AI Startup Challenge 2026
Awards $40K+ in prizes to grad students at Columbia, Cornell Tech, NYU or Yale pitching AI-driven startups.
The AI Startup Challenge 2026 is Columbia Business School's pitch competition inviting current graduate students at Columbia University, Cornell Tech, NYU or Yale to pitch early-stage startups where artificial intelligence is a core part of the product, addressing real business problems across finance, healthcare, consumer or other markets, with $40K+ in prizes; companies that have already raised …
The AI Startup Challenge invites current graduate students at Columbia University, Cornell Tech, NYU or Yale to pitch early-stage startups where artificial intelligence is a core part of the product, addressing real business problems across finance, healthcare, consumer or other markets. Companies that have already raised a Seed round or later are excluded.
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Guides for this application
All guides →How to Write a Grant Proposal Reviewers Can Score
Learn how to write a grant proposal around reviewer criteria, evidence, work packages, budget logic, and commercialization for deeptech and R&D funding.
DocumentsGrant Work Plan Template: Work Packages, Gantt, Milestones, and Risks
Use this grant work plan template to structure work packages, tasks, owners, deliverables, Gantt timing, dependencies, and risk registers.
DocumentsGrant Pitch Deck Example: Slides, Storyline, and Video Script
See a grant pitch deck example with slide outline, EIC-style pitch logic, demo-video script, and grant-vs-investor deck differences.
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