The Texas Business Plan Competition, hosted by the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, Growth, and Renewal at the University of Texas at Austin is the premier statewide business plan competition for undergraduate students. This annual event awards over $22K in prizes to aspiring students from around the State of Texas to encourage and facilitate the development of successful entrepreneurs.

By creating a legacy of successful student entrepreneurs, the competition empowers the leaders of tomorrow to innovate and attain their full potential. During the competition, students will have the opportunity to hone their business strategy, get professional feedback on their pitches, and form lasting relationships with mentors and leaders in the Texas entrepreneurship ecosystem. At The University of Texas at Austin, we believe that what starts (up) here changes the world!

The participating team must contain and be represented by at least one full-time or part-time undergraduate student from a 4-year Texas university.

If the participating team contains non-undergraduate students, only undergraduate students on the team may present in the competition.

Each participating team must have the endorsement of a faculty advisor at their university.

Get the official Rules and Terms.

Below are the criteria judges will use to evaluate your business plan. 

1. Innovativeness: How novel is your core idea? 
2. Achievability: How practical is the idea? 
3. Scalability: Can the idea generate a sustainable and growing business? 
4. Fundability: How clear are the benefits of funding for the idea?
5. Quality: Overall quality of the application. 

PRIZES: 

1st Place: $10,000

2nd Place: $5,000

3rd Place: $2,000

4th Place: $1,000

Plus over $4K in in-kind services. 

Still have questions? Join our Texas Business Plan Competition Slack Channel.