
McGinnis Venture Competition
The McGinnis Venture Competition, a platform exclusively for Carnegie Mellon University's community of student entrepreneurs, brings together Carnegie Mellon's best and brightest student entrepreneurs to compete for $60K 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 Carnegie Mellon University.
Direct any questions to Allyson Hince.
The 2025 McGinnis Venture Competition registration opens on Friday, November 1, 2024. The Round 1 submission deadline is on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 via our online platform, Pralent. Teams who create a profile, register for the competition and start their submission by Tuesday, December 3, 2024 are guaranteed to be assigned a coach for the competition; for those who register after December 3, 2024, are not guaranteed a coach assignment.
The final round pitches will be held on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
New this year: Social Enterprise Prize Track!
Ready to create a company that makes an impact on the world's biggest challenges?
The Swartz Center Social Enterprise Prize is a new competition at Carnegie Mellon University designed to empower students to develop entrepreneurial solutions for social and environmental challenges. Open to both for-profit and nonprofit ideas, the competition runs as a special track within the McGinnis Pitch Competition, with submission deadlines from January to March and culminates in a final pitch event, on Monday, March 17, 2025.
For more information please contact Swartz Center EIR Leah Lizarondo at leahlizarondo@cmu.edu.
Congrats to our 2025 Winners!
For 2025 only, with a special gift from the McGinnis family, we were able to double the prize winnings for each team!
Undergraduate Winners
First Place: Thursday Thrift, Inc.: Where Discovery Meets Demand. Team includes Chibuike Dumebi-Kachikwu, Paul Davis and Amy Guo. (Receiving $8,000)
Second Place: noVRel: Redefining the OR through Augmented Reality. Team includes Tanvi Mittal and Sejeal Katiyar. (Receiving $5,000)
Graduate Winners
First Place: Solstis: Solstis is an AI powered platform that allows you to create workflow automations using API specialized agents in natural language. Solstis is like having a group chat where your app agents talk to each other, execute workflows on command and learn over time - like a team that never sleeps. Team includes Samika Sanghvi, Pratik Satija and Aarav Bajaj. (Receiving $50,000)
Second Place: Beyond Reach Labs, Inc.: Building rapidly deployable infrastructure for austere environments. Team includes Mitchell Fogelson. (Receiving $30,000)
Third Place: Sabana: Accelerate your product research and construction specifications. Team includes Ruben Quesada, Saket Kulkarni and Alexander Zhu. (Receiving $20,000)
Fighting Spirit Award
BAM!: For those everyday moments where you need a little BAM!. Team includes Kaitlyn Chow, Tarek Fakhri, Melody Chu, Liam Merino, Shanting Hou and Nyomor-Da Tackie-Yarboi. (Receiving $1,000)
Join Us for the McGinnis Venture Competition Final Round Celebration on March 18!
Help cheer the final round graduate and undergraduate teams to victory! Attend the final round celebration on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
The Social Enterprise Prize Pitch Competition will be on March 17, 2025 and the winners will present on March 18, 2025.
The McGinnis Venture Competition is made possible by a generous endowment from Gerald E. McGinnis, founder of Respironics
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Final Round Team Presentations
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University
Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Visitor parking available at the East Campus Garage
Thank you to the McGinnis family
The McGinnis Venture Competition is made possible by a generous endowment from Gerald E. McGinnis, founder of Respironics.
Thank you to the McGinnis family.
What They Say
Matt Spettel, trainwell
Alex Baikovitz, Mach9
Prize Allocation
Graduate Track
First Place
$25,000
Second Place
$15,000
Third Place
$10,000
Undergraduate Track
First Place
$4,000
Second Place
$2,500
Bonus
Undergraduate track winners are also awarded a place in the CMU Venture Challenge.
*Investments are awarded in the form of a SAFE. The remaining $3,500 will sponsor the CMU Venture Challenge.
Plus Get
Coaching
The competition includes coaches for each team that declares participation in the McGinnis Venture Competition via our online platform. 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 (noted on the CONNECTS webpage).
Here are a few video resources that we suggest to help with your video pitch:
- The Only 10 Slides You Need in a Pitch
- The 10/20/30 Rule
- 6 Tips for a Good Video Pitch
- Creating a Successful Video Pitch
Augie is an all-in-one AI-assisted video studio. All participating McGinnis teams have the ability to use Augie to help them with their video pitches!
For more information to gain access please email, Allyson Hince. Include your team name and main point of contact.
Intro to CMU Libraries Databases for Market & Competitive Research with Jen McKee
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. EST
Virtual
All applicants will be sent the virtual invite to attend
Facilitated by CMU's Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian - Jen McKee - in this session, attendees will receive a guided overview about the various business resources that the Libraries provides access to. These tools and databases enable you to undertake highly effective secondary market research, which will help McGinnis competitors save time and develop stronger pitches!
Important 2024-25 Dates and Deadlines
Fri, Nov 1, 2024
Registration opens via Pralent.
Application requirements: Executive summary [pdf] and 5-minute video pitch.
Wed, Nov 6, 2024
Virtual Info Session
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST-Virtual
Tues, Dec 3, 2024
Create a log in via Pralent, register for the Competition via Pralent and start your application to receive a coach
If you create a log in via Pralent, register for the McGinnis Venture Competition and start your submission to include your team name, team description and team members by December 3 you will be guaranteed to be assigned a coach for the competition; for those who do this after December 3, we cannot guarantee that you will be assigned a coach for the competition.
Wed, Dec 4, 2024
Intro to CMU Libraries Databases for Market & Competitive Research with Jen McKee
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. EST
-Virtual
All applicants will be sent the virtual invite to attend
Facilitated by CMU's Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian - Jen McKee - in this session, attendees will receive a guided overview about the various business resources that the Libraries provides access to. These tools and databases enable you to undertake highly effective secondary market research, which will help McGinnis competitors save time and develop stronger pitches!
Wed, Jan 8, 2025
Virtual Info Session
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. EST-Virtual
Tues, Jan 14, 2025
Round 1 Submission Deadline at 11:59 pm EST.
Round 1 executive summary [pdf] and video pitch due via our online platform.
Thurs, Jan 16, 2025
Round 1 judges can view team’s applications at 2 pm EST.
Wed, Jan 22, 2025
Round 1Team Mixer
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Main Space
Carnegie Mellon University
Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Tues, Jan 28, 2025
Round 1 judging ends at 11:59 pm EST.
Thurs, Jan 30, 2025
Teams notified. Round 2 begins at 2 pm EST.
Tues, Feb 11, 2025
Round 2 submission deadline at 11:59 pm EST.
Round 2 updated executive summary [pdf] and video pitch due via our online platform.
Thurs, Feb 13, 2025
Round 2 judges can view team’s applications at 2 pm EST.
Sat, Feb 15, 2025
Round 2 Team Mixer
2:00 - 4:00 p.m. EST
Pins Mechanical Co.
407 Cinema Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Tues, Feb 25, 2025
Round 2 judging ends at 11:59 pm EST.
Thurs, Feb 27, 2025
Teams notified. Round 3 Begins at 2 pm EST.
Tues, March 11, 2025
Round 3 Mini-Business Plan [pdf] due at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.
Thurs, March 13, 2025
Round 3 judges can view team’s applications at 2 pm EST.
Mon, March 17, 2025
Social Enterprise Prize Pitch + Winner Presentation
4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Final Round Team Presentations
6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University
Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
View the full schedule and final round teams.
Visitor parking available at the East Campus Garage.
Tues, March 18, 2025
1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Final Round Team Presentations
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University
Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
View the full schedule and final round teams.
Visitor parking available at the East Campus Garage.