The Palmieri Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) at Mount St. Mary’s University presents the Loiello Business Pitch Competition as a way to support entrepreneurial thinking and action within the student body.
The Loiello Business Pitch Competition focuses on student-led business development efforts. If you are attempting to move an early stage business (established for four years or less) or a nascent business idea forward, this Competition seeks to encourage and support those efforts.
The Competition is for Mount students, where individuals or small teams (up to three team members) will present their pre-venture business ideas or early stage start-up businesses to a panel of alumni judges for potential cash awards.
Team Leaders or individual entrants must be active undergraduate or graduate degree seeking students. Having a member of a team who is not a Mount student is acceptable, as long as the students are key members of the business leadership team.
Applicants should consist of individuals or small teams committed to further developing their business or advancing their idea towards a business launch.
The Competition provides students from all academic programs a chance to challenge their entrepreneurial spirit and present their early stage businesses or nascent business ideas in a format that will give them valuable experience and feedback.
Assistance is available through the Palmieri Center for Entrepreneurship, located behind Archbishop Borders Hall.
Your early-stage venture or proposed start-up idea may include service ventures, new products or technologies, social enterprises, etc. There is no limit to the number of teams that may enter the Competition, but only 5-7 will be selected to present to external judges at the final stage of the Competition.
The Competition occurs within the following general structure (leaving flexibility to adapt to changing campus conditions):
Each team must indicate their intent to compete by February 28, 2022. To enter, a MSMU student (as team leader) should complete the online Intent to Compete Form.
Entry submissions will be reviewed to determine what ideas are eligible, appropriate and complete. Entrants will be contacted by the PCE and an initial meeting with Competition staff scheduled where the Competition format will be reviewed and questions addressed.
If the student/student team idea is accepted for further advancement in the Competition, they will be scheduled for the first round of “casting calls” to present their initial pitch. The PCE will offer assistance in developing the pitch.
If the student/student team advances from the first round of “casting calls,” they will be scheduled for a second round of casting calls in preparation for pitching to the external judges of the competition.
Your (uninterrupted) pitch should be a maximum of 4 minutes long and may include up to 10 slides.
The PCE will provide contestants more detailed guidelines/suggestions for creation of a strong business pitch as well as direct feedback during the preparation process.
Finalists will present their pitch before a panel of external judges (** most likely in a virtual format during the Spring 2022 Semester). Final dates and structure will be determined at a later date.
All team members should be present during the final pitch and Q&A with external judges.
All team members must be present to win cash prizes.
By applying for the business pitch competition, the applicants agree to the following terms & conditions:
**Legal and financial information provided to the PCE will remain confidential.