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Velocity Pitch Competition

Win funding to help advance your innovative business idea.

About Velocity Pitch Competition

The Velocity pitch competition offers the opportunity for University of Waterloo student-led teams with innovative solutions and high potential business ideas to showcase their hard work and compete for grant funding. Participants receive valuable feedback, pitching experience, and idea validation from a network of experienced entrepreneurs and Velocity Coaches.  

Meet past winners

Step 1

Apply

Do you have an innovative idea in need of early stage funding? Submit an online application and start your journey to the finals of Velocity Pitch Competition. All applicants will receive feedback whether you advance in the competition or not.


Spring 2024 applications are now closed.

Join us at semi-finals to witness student innovation

Register to attend

Step 2

Qualify

The top applicants will be invited to pitch at the semi-finals to a panel of experienced entrepreneurs. Each competitor will have just 3 minutes to present their idea and convince the judges it has the potential and viability to succeed.  

Step 3

Pitch

This is where the magic happens. Only the best of the best from the semi-finals are invited to pitch at the finals of the pitch competition. Eight teams will take the stage, but only four will take home a cheque.

What does this look like? Check out our YouTube Channel to watch pitches from previous competitions and get inspired to pitch an innovation of your own!

Watch previous pitches

Eligibility Requirements

  • One member of your team is currently a University of Waterloo undergraduate student, graduate student or postdoc.
  • You have an idea or concept that has the potential to be turned into a scalable startup (i.e. it has big market and high growth potential).
  • Your team hasn’t received $55K or more in funds or revenue*
  • Previous winners of the competition are ineligible to re-enter.
  • Teams participating in Velocity Venture Ready program are not eligible.
  • You want to meet cool people and have lots of fun!

*If you have raised $55K on your own, we still want to talk to you! Please book a meeting with our team.

For sure! Startups don’t all build robots and apps. The common thread that ties tech startups together is that they all leverage technology to build highly scalable businesses that serve big ($$) markets. What form that technology takes could be hardware, software, or science. Your startup can sell a service or a product and can work in any industry! 

You can either apply individually or with a team. However, only one person can pitch on-stage during the Semi-Finals and Finals and the person pitching must be a current University of Waterloo student. An idea/team can only win a Velocity Pitch Competition Grant once. 

Short answer – you’re never too early to apply! The very exercise of going through the application process can be valuable in getting you to think about your business in a different way and participating (even if you don’t win) is a great way to get feedback and gain experience pitching to an audience.

Curious how far along past winning ideas have been? Check out past finalist pitches. Still not sure? Book a 1:1 coaching session and ask one of our coaches!

We spoke to our application review team and gathered tips on submitting a successful application, and it is considered a must-read for anyone applying. We highly encourage applicants to attend the Intro Session: Pitch to Win after their application has been submitted. At the workshop, you will be shown different components of a three-minute business pitch, and have the chance to practice in front of your peers and receive helpful feedback. 

Yes. No steps can be skipped on the road to glory!

Nope! The $5,000 is a grant for you/your team to use to continue developing your concept into a startup and take it to the next level! 
Note: Student teams can only win a Velocity $5K Grant once. 

No you do not. You just need to prove your team and innovation is worthy of the grant and will use this funding to further advance your solution.  

Yes you can! 

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