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Brave Pitch

Wake up in the middle of the night with a creative idea? Have an innovation that will change the world? Consumed with solutions to help the environment, answers to a societal problem, or the next huge social media sensation? If so, Bradley’s Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation wants to give you money for pitching your idea!

Innovative business ideas have the potential to bring unique solutions to existing problems. And, the act of launching a new venture is often the simplest path toward job security and financial freedom for any aspiring business founder. The Brave Pitch Competition challenges Bradley students to come up with innovative business ideas in any field and industry.

The winner of the Brave Pitch Competition will represent Bradley University at a nationwide pitch competition in October 2022 in Chicago. The Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation with cover all travel expenses.

Attend one of these workshops to learn how to best prepare a competitive pitch. All sessions will be held at The Idea Factory (Room #229 of the library):

  1. Thursday, August 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
  2. Tuesday, August 30 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Submit your 90-seconds video describing your idea before midnight, August 31, by clicking the APPLY NOW button on this page. Good luck!

For more information, please contact Marcos Hashimoto at (309) 677-4334 or mhashimoto2@fsmail.bradley.edu.

Competition Rules and Eligibility

Teams must comply with the following criteria to be eligible for the competition:

  1. The Brave Pitch Competition only accepts individual applications of active Bradley University students or alumni as defined below:
    1. Current Bradley University students enrolled either full-time or part-time in degree programs
    2. Bradley University alumni who have graduated within one year of the entry deadline
  2. The innovative business idea must be developed with the Bradley University student/alumnus playing a major role in its creation. It must include the following:
    • A clear problem/issue or a business opportunity
    • The solution to address this problem or to explore this opportunity
    • How unique and innovative is the solution proposed
    • How feasible and viable is the implementation of this solution
    • How much revenue will be generated and what is the growth potential
    • Who is the proponent and his/her potential to execute this idea
  3. Working with outside entrepreneurs and/or with existing business/business ideas is permissible, but as noted above, the student/alumnus must play the protagonist role of this business.
  4. It is acceptable for a competitor to have already earned revenue; however, the total company revenues cannot exceed $100k as of the entry deadline.
  5. Business ideas previously presented in earlier Turner School competitions (i.e., The Big Idea) are eligible to apply again.
  6. This is a one-round competition. The judges will select the winners based on the video submissions only.
  7. The Brave Pitch Competition reserves the right to make the final determination of the appropriateness of submitted videos. Not all prizes may be awarded depending on the quality of submissions.

Prize Package

Cash prizes will be distributed to the winners in the following way:

  • First place: $500
  • Second place: $250
  • Third place: $50

In addition, the winner of the Brave Pitch Competition will represent Bradley University at a nationwide pitch competition in October 2022 in Chicago. The Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation with cover all travel expenses.

Certain restrictions apply.

How Do I Enter?

To enter the competition, simply click the APPLY NOW button. You’ll fill out a form with your personal contact information and be given a link to the YouTube page where your 90-seconds video can be uploaded.

Apply Now

Assistance

To help competitors to prepare, mentoring, coaching and application support will be provided to all students through in-person workshops held at The Idea Factory (Room #229 of the library) on the following dates:

  1. Thursday, August 25 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
  2. Tuesday, August 30 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

If this is the first time you’re competing in a pitch competition, we strongly suggest you attend these workshops, watch video examples on the internet (search ‘business pitches’), and/or visit the CEO page for additional criteria/hints (https://www.c-e-o.org/page/globalpitch).