Spring 2026 Entrepreneurship Challenge

Calling all Meredith students! The 2026 Entrepreneurship Challenge is back, and this year, teams will tackle real-world problems through the lens of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Working in teams of 4, you’ll build venture concepts with guidance from Triangle entrepreneurs and business leaders, competing for $5,000 in prizes.

The winning team advances to the First Flight Ventures March Madness Pitch Battle alongside Duke, NC State, UNCW, and ECU. Open to all majors.

This isn’t just for business majors. Last year, one of our participants, Victoria Kopitsch, put it perfectly: “I never thought I would consider myself an entrepreneur, but this really proved that wrong. My mindset is definitely one that fits with someone who’s an entrepreneur, and I think that creative side of entrepreneurship is so important.”

She’s not alone. Student after student walked out of last year’s challenge saying the same thing. They came in nervous and left knowing they could do something they didn’t think was possible 24 hours earlier.

Here’s what you need to know:

Friday, March 6 (4:00-5:30 PM): Launch Night in Harris Room 214. You’ll learn about this year’s challenge themes, form teams, and start working through a design thinking exercise. We’re also feeding you–nothing like pizza to get the creative juices flowing.

Saturday, March 7 (9 AM-4:30 PM): Challenge Day. Your team builds a venture concept with guidance from Triangle entrepreneurs and business professionals, then pitches to a panel of judges.

Prize pool: $5,000

1st Place: $2,500

2nd Place: $1,500

3rd Place: $750

Impact Award: $300

You don’t need a team to sign up. Show up Friday and we’ll match you with a group that shares your interests. If you do have people you want to work with, think strategically about who brings different strengths. Last year’s winning team worked because Bridget Rowe, Aniston Sennett, and Lizzie Smith each brought something different to the table. As Sennett said, “It is just so important to work well with the team that you’re on and to really listen to everybody. We all had different skills, and it was great.”

And if the idea of pitching makes you nervous? Good. That’s exactly why you should do it. Jill Jackson, who competed last year, said it best: “Anyone can do the challenge. Even if you don’t have a direct business background, learning on the fly and trying new things, and understanding how to eloquently present a topic or pitch something as a new idea that you’ve worked on the same day in five minutes is a remarkable challenge and experience.”

This is the kind of thing that changes how you see yourself. It also happens to look excellent on a resume. Pitching to real judges, building a business model under pressure, working with professional mentors, collaborating across disciplines on a tight deadline. Those are skills that show up in interviews and set you apart in job applications and graduate school.

Sign up here (it takes two minutes): https://forms.gle/9ZCL7ECuE3LLJhY57