Drexel Startups Fund is a twice-yearly pitch competition that supports student startup ideas. Generous donations from Drexel alums provide funding for the program.

The competition is run by the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship and supported through its Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship team. The competition provides non-dilutive grants, mentoring, investor introductions, and incubation services to students for their startup ventures, with a preference for (though not exclusively for) promising senior, graduate, or post-graduate students.

The competition has several stages:

• Application (including a required pitch video)
• Application review by the Selection Committee
• First round presentations from select applicants
• Final round of presentations from select first round presenters
• Awards announcement

Eligibility

Applicants to the program can be from any major and include undergraduate seniors, graduate students, and post-graduate. We define post-graduate as someone having graduated within one year of the program application deadline.

How to participate

A Drexel student must be the founder or co-founder of the venture as designated by the criteria here. Read all rules and eligibility on that page before applying.

You can find the competition application here

Selection committee

A Selection Committee comprised of Drexel faculty/staff and Drexel alums will meet to review applications and select the awardees. The Committee will recommend the awardees chosen for funding with the final selection made and confirmed by the Office of the Dean at the Close School.

Specific selection criteria will be provided to the competitors.

Awards

Up to twenty thousand ($20,000) may be awarded in this cycle to one or more competitors. Award amounts may vary depending on the decision of the Committee, and the Committee can also decide not to award any amount in any given selection cycle.

Awarded competitors will also have access to mentorship, incubator space in the Baiada Institute and introductions to angel and venture capital funding from the university’s alumni network.

Awards will be considered “prizes” as is typically done for programs such as entrepreneurship competitions and the awards will not have any equity ownership or debt implications. Awardees will receive funding following similar procedures for such awards and will be responsible for taxes on those awards.

Fall 2025 Schedule

• Sunday, October 19th 11:59p ET: Applications due
• Monday, October 27th: Announcement of selections for first round presentations
• Tuesday, November 4th: First round presentations (online)
• Friday, November 14th: Final round presentations (live during Drexel Startup Fest)