$35,000 in Prizes

Led by students at the Entrepreneur’s Club, The Elevator Pitch Competition highlights the University of Ottawa’s top startups each year. As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the competition allows both those in business with “traction” as well as entrepreneurs that are still in the early stages of “validating” their ideas to pitch to a panel of judges for a chance to win prize money and progression services.

The evening also includes a networking portion as well as a keynote speaker who provides inspiration, advice and insight into their personal successes and challenges as an entrepreneur. Students apply to one of two categories: Validation or Traction recognizing a need to applaud and reward those early in the process, as well as those who are already in business having achieved significant milestones.

Applications must be submitted by October 30^th, 2022 11:59 pm and includes both a written application and a 2-minute video pitch submission.

Final Event Date: November 15^th, 2022 at 5:30 pm

Categories

IDEA STAGE (3 FINALISTS)

This category is designed for students who want to pitch their idea, benefiting from the pitching experience and the questions and feedback from the judges. To compete in this category you cannot have realized any traction to date such as sales or external funding, nor have you developed a final prototype or beta version. You may have started customer validation, but it’s really just an idea at this point!

Prize: $1,000 for 1^st place and professional services as described in the Eligibility Criteria and Competition Details.

VALIDATION COMPETITION (3 FINALISTS)

This category encourages and rewards early business ideas and business models. These ideas are still conceptual but work has been done to validate or build early prototypes (though customer validation is enough to enter and
strongly encouraged). Applicants must still be at the idea stage and cannot have any realized traction to date such as funding; sales; acceptance into an accelerator; or, incubator program.

Prize: $3,000 for 1^st place and professional services as described in the Eligibility Criteria and Competition Details.

TRACTION (3 FINALISTS)

This category is for applicants whose business is further along the entrepreneurial path with achieved milestones and will compete on the bases of an executive summary and pitch. Applicants in this category already have some realized form of traction with their business such as:

Technical and/or market validation completed
Early customer adoption
Prototype finalized/website operational
Early sales or beta clients
and/or, acceptance into an accelerator or incubator program.

Prizes

Cash Prizes include :

Idea : First place : $1,000
Validation: First place: $3,000
Traction:
- First place: $10,000 and professional services as described in the Eligibility Criteria and Competition Details
- Second Place: $5,000 and professional services as described in the Eligibility Criteria and Competition Details
- Third Place: $1,000
People’s Choice award : $2,000 and professional services as described in the Eligibility Criteria and Competition Details

Applications must be submitted by October 30^th, 2022 11:59 pm and includes both a written application and video pitch submission.

For more information contact daze@telfer.uOttawa.ca.

1. The Elevator Pitch Competition is open to all idea stage and business or social ventures led by students currently enrolled at the University of Ottawa on a full-time or part-time basis in the current academic year. The competition is not open to alumni, or staff.
2. The company applying must have a minimum of 1 Co-Founder currently enrolled as a student at the University of Ottawa.
3. Past participants are eligible to participate again provided that they satisfy all eligibility requirements.
4. Applicants can apply to whichever category (but only one) they choose, however we reserve the right to place applicants in the most suitable category based on stage of idea or business. You will be notified if we choose to move you.
5. International Students are also eligible to apply permitted that they satisfy the competition requirements.
6. In the event that we deem that no submission has made substantial progress in achieving significant milestones or meeting our established criteria, we reserve the right to award no prize for that category.
7. Money awarded will be paid first to the business entity (if applicable), or in the event that no such entity exists, divided equally among the team members identified on the application form.
8. A selection committee and a panel of judges will determine the finalists and winners of the competition based on the written application, the video submission, and the final event live pitch and q&a session. As such, all applicants acknowledge and agree to the sharing of all materials submitted with the organizers of the competition, the judges and selection committee.
9. By submitting an application, all applicants must confirm that the work presented adheres to the fraud policies as outlined in the Academic Regulations in the University’s Undergraduate Studies Calendar at: https://www2.uottawa.ca/about-us/policies-regulations/academic-regulation-i-14-academic-fraud
10. If selected as one of the final 3 Traction, or final 3 Validation finalists, or final 3 Idea stage finalists, you will be required to attend the final live, in person competition event on November 15^th, 2022 at 5:30pm, which will also include a short question and answer period.
11. If selected as a finalist, you will be required to attend a practice session where feedback will be provided and preparedness will be determined the week preceding the competition. You may also have an opportunity to update and resubmit your video at this time.
Cash Prizes include:
- Idea : First place : $1,000
- Validation: First place: $3,000
- Traction:
  - First place: $10,000
  - Second Place: $5,000
  - Third Place: $1,000
- People’s Choice award (open to all 9 finalists): $2,000
In addition, non-cash (“professional services”) prizes are valued at $15,000 and are subject to change based on unforeseen circumstances such as conflicts of interest, which can only be determined once the winners are established. These prizes could include:
1. LaBarge Weinstein is a corporate law firm that has provided legal services to thousands of new businesses over the past 20 years. They make the process of starting a new business as stress-free as possible. To help you get started on the right track, they are offering the winner of the Traction category up to 10 hours of corporate legal services.
2. Invest Ottawa delivers economic development programs and initiatives that increase entrepreneurial momentum, wealth and jobs in the City of Ottawa and its surrounding region. Invest Ottawa services include mentorship, market intelligence, office space, investor introductions, and more to accelerate the growth of existing companies. They are providing:
  - 6 months office space at Invest Ottawa for up to 2 founders for the Traction category winner.
  - Up to 8 hours of accelerator advisory services for the Traction category winner.
  - Free entry into Ignition accelerator for the Validation category winner
  - Up to 4 hours of early-stage advisory services for the Idea category winner.
3. Logan Katz is a forward-thinking public accounting firm established in 1994, providing high-quality accounting, taxation, and business advisory services to corporations, organizations and individuals in a vast array of industries and ranging in size and footprint from international corporations, to locally owned and managed businesses, to professionals. They are offing the following for both the winner and runner up in the Traction category:
  - Initial meeting and ongoing assistance.
  - Preparation of year end Notice To Reader financial statements.
  - Preparation of T2 corporate tax return.
  - Owner/manager remuneration planning.
  - Up to 8 hours of bookkeeping services.
  - Assistance in preparation of SR&ED (scientific research and experimental development) claim (if applicable).
  - In addition, the top 3 Validation Category winners will receive an initial consultation and ongoing assistance by a partner of the firm.
4. University of Ottawa Entrepreneurship Hub – is an interdisciplinary hub for the University of Ottawa community to enhance their entrepreneurial mindset. They are offering the following:
- The winner in the Ideation category will get their Entrepreneurial Mindset Certificate ticket paid for by the eHub.
- All participates of the Ideation category will get their Rev-Up Circuit ticket paid for by the eHub.
- The winner of the Validation and Traction category can move straight to the interview round of Startup Garage (if they have not already participated in the program).
- All finalists will be admitted into our new campus Founder program that includes connections to other founders, a weekly opportunities newsletter, access to mentor hours and space at the eHub.