Elevate Nexus provides resources and thought leadership to Indiana higher-education institutions and the entrepreneurs they engage. Elevate Nexus Pitch Competitions offer promising startups, preferably engaged with Elevate Nexus partnered colleges and universities, the opportunity to secure foundational capital needed to launch their businesses.

Elevate Nexus Pitch Competitions are organized into four classes:

• Regional Pre-Seed Awards ($20,000)
• Regional Seed Awards ($80,000)
• Statewide Pre-Seed Awards ($60,000)
• Statewide Seed Awards ($100,000)

Pre-seed awards are for startups seeking funds to build a minimum viable product. Seed awards are for companies that are further along and are building and testing the processes that will be used to ultimately scale the business. It is up to the business to review the eligibility requirements below and determine if they should apply for a Pre-Seed or Seed Pitch Competition.

Businesses that meet the eligibility requirements are invited to apply for a regional pitch competition in the region the higher-education institution they’re working with is located in. If the business is not working with a higher-education institution, they should select the region in which the business is located. Winners of regional pitch competitions are eligible to pitch at the statewide competition for the same award type they won.

Click here to view regions.

Regional Pre-Seed Awards Criteria

Awards should be used for early-stage product or service development- essentially, for preparing the company to maximize its future fundraising opportunities via the assembly and testing of a coordinated, effective core team and the building of a minimum viable product (MVP) that goes beyond a prototype.

To be considered, companies must:

• Be Indiana based
• Have a total address market of over $500M
• Have a unique value proposition
• Have a committed team with ambition to create a venture-backed, high-growth, enterprise
• Preferably, be engaged with a college or university participating in the Elevate Nexus program
• Be available to present the company pitch deck in front of an audience to a panel of judges.

Statewide Pre-Seed Award Criteria

To be considered, companies must:

• Fulfill all Regional Pre-Seed Award Criteria outlined above
• Have won a Regional Pre-Seed Award

Regional Seed Award Criteria

Awards should be used for companies that have already validated their value proposition and are developing the levers with which they will define how their businesses will ultimately scale via an infusion of venture capital. It is not necessary to have received a pre-seed award to be eligible for a seed award.

To be considered, companies must:

• Fulfill all regional pre-seed award requirements outlined above
• Have completed an MVP, or if selling in a government regulated field (i.e requires FDA, USDA approval) the company should have a viable plan toward developing a completed prototype or trial results
• Have conducted customer discovery, and preferably, gone through a formal customer discovery process
• Start to demonstrate professional operations by adding expertise as managers, board members and/or advisors
• Preferably, have validated the company’s value proposition by generating early revenue, securing signed contracts, and/or established strategic partnerships with entities that will license or buy the company’s intellectual property upon future development
• May have, or are in the process of, raising capital

Statewide Seed Award Criteria

To be considered, companies must:

• Fulfill all Regional Seed Award Criteria outlined above
• Have won a Regional Seed Award

Elevate Nexus pitch competition awards are convertible notes with a 20% discount, 8% interest, and a 3-year maturity. Pre-Seed Regional and Statewide awards carry a $1.5M cap while the Seed Regional and Statewide awards have a $3M cap. Terms are negotiable if the business is currently in the process of closing a round.

Applicants must submit their pitch deck and executive summary following the exact specifications outlined below. Failure to do so will lead to immediate disqualification.

1. Provide a pitch deck following the exact order and number of slides below:

1. Title Slide

2. The Problem

3. The Solution

4. Market Size

5. Competition

6. Business Model

7. Marketing and Sales

8. Three-Year Milestones

9. Team

10. Ask and Use of Funds

2. Provide a one-page executive summary covering the following topics in the exact order listed below:

1. Problem

2. Solution

3. Market Size

4. Competition

5. Business Model

6. Marketing and Sales

7. Progress to Date

8. Future Milestones

9. Team

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Have additional questions? Contact us by selecting “Elevate Nexus” in our contact form.

Following each application acceptance period, applications will be reviewed, and finalists will be selected. All applicants will be notified the status of their application once decisions have been made. At that time, finalists will be notified exactly how many minutes they will have to present their pitch deck and accept questions from judges. Finalists will have an opportunity to update their pitch deck and executive summary 48 hours before presenting. Updates though must remain within the application guidelines.

Pitch Competition Dates: