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The Swartz Center Social Enterprise Prize*

*A new McGinnis track

Compete to Solve Social Challenges with Your Entrepreneurial Ideas!

Ready to create a company that makes an impact on the world's biggest challenges? 

The Swartz Center Social Enterprise Prize is a new competition at Carnegie Mellon University designed to empower students to develop entrepreneurial solutions for social and environmental challenges. Open to both for-profit and nonprofit ideas, the competition runs as a special track within the McGinnis Pitch Competition, with submission deadlines from January to March and culminates in a final pitch event, on Monday, March 17, 2025.

For more information please contact Swartz Center EIR Leah Lizarondo at leahlizarondo@cmu.edu.

Social Enterprise Prize Final Round Celebration

Help cheer the final round teams to victory by attending our in person event.   

Register

Monday, March 17, 2025
4:00 - 5:30 p.m.        Final Round Team Presentations

6:00 - 7:30 p.m.        Award Ceremony & Networking Reception

Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University

Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level

4765 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15213


Visitor parking available at the East Campus Garage

Why join?

  • Prizes!
    • Undergraduate Prizes: $5,000 (1st place), $2,500 (2nd place)
    • Graduate Prize: $10,000
  • For-Profit & Nonprofit Ideas Welcome!
    Whether you want to create a nonprofit/NGO or mission-driven for-profit startup with a triple bottom line (profit, planet, people) this is your opportunity!
  • Workshops, Mentorship & Pitch Experience!
    Participate in workshops, get mentorship, and refine your social enterprise ideas to create real-world impact!
  • Path to the $1M Hult Prize!
    Compete for a chance to automatically advance to the US Nationals of the prestigious Hult Prize – the ultimate global competition for student social entrepreneurs!

Sustainable Development Goal

What is a Social Enterprise?

A social enterprise is an organization—either nonprofit or for-profit—that prioritizes social, environmental or community-oriented goals alongside financial performance. Its success is typically measured by a concept known as the triple bottom line, which evaluates not just financial profit (economic), but also social and environmental impact. The triple bottom line framework encourages businesses to be accountable for their broader influence on society, considering their impact on people, planet, and profit. Social enterprises often align their missions with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a collection of 17 global goals set by the UN to address pressing issues such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice by 2030.

Examples of nonprofits operating as social enterprises include World Central Kitchen, which addresses hunger; Acumen, which focuses on poverty alleviation through innovative finance; and Pencils of Promise, dedicated to providing quality education. For-profit social enterprises like CMU’s own Mill and Duolingo. Mill promotes responsible consumption and Duolingo makes education accessible to all. Perhaps the most famous social enterprise is Patagonia, which aligns its business strongly with climate action or Tom’s Shoes, which popularized the Buy One, Give One model. Other examples can be found in this list of B-Corps - B-corp certification requires a company to measure its social and environmental impact.

The prizes are $5,000 first prize/$2,500 second prize for undergraduate teams and $10,000 for graduate teams, incentivizing participants to compete at global levels like the $1M Hult Prize for student social entrepreneurs. This initiative seeks to elevate social enterprise within the CMU community, fostering innovation, social impact and expand opportunities for students making a difference through entrepreneurship.

Social Enterprise Prize Final Round Celebration

mcginny-banner.jpg

Mon, March 17, 2025
Social Enterprise Prize Pitch + Winner Presentation

4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Final Round Team Presentations

6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception

Register

Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University

Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level

4765 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15213


View the full schedule and final round teams.

Visitor parking available at the East Campus Garage.

Submission Info

Fri, Nov 1, 2024
Registration Opens via Pralent

Tues, Dec 3, 2024
Start your submission to receive a coach

Tues, Jan 14, 2025
Round 1 Submission Deadline @ 11:59 PM EST

Competition Information

Looking for team members?

Join the CMU Entrepreneurship Slack to connect with fellow entrepreneurs 

Prize Allocation

McGinnis Graduate Winner

Graduate Track

$10,000

Clutch

Undergraduate Track

First Place

$5,000

Second Place

$2,500

Plus Get

McGinnis Crowd

Coaching

The competition includes coaches for each team that declares participation in the Social Enterprise Prize via our online platform. The Swartz Center staff will match the appropriate team with an appropriate coach. If a team is not registered by the deadline the Swartz Center cannot guarantee that a coach will be assigned.

Networking

Networking Opportunities

Meet and interact with peers who are also passionate about entrepreneurship, and gain access to Carnegie Mellon’s amazing entrepreneurial alumni network. Teams from all rounds enjoy access to exclusive networking events.

Networking

Help Along the Way

CONNECTS events are held throughout the year to help teams prepare. Please try to attend the seminars that are focused on the McGinnis Venture Competition (noted on the CONNECTS webpage).

Here are a few video resources that we suggest to help with your video pitch: 

Augie

Augie is an all-in-one AI-assisted video studio. All participating McGinnis teams have the ability to use Augie to help them with their video pitches!

For more information to gain access please email, Allyson Hince. Include your team name and main point of contact.

Intro to CMU Libraries Databases for Market & Competitive Research with Jen McKee

Wednesday, December 4, 2024
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. EST
Virtual

All applicants will be sent the virtual invite to attend

Facilitated by CMU's Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian - Jen McKee - in this session, attendees will receive a guided overview about the various business resources that the Libraries provides access to. These tools and databases enable you to undertake highly effective secondary market research, which will help McGinnis competitors save time and develop stronger pitches!

Important 2024-25 Dates and Deadlines

Fri, Nov 1, 2024
Registration opens via Pralent. 


Application requirements: Executive summary [pdf] and 5-minute video pitch.

Tues, Dec 3, 2024
Create a log in via Pralent, register for the Competition via Pralent and start your application to receive a coach

If you create a log in via Pralent, register for the McGinnis Venture Competition and select that you want to participate in the social enterprise prize and start your submission to include your team name, team description and team members by December 3 you will be guaranteed to be assigned a coach for the competition; for those who do this after December 3, we cannot guarantee that you will be assigned a coach for the competition.

Wed, Dec 4, 2024
Intro to CMU Libraries Databases for Market & Competitive Research with Jen McKee 

12:30 - 1:30 p.m. EST
-Virtual
All applicants will be sent the virtual invite to attend

Facilitated by CMU's Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian - Jen McKee - in this session, attendees will receive a guided overview about the various business resources that the Libraries provides access to. These tools and databases enable you to undertake highly effective secondary market research, which will help McGinnis competitors save time and develop stronger pitches!

Tues, Jan 14, 2025
Round 1 Submission Deadline at 11:59 pm EST.


Round 1 executive summary [pdf] and video pitch due via our online platform.

Wed, Jan 22, 2025
Round 1Team Mixer
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. EST

Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Main Space
Carnegie Mellon University

Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level

4765 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Thurs, Jan 30, 2025
Teams notified. Round 2 begins at 2 pm EST.

Tues, Feb 11, 2025
Round 2 submission deadline at 11:59 pm EST + Hult Prize Special Round!

Round 2 updated executive summary [pdf] and video pitch due via our online platform.

Sat, Feb 15, 2025
Round 2 Team Mixer
2:00 - 4:00 p.m. EST

Pins Mechanical Co.
407 Cinema Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Thurs, Feb 27, 2025
Teams notified. Round 3 Begins at 2 pm EST + Hult Prize National Team Selection

Fri, Feb 28, 2025
Hult Prize Submission Deadline for All

Tues, March 11, 2025
Round 3 Mini-Business Plan [pdf] due at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.

Mon, March 17, 2025
Social Enterprise Prize Pitch + Winner Presentation

4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Final Round Team Presentations

6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception

Register

Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University

Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level

4765 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15213


View the full schedule and final round teams.

Visitor parking available at the East Campus Garage.

Tues, March 18, 2025
McGinnis Venture Competition Pitch + Winner Presentation

1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Final Round Team Presentations

5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Award Ceremony & Networking Reception

Register

Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University

Tepper Quad
, 3rd Level

4765 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15213


View the full schedule and final round teams.

Visitor parking available at the East Campus Garage.

Requirements & Guidelines

The Social Enterprise Prize is open to all current Carnegie Mellon University undergraduate and graduate students who have created, managed and owned ventures.

A CMU student should be CEO, CTO or COO. Members of the student team should also own a significant majority of the equity allocated to all parties. Non-CMU students may be members of the venture’s management team and may participate; however, current CMU students should deliver the majority of the content in all of the rounds.

How to determine which track you are competing in:

  • If you have all undergraduate students on your team you will be considered in the undergraduate track.
  • If you have all graduate students on your team you will be considered in the graduate track.
  • If your team is made up of both graduate and undergraduate students you will be considered in the graduate track. You will not be eligible to compete in the undergraduate track.

**Please note that you will upload your Executive Summary and Video Pitch on our online platform.**

Deliverable: Executive Summary and Video Pitch*

The Executive Summary must be 3-5 pages in length. Please use the Executive Summary/Mini-Business Plan [pdf] for guidance.

A 5-minute Video Pitch targeted to investors is also required. You should pretend you are pitching to real investors and include all pertinent information. Record your Video Pitch and insert a link on our online platform.

The Executive Summary and Video Pitch must be submitted on our online platform.

The application submission deadline is Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.

*If you need to borrow video equipment to make your video, visit IDeATe Lending Collection & Office.

**Please note that you will upload your updated Executive Summary and Video Pitch on our online platform as you did in Round 1.**

Deliverables: Updated Executive Summary and Video Pitch*

Submit via our online platform an updated Executive Summary and Video Pitch. Use the feedback that you received from Round 1 to improve.

The Round 2 submission deadline is Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.

*If you need to borrow video equipment to make your video, visit IDeATe Lending Collection & Office.

**Please note that you will upload your Mini Business Plan/Expanded Version of Executive Summary on our online platform as you did in Round 1 and 2.**

Deliverables: Mini Business Plan/Expanded Version of Executive Summary and Live Pitch

We suggest that you use the Executive Summary/Mini-Business Plan[pdf] as guidance when creating your business plan, which should be 5-10 pages. You can add additional information to your business plan.

The mini-business plan submission deadline is Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST via our online platform.

The live presentations are varied based on the graduate and undergraduate tracks.  Graduate tracks are 5 minutes long followed by 5-minute Q&A from the judges, and undergraduate tracks are 5 minutes long followed by 5-minute Q&A from the judges. Time limits are strictly enforced. The live round will be held on Monday, March 17, 2025.

The authors of the executive summaries and mini business plans will retain all rights to the executive summaries and mini business plans regarding its use at all times prior to and following the competition except as stated below. Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant.

All public sessions of the competition, including, but not limited to, oral presentations and question/answer sessions, are open to the public at large. Any and all of these public sessions may be broadcast to interested persons through media that may include radio, television and the internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged or presented in these sessions.

Carnegie Mellon University may make photocopies, photographs, videotapes and/or audiotapes of the presentations including the business plan and other documents, charts or material prepared for use in presentation at the McGinnis Venture Competition. Students retain all proprietary rights. The university may use the materials in any book or other printed materials and any videotape or other medium that it may produce, provided that any profits earned from the sale of such items is used by the university solely to defray the costs of future competitions. The university has non-exclusive world rights in all languages, and in all media, to use or to publish the materials in any book, other printed materials, videotapes or other medium, and to use the materials in future editions thereof and derivative products.