LaunchED

LaunchED: The Higher Education Pre-Seed Pitch Competition

Are you a higher education student wanting to become an entrepreneur?

LaunchED the pitch competition gives higher education student teams, working with a university or college business incubator, a chance to win AED 25,000 in funding to develop their business idea. Pitch days are held annually in October and February. The top 20 submissions in each competition are given the chance to pitch their idea in-person to a team of expert judges. The top ten teams will each receive AED 25,000 in funding. Funds are paid to their business incubator for the team’s use.

Purpose

To promote innovation and encourage entrepreneurship as a career option among higher education students in the UAE. It does this through existing higher education-based business incubators by providing funding to successful teams to develop a prototype of their product.

Timeline

Register Team

22 Sept 2023

Submit Pitch

30 Sept 2023

Finalists Selected

13 Oct 2023

Pitch Day

21 Oct 2023

Process

The competition consists of two rounds. In the first-round teams are screened for eligibility and pitch decks are reviewed. The top pitch decks are chosen for presentation in-person in round two. Round two is conducted on pitch day with teams presenting in-person to a panel of expert judges. Winners are announced at the end of the competition.

Key Features

10-page pitch deck
5 minutes to pitch, 5 minutes for questions
AED 25,000 funding
12 Months to develop the prototype
4 Quarterly progress reports

Eligibility

Team members are active students or within 1 year of having completed their degree.
At least 50% of the team is Emirati.
Must be working with a higher education incubator that is a member of the Sandooq Al Watan’s Education Incubator Network.
(Your incubator can register here)
The incubator you are working with must be able to accept the funds on your behalf.
You must follow your incubators rules for the use of funds.
See the competition rules for full details.