Fund your social or environmental impact venture through the Sustainability Education and Enterprise Development (SEED) Challenge! $10,000 will be available at the UT-Austin competition, and our top team will win an automatic bid into the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge for further funding. Final pitches will be in Rowling Hall's Crum Auditorium April 10th. The Challenge is currently open to ALL UT Austin students. Participants may register through February 27th. Participants will receive access to a pitch workshop, online materials, a Slack channel to meet other entrepreneurs, and Experts in Residence mentors. SEED will not only be a competition, but provide fellowship to students interested in creating sustainable impact through our programming.
Read our info session deck here:
Learn more on our website: https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/centers-and-initiatives/global-sustainab…;
Learn more about one of our associated global competitions here: https://www.fowlergsic.org/
Here are a couple of things to remember:
1) SEED is a competition for those interested in social and environmental innovation who want to develop a sustainability-focused business. You can join as an individual or a team of up to 5. You do NOT have to already have a venture or an idea, but you'll need a well-formed idea by early March to pitch in the semifinals. You can also join with an idea or business already in progress. At least one team member must be a UT Austin student enrolled through Spring 2025.
5) The semifinal pitches will be March 6-7, and these pitches will be 5 minutes. These are open to all in SEED who want to compete. The top 5-6 teams will be selected to move on to the Finals. The final pitch competition is tentatively scheduled for April 10th, 2025. Final pitches will be expanded to 10 minutes.
6) The top UT Austin team from SEED may represent UT Austin at the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge in their May 2025 competition. We also encourage participants to apply to the University of St. Thomas' e-Fest in April here - https://efest.biz/
2/5 - Info Session & Impact Entrepreneur’s Ask Me Anything - 5:30 p.m.
Sign up - https://bit.ly/seedama25
2/11 - Impact Entrepreneur's Social Lunch - 11:30 - 12:30 in CBA 3.302
(use to network and find team members! Come & go format)
2/20 - Pitch Workshop with Texas Venture Labs & Tech Ranch Founder Kevin Koym - 5:30 p.m.
Sign Up - https://bit.ly/perfectpitch25
2/27 - Pitch registration due to compete in qualifying round
3/6 - 3/7 - Semifinal pitches (qualifiers for the Final Challenge) - CBA Legacy Events Room & GSLI Hub
4/10 - Final Pitch - 6-8:30 p.m. in RRH Crum Auditorium
5/30-5/31 - Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge for qualifying students in Minneapolis