How to Make Startup Ideas Knock at Your Door with Online Contests

Startup ecosystems are extremely overcrowded which is why breaking new ground in any industry is a challenge. Nevertheless, the “keep going” rule is still the credo of many ambitious startups who work hard to make their business ideas unique. Online contests broadcast publicity generation for startups giving new companies a chance to gain funding, enrich their contact lists, and introduce new ideas to the target audience.

The basic ideas of contests for startups

Jumping from an undefined business idea to reality is daunting. What if it doesn’t work? What if I won’t be able to take ROI up? What if my competitors are way better than I am? These are the key questions that torture startups and create roadblocks for them.

Online startup contests build a bridge between new businesses and their target audiences. The opportunity to become pitch-perfect in an online contest or at least increase publicity for a startup is quite rewarding. From the other side, startup contests also attract investors because they create the space where a real startup treasure can be discovered.

How it works

To help startups kick-start their business ideas, consider the following framework:

• Define limitations. This can’t be an all-in-one thing. Startup contests have to focus on a specific industry to cater to the right audience. Start your contest launch by defining the target industry segments that the submitted projects have to fit. It’s also an excellent strategy to execute a pre-pitching round where only relevant ideas are selected and admitted.
• Break the news. Your goal is to attract all the brilliant business ideas of the world that fall into the focus industry. This means you have to make a big deal out of the contest promotion to maximize its exposure. Leverage social media, email outreach, and press releases to knock down the doors of the best startups.
• Rule it. Attention! That’s the stage where all the magic happens. Or doesn’t happen. To ensure that the online startup contest ideas that your event attracts won’t let the investors down, you should set clever rules. Verify whether the submissions resonate with the industry, ask for a prototype, and tap into the background of the startups. Only the best of the best should make it to the online contest.
• Make a match. Create capabilities for business matching at your online contest to get the ideas that work. To let the best startups out into the big business world, you have to take care of contact channels. Encourage the use of networking apps, create reports based on the contest results, and follow-up by matching the interested investors with startups online.

The top 5 contests for startups

Hosting startup ideas is a big, popular trend, particularly in the tech industry. Due to the growing number of technological breakthroughs, working on the improvement of the world through tech has become a global issue. To understand how ideas turn into reality, check out these 5 examples of contests for startup companies:

U.Pitch

This is the idea-catching contest that believes students are major game changers. The startup idea competition calls for submissions from students, the best of which gets the chance to present their elevator speeches to entrepreneurs and investors in the final pitch round. Apart from a cash prize, the winner is honored with great media exposure and, quite possibly, generous investments.

Pros: No matter if you’re a young company owner or you simply have a fresh idea, you’re encouraged to apply.

Cons: This is a one-time show. If you fail this year, you don’t get the chance to return with a better idea next year.

Hello Tomorrow

Hello Tomorrow is a global pitch challenge for tech startups who work on ideas that solve some societal or environmental issues. Fostering change is basically the essence of the contest. The chief benefit of the event is that an online contest for startups is followed by a big tech summit where the winners can meet investors in person and establish valuable contacts.

Pros: The winners get on the top 500 deep-tech startup list.

Cons: To apply, you should have a team of at least two people.

UPS X-Port Challenge

UPS X-Port Challenge is a two-round competition that takes place online and focuses on the promotion of young startup ideas. The entrants first participate in an online pre-pitch where juries rate their submissions. The top ideas go to the Pitch-Off event and compete for the cash prizes and investor exposure.  

Pros: Easy to apply.

Cons: Only those solutions catering to the international appeal can win the main prizes.

Seedstarsworld

Seedstarsworld is dream-level for any startup. The selected startupers get a chance to participate in a weekend-long conference where hundreds of investors are panting to invest up to $1 million in progressive tech ideas.

Pros: Over 65 competitions host the startup ideas from the emerging markets.

Cons: The level of competition is extremely high.

G-Startup

G-Startup is a startup contest rewarding regional innovative ideas. The startups from any part of the world are free to submit their projects that can be aligned with the needs of their local markets. Preference is given to ideas that make a positive impact on the target region. The top 10 winners compete in the final in-house contest for a $1 million investment.

The tips on how to create your own contests for startups

Startup company contests carry a big mission which is taking responsibility for global society change. If you don’t want to let your startup community down, master these tips for successful contest organization:

• Start online. A pre-pitch round lets you filter out irrelevant submissions and pick resonating startup ideas.
• Promote your contest on social media and other online community platforms to take awareness sky high.
• Automate the processes of submission, evaluation, and reporting with an online software for award management.
• Choose prizes that help the winning project thrive and reach the target communities.

Get started with Judgify to simplify your pitch-perfect contest and manage the juiciest startup ideas easily.