Venture Vetting Pitch Competition

Everything Students Need to Know

• Eligibility
  • Current USD undergraduate and graduate students + Class of 2020 alumni
  • Compete as an individual or as a team with 2, 3, or 4 members. At least one member must be a current USD student or a Class of 2020 alum
  • Each participant (individual or team) can submit as many ideas as they wish. Only one idea per participant (individual or team) can make it to the finals. 

  Submissions should be new business venture proposals. Businesses that are already incorporated and ideas that have won prizes at a previous V2 Pitch Competition are not eligible to participate. Founders of such businesses can submit new ideas for this year’s competition even if they have previously won money for their other ideas.

• Important Dates and Deadlines

  March 25, 2021 - By 5 p.m. PST, submit your pitch deck (an annotated slide deck) + one-minute elevator pitch video (cannot include slides but you can use a stationary virtual background or a slide/business logo in the background)

  
  April 30, 2021 - Finalists will pitch their venture proposal live on a Zoom call to investors (10 min. pitch + 20 min. Q&A + 20 min. feedback per team)

  May 5, 2021 - V2 Award Ceremony will take place virtually from 4 to 5:30 p.m. PST

• Submission Requirements

  Annotated Pitch Deck:

  • Use the name of your venture as the name of your pitch deck file
  • Submit only a Google Slides OR a PowerPoint file. No PDFs or any other file format
  • In the NOTES section, include the text describing what you would say while presenting this deck

  1-Minute Elevator Pitch Video:

  • Use the name of your venture as the name of your elevator pitch video file
  • Include your venture logo in the background
  • Duration of the video must be 60 seconds or less
  • Show only one team member in the video speaking about your venture
  • Do not use any slides

  Individual Headshots:

  • Each headshot must be a high-resolution photo showing only one person's face and shoulders
  • Size: 2 inches x 2 inches
  • Name each file using this template: VentureName_FirstName_LastName
  • Provide a separate headshot for each member of the team

  Submit Your Pitch

• Selection Process

  A panel of investor judges will review initial submissions and:

  • Select three teams to advance to the finals where they will pitch their ideas live to a panel of investor judges, and compete for up to $25,000 in seed funding
  • Nominate up to 10 additional teams as the Most Promising Ventures of 2021 V2 who will get featured at the 2021 V2 Award Ceremony on May 5, 2021
• Selection Criteria
  • Originality - business idea is new, novel and unique
  • Clear and compelling value proposition - demonstrates a legitimate and recognized need along with an appropriate solution
  • Competitive advantage - creates more value for the customer than alternative solutions
  • Market opportunity - adequate market size and viable revenue mode
  • Feasibility - reasonable prospect of funding and successful implementation
  • Well-researched - demonstrates clear understanding of customer, market, competitive set and solution requirements
  • Positive impact on stakeholders and the community
• Seed Funding Prizes
  Investor judges will allocate the seed funding prize pool of $25,000 among the three finalists as they see fit. One team may take home the entire $25,000 or more than one team could split the prize pool. Winners will be revealed at the V2 Award Ceremony on May 5, 2021 (4 - 5:30 p.m. PST).