Home
Welcome to Pirates Pitch 2024!
Pirates Pitch 2024 is the 14th annual Seton Hall University Business Startup Competition and is sponsored by the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). The competition is open to ALL students at SHU. The contest kicks off in February 2024 and finishes with the finals round on April 3rd, 2024, from 6:30pm-9pm in the Jubilee Hall Auditorium. At the contest, teams of student entrepreneurs will present their startup pitches to a panel of judges to compete for $16k in seed money. Plus, each Finalist team will receive a free three-month LivePlan startup development software subscription, pro bono legal advice from our sponsor Santomassimo Davis LLP, and be invited to participate in the Pirates LaunchPad summer accelerator program. (These services are worth $30,000 per team.) The deadline for the initial applications is Friday March 1, 2024.
The Pirates Pitch Contest Finals is open to the public. All are welcome and invited.
First Place Prize: $8,000
Second Place Prize: $4,500
Third Place Prize: $3,000
Audience Choice Award: $500
We are here to help! CIE offers students individualized coaching and mentoring sessions, and feedback on your business ideas. We can also help you to launch your start-up. For an appointment, contact CIE Director Susan Scherreik at scherrsu@shu.edu.
Get started immediately! Click on the overview page and rules and guidelines page for more information.
Big Thanks to Our Law Firm Sponsorship
CIE thanks attorneys Christopher Santomassimo and Anthony Davis and their staff for providing legal assistance to our Pirates Pitch Finalists.
Important Dates in 2024
- February 27 – Tuesday: Pitch Perfect: How to Create A Compelling Startup Pitch Workshop at 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. Virtual on Microsoft Teams. Click HERE for meeting link
- March 1 – Friday: Pirates Pitch Application Deadline. Submit by Midnight.
- March 5 – Tuesday: Preliminary Round Finalists Will Be Announced.
- March 14 – Thursday: Preliminary Round of Pirates Pitch Contest from 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
- March 15 – Friday: Finalists teams will be announced.
- March 25 – Monday: Finalists Business Plans Due.
- April 3 – Wednesday: Pirates Pitch Finals in the Jubilee Hall Auditorium from 6:30 p.m – 9:00 p.m.