Pitch your venture for the opportunity to secure funding to accelerate your growth!
The ENTREFest Pitch Competition allows early-stage Iowa businesses to showcase their business, connect with industry leaders, and compete for funding to take them to the next level.
- Friday, June 12th, 2026 at 4:00pm
- Free to Attend for the public
- Must be a ticketed ENTREFest attendee to apply to pitch
- Applications are due by midnight on June 7th
First Place Prize
$
7500
Finalist Teams Pitching
5
Cash Prizes
4
Rules for entry and application process
Thank you for your interest to participate in The EntreFEST Pitch Competition Presented by Hy-Vee!
To qualify for participation:
- Your business must be based in the Midwest
- Previously pitched ventures not eligible to pitch
- In operation less than 5 years
- You must be registered to attend ENTREFest 2026 – Get Your Tickets
- You must complete the following application with a copy of your pitch deck by midnight on June 7, 2026 (if you need help with your pitch deck, please contact us).
Five finalists will be selected based on a combination of criteria to include the following considerations: revenue generation (if any); business viability (does it look like a good idea, could it succeed?); positive social and economic impact; quality of pitch deck; solid leadership team; and how winnings will be used.
Finalists will be announced on Friday, June 12th at the 9:00am keynote session and will receive email confirmation and instructions immediately following this announcement.
The five (5) finalists will pitch to judges at 4:00pm on Friday, June 12.
- Final pitches will be 3 minutes long with 2 minutes Q&A.
- After deliberation – Winners will be announced and cash prizes will be awarded to 1st ($7,500), 2nd ($3,500), 3rd ($1,000) and people’s choice award ($3,000).