Eight University of Louisiana at Lafayette students or teams of students will vie for a $10,000 first-place prize after advancing to the finals of the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration’s Inn-eaux-vate 2025 Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition.
The competition finals will be held from 3-5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Opportunity Machine at 314 Jefferson St. The college’s annual Inn-eaux-vate 2025 Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition is designed to spur innovative business ideas and entrepreneurism among students.
Students deliver rapid-fire, three-minute pitches before a judge panel of University and business leaders as part of the competition. The best concepts earn students or teams of students seed capital to help them start businesses or further their projects.
In addition to the first-place prize, the second-place student or team of students will earn $7,500, third place will bring $5,000, and the fourth-place finisher will receive $2,500. Each of the four remaining finalists will get $1,000.
The interdisciplinary competition began earlier this semester with a field of 82 students or teams who submitted video applications. A panel of judges narrowed those submissions to 24 semifinalists. Each of the semifinalists receives at least $500 as part of the competition.
“Semifinalists represented majors in computer science, marketing, communications, engineering, architecture, business administration, environmental science and others. Six of the eight finalists are female led (teams), including both undergraduate and graduate students. We are very proud of the work they have already accomplished and are excited to see them represent the University in the finals,” said the Moody College of Business’ Dr. Josh Bendickson.
Bendickson – a professor of management and the college’s Brauns-Oudenhoven-Boustany Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Innovation & Entrepreneurship – coordinated the pitch competition. It is held via a collaboration between the Moody College of Business Administration and the University’s Louisiana Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center.
Jonathan Shirley, the LEED Center’s program and operations manager, and Kevin Guillory, the LEED Center’s operations and community engagement coordinator, both helped coordinate the contest and provided mentoring and guidance to students.
“I love seeing the confidence that the students gain working on their pitches and then standing there and delivering their ideas. The pride they have when walking out of the room smiling is incredible,” Shirley said. “I loved seeing the transformation of both the students and their ideas as I worked with them throughout the process.”
Guillory said: “The students did a fantastic job preparing and polishing their pitches. My favorite part was seeing students from all over campus present. The future of entrepreneurship and innovation at UL Lafayette is very promising.”
The Inn-eaux-vate 2025 Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition finals are free and open to the public. To attend, RSVP here. For more information, contact Bendickson at josh.bendickson@louisiana.edu or Guillory at kevin@louisiana.edu.
Photo caption: Students Rubi Khatri, Nelvin Appiah and Anusha Kayastha presented business ideas during the semifinals of UL Lafayette’s Inn-eaux-vate 2025 Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition in advance of the event’s finals. The finals of the pitch competition will be held from 3-5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Opportunity Machine, 314 Jefferson St. Photo credit: Paul Kieu / University of Louisiana at Lafayette.