Apply for $1,000 in seed funding for your startup.
Awards are directed to student entrepreneurs to defray the initial costs of founding a business. Once awarded, you’ll be eligible to apply for up to $10,000 of follow-on funding. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until May 1st of each school year.
Are you eligible?
- Current Washington University junior or senior undergraduate or graduate student
- US citizen or permanent resident
- 25 percent or higher ownership of a startup venture
If you meet the criteria above, upload a PowerPoint pitch deck (see requirements below) to the Box Folder linked below. Please save your PowerPoint Pitch deck as “yourcompanyname-pitch.”
Pitch Deck Presentation
The pitch deck should include slides for the problem, your unique solution, customer discovery, market sizing, competition, projected financials, go-to-market timeline, team (including citizenship and expected graduation date), and a personal commitment slide (to demonstrate the team’s seriousness about pursuing the endeavor).
The pitch is not an investment offering. While it is expected to contain financial projections and strategies, it should not contain a pitch for equity investment.
After you apply, you will be invited to present a professional-quality pitch to one of the four fund directors (Cliff Holekamp, Elise Miller Hoffman, II Luscri, or Doug Villhard). If the deck or presentation falls short of expectations, you will be given feedback and the opportunity to pitch again.
Award Approval
$1,000 Awards:
Once all application requirements are met, the three directors will vote to approve the $1,000 awards on a rolling basis until May 1st of a given school year or until funds run out. Awards are made to the students, not to the business entities.
Once approved, the applicant must provide the following documents to actually collect the prize: a completed application, Crunchbase profiles for yourself and your company, an LLC (or other corporate entity) certificate, Skandalaris IdeaBounce® Submission, and a non-binding philanthropic pledge (of any amount) to WashU Olin or to the Holekamp Seed Fund (HSF) in future years.
Applications will be judged on the scalability and how passionate the student is about pursuing the opportunity. Concepts the directors deem might have a negative impact on the community will be denied.
Up to $10,000 Follow-On Awards:
Additional Follow-on awards of up to $10,000 will be awarded per startup to students who:
- Have already received a $1,000 award.
- Have applied by 5/1 for a Follow-on HSF Award of up to $10,000.
- Have graduated in the past year (or within weeks of 5/1).
- Have plans to work full-time on their business after graduation.
- Have demonstrated progress on their business since receiving the $1,000 award.
To apply for the Follow-On awards, please send an email to dvillhard@wustl.edu.
Within a week after the 5/1 deadline each year, the committee will decide on the amount of Follow-on Awards based on those who apply and meet the criteria above and based on the available budget.