INNOVATION CUP
10 teams + 10 weeks + $10,000
The Innovation Cup is a 10-week competition where 10 student teams develop their business ideas. All Saint Mary’s students from all faculties are welcome. The winning team get $10,000 to use toward their business.
Registration for Fall 2024 is open and closes on September 13!
WEEKS
TEAMS
GRAND PRIZE
Innovation Cup Fall 2024 will launch on September 20!
About
In this 10-week program, Saint Mary’s students across the Faculty of Science, Arts and Commerce will develop their business ideas and compete for the grand prize of $10,000 to turn the business idea into reality and a potential opportunity for experiential learning with honorariums and funding opportunities. While competing, students will be connected with experienced industry experts, to offer a platform for learning, networking and developing their entrepreneurial venture.
What to expect:
- A competition lasting for 10 weeks filled with lots of training and learning.
- Network and meet experts and local entrepreneurs in your area of interest.
- Weekly engagement activities led by the team at Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre.
- The chance to win $10,000 to develop your start-up idea.
- A potential opportunity for experiential learning with honorariums and funding opportunities
Eligibility:
- Must be a current (or registered for the 2024/2025 term) Saint Mary’s student from any faculty (Science, Arts or Commerce);
- Teams must comprise of 3 members, 1 each from the sciences, arts and commerce faculties;
- Your business idea must not be older than 1 year and should not have more than $8,000 in prize money, funding or investment in total;
- You have not won the Innovation Cup.
2023
The Innovation Cup 2023 was an ambitious pilot which took off on October 2. This 10-week experiential learning program took in 30 Saint Mary’s students from Arts, Commerce and Science making up 10 teams, for the grand prize of $10,000 to develop their start-up idea and a summer job opportunity!
From early October through late November, these student teams worked on building unique business ideas through trials and tests. They had the support of community members, industry experts and the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre’s staff guiding them through the different sessions and eliminations to increase and hone their business understanding, skills and network.
On December 8, four teams went into Semi-Finals and Finals back-to-back with Plastarch Packaging coming out as the big winners!
“It was super fun and it pushed us outside of our comfort zone in a good way”, said Maddie, a Commerce student, who developed the idea in one of her courses in the last year of her program. “Put yourself out there and do it. Not only was it just really fun to hang out with my friends every week, but we actually learned so many important, valuable skills and then we ended up winning $10,000. So that’s a bonus.”
Mya, an Arts student, shared, “… since winning the Innovation Cup, we’ve been working on developing our minimum viable product. We’ve also been making some really great connections, really building out our networks as well and just preparing to share it with the world.”
Susan, who is a Science student added that the competition was a valuable opportunity to engage with the ecosystem. “The Innovation Cup was a great opportunity to connect with business leaders and entrepreneurs in Halifax and also within the university. It was super fun to learn from everyone and hear everyone’s awesome ideas as well.”
create a team
develop an idea
