDA approval to get to market, the non-FDA track is for products or services that will not require FDA approval. Select the appropriate track at registration to ensure you are given the best access to the resources you’ll need to succeed.
As you are registering your startup, you will also select the Qualifying Events that you will attend. You are required to attend at least one Qualifying Event, but the more events you attend, the more time Mentors and Investors will have to interact with you, work with you, and see your hard work.
For those outside the area wanting to attend our in person Qualifying Event in Shreveport, LA, we are often able to provide stipends to help offset travel costs. Please reach out to melissa@prize.foundation for more details.
Step 2: Attend the Qualifying Events and Engage the Process
At Qualifying Events, Startups attend panel discussions and participate in Mentor-led Roundtables which cover a variety of topics from organizational structure to manufacturing, finances, brand development, and investment. Topics are determined by the types of startups registered and what their needs are.
Your participation at Qualifying Events is not only a chance to elevate your startup, it’s an opportunity to make connections with industry professionals and to tailor your Entrepreneur Canvas for the Startup Prize Mentors and Investor Judges. Mentors and Investor Judges will be in attendance and watching as you participate. The way you interact with them and your fellow entrepreneurs will play a factor in your selection as a Finalist.
Step 3: Build a No-Nonsense Entrepreneur Canvas
Having a solid plan for operating and growing your business is the most basic way to show you understand your market, your product or service, and how you will get the two to meet in a profitable way. Your business plan, which we call the Entrepreneur Canvas, needs to illustrate these goals and how you’re going to reach them.
A realistic valuation, an aggressive but well-thought-out go to market strategy, and a plan to scale your business with success all need to be a part of your Canvas. Entrepreneurs submit their canvas via our online Entrepreneur Portal. Log in to the Portal to see the components that you will be required to submit.
Step 4: Show Progress in Your Company and Yourself
There are multiple opportunities to meet and impress the Mentors. Startup Prize will host two Qualifying Events for 2024 (one online, one in-person) in addition to other opportunities to learn and be present. While you are only required to attend one Qualifying Event, showing up more than once gives Mentors an opportunity to see you make progress on your business plan and in yourself as a business owner.
Additionally, the changes to your approach should be reflected in your Entrepreneur Canvas, which the judges will review and compare to your presence at the Qualifying Events. It is this progress that solidifies their assessment of you as a leader.
Step 5: Five Finalists Are Selected to Pitch at the Finals
After careful review of all of the Entrepreneur Canvas submissions via our Portal and comparing notes on your performance at the Qualifying Events, the Startup Prize Mentors will invite a select few Finalist entrepreneurs to participate in the Startup Prize: Focus on Health “Final Final” where you will have the opportunity to present your startup before the Investor Judges– think of it as a due diligence presentation. After your initial pitch, you will be asked questions regarding your company strategy, the product or service it aims to provide, and the path forward for investors.
Based on your pitch and interview performance alongside the progress you have shown in the Startup Prize Qualifying Events, a winner for each track will be selected and announced the following day at our Awards Brunch.
All finalists, regardless of winning, have the potential to receive investment opportunities by individual Investor Judges.
Step 1: Register Your Startup
The first part of participating in the competition for Startup Prize: Focus on Health is to register your startup for competition on the Registration Page. In registration, you will also select one of two “tracks” — the FDA track is for startups whose product or service will require FDA approval to get to market, the non-FDA track is for products or services that will not require FDA approval. Select the appropriate track at registration to ensure you are given the best access to the resources you’ll need to succeed.
As you are registering your startup, you will also select the Qualifying Events that you will attend. You are required to attend at least one Qualifying Event, but the more events you attend, the more time Mentors and Investors will have to interact with you, work with you, and see your hard work.
For those outside the area wanting to attend our in person Qualifying Event in Shreveport, LA, we are often able to provide stipends to help offset travel costs. Please reach out to melissa@prize.foundation for more details.
Step 2: Attend the Qualifying Events and Engage the Process
At Qualifying Events, Startups attend panel discussions and participate in Mentor-led Roundtables which cover a variety of topics from organizational structure to manufacturing, finances, brand development, and investment. Topics are determined by the types of startups registered and what their needs are.
Your participation at Qualifying Events is not only a chance to elevate your startup, it’s an opportunity to make connections with industry professionals and to tailor your Entrepreneur Canvas for the Startup Prize Mentors and Investor Judges. Mentors and Investor Judges will be in attendance and watching as you participate. The way you interact with them and your fellow entrepreneurs will play a factor in your selection as a Finalist.
Step 3: Build a No-Nonsense Entrepreneur Canvas
Having a solid plan for operating and growing your business is the most basic way to show you understand your market, your product or service, and how you will get the two to meet in a profitable way. Your business plan, which we call the Entrepreneur Canvas, needs to illustrate these goals and how you’re going to reach them.
A realistic valuation, an aggressive but well-thought-out go to market strategy, and a plan to scale your business with success all need to be a part of your Canvas. Entrepreneurs submit their canvas via our online Entrepreneur Portal. Log in to the Portal to see the components that you will be required to submit.
Step 4: Show Progress in Your Company and Yourself
There are multiple opportunities to meet and impress the Mentors. Startup Prize will host two Qualifying Events for 2024 (one online, one in-person) in addition to other opportunities to learn and be present. While you are only required to attend one Qualifying Event, showing up more than once gives Mentors an opportunity to see you make progress on your business plan and in yourself as a business owner.
Additionally, the changes to your approach should be reflected in your Entrepreneur Canvas, which the judges will review and compare to your presence at the Qualifying Events. It is this progress that solidifies their assessment of you as a leader.
Step 5: Five Finalists Are Selected to Pitch at the Finals
After careful review of all of the Entrepreneur Canvas submissions via our Portal and comparing notes on your performance at the Qualifying Events, the Startup Prize Mentors will invite a select few Finalist entrepreneurs to participate in the Startup Prize: Focus on Health “Final Final” where you will have the opportunity to present your startup before the Investor Judges– think of it as a due diligence presentation. After your initial pitch, you will be asked questions regarding your company strategy, the product or service it aims to provide, and the path forward for investors.
Based on your pitch and interview performance alongside the progress you have shown in the Startup Prize Qualifying Events, a winner for each track will be selected and announced the following day at our Awards Brunch.
All finalists, regardless of winning, have the potential to receive investment opportunities by individual Investor Judges.
Testimonials
At this point, you might think we’re exaggerating when we say the Startup Prize is the most innovative competition in the country, but don’t just take our word for it….
“If you want to see a real-world example of how entrepreneurial culture can empower a place, take a look at the energy that surrounds the Startup Prize, and the culture it has helped catalyze.”
“Winning the Startup Prize was a huge honor for our company. The judges really pushed us to dig deep on our business plan and commercialization strategy, and the Prize will help us with our next key milestones for FDA submission.”
Winning the Startup Prize has catapulted my company Oral Genome and has definitely turned eyes our way! I’ve connected with so many mentors and met other founders– all people I still talk with today. This by far was the most valuable startup competition I’ve participated in.