Registration deadline approaching for sixth annual Halloween Pitch Competition

Students with innovative business ideas have the opportunity to compete for a share of $6,000 in start-up capital at the 6th annual Halloween Pitch Competition, held Oct. 31 in Horton-Hargrave Hall’s Broadway Event and Space Theater.

Presented by the New Venture Accelerator and Harbert College of Business, first place will be awarded $3,000 in start-up capital. Other payouts include $1,000 for second place, $500 for third place and $1,000 for the Thomas Walter Center Special Category Award recipient.

The competition is open to all students at Auburn University and Auburn University at Montgomery.

“Engineering students, in particular, should want to compete because they have an incredible track record of success,” said Lou Bifano, director of the New Venture Accelerator, a center jointly managed by the Harbert College and Auburn Research and Technology Foundation to foster entrepreneurship at Auburn University. “Engineering students’ ideas are generally sophisticated and come with a great deal of commercial viability.”

Entries are required to submit one-page summaries of their business ideas, as well as three-minute videos to https://auburn.infoready4.com/ by Friday, Oct. 11. Bifano stressed that teams don’t necessarily need a fully-developed business plan – just an idea.

“From there, they’ll be given three minutes to share their business idea with select successful Auburn University alumni who will provide advice and counsel on the way forward,” he said.

“The event allows teams to get a feel for how a pitch competition works. It allows them to get comfortable with the environment… where they stand, where their slides will appear, how to use the microphones, etc... And most importantly, to get a feel for the types of questions that judges will ask.”

It also serves as a warmup for the annual Tiger Cage Business Idea Competition – the university’s premier student business pitch event, where up to $100,000 in start-up capital will be awarded next spring.

“Participating in the Halloween Pitch Competition gives teams, or individuals, a significant advantage when it comes to how judges score them in Tiger Cage,” said Bifano, who added that many teams are provided with connections to professional coaches and mentors by the New Venture Accelerator.

Auburn Engineering students have won four of the first five Halloween Pitch Competitions, including Abglo in 2023.