Syracuse University is currently accepting applications through Jan. 31 for the 2025 campus qualifier competition for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) InVenture Prize. Four finalist teams will be selected from the applicant pool to compete in the live (virtual) question-and-answer session on Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. The competition is open to undergraduate students or students who received their undergraduate degree within the past year and who are the original creators, inventors or owners of the intellectual property underlying their invention. Technical industry leaders and alumni from around the country will serve as judges to select the “top inventor” to represent Syracuse University at the ACC Conference finals.
The winner of the Syracuse University competition will receive an expense paid trip to compete in the ACC InVenture Prize finals at the end of March at the University of Notre Dame. The televised finals feature one team from each ACC college/university who compete for $30,000 in prizes. Teams with generated revenue or venture capital funding of more than $100,000 are ineligible (including funding from both institutional and non-institutional sources such as contests, grants, friends and family, bank loans, etc.).
Katy Arons ’24 (School of Information Studies), founder of Continual Consent LLC, holds an oversize boarding pass for last year’s flight to the ACC InVenture competition in Florida
Syracuse University student startup teams or researchers are invited to submit an online application of a venture idea to participate in the Syracuse campus qualifier along with a five-minute pitch video. All campus qualifier finalists will also be invited to apply for LaunchPad Innovation Fund grants as well as Orange Innovation Fund grants, both available through gifts to Syracuse University Libraries. Competitive applications typically include technology or research that is being commercialized in areas such as agriculture, biology, life sciences, medical, climate, consumer electronics, education, finance, sports, hardware, software, artificial intelligence, augmented or virtual reality, big data, autonomous devices, robotics, advanced materials, Internet of Things, 5G and more. Digital platforms or services should have an underlying novel technology and ideally should be past the idea stage with some customer discovery and design drawings.
The Syracuse University ACC InVenture Prize is supported by the Provost’s Office and is hosted by Syracuse University Libraries and the Blackstone LaunchPad.
