In the News: Danielle Campeau on e-Fest and the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge – Newsroom

Associate Dean of the University of St. Thomas Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, Danielle Campeau, recently spoke with WCCO Radio about the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge, a dynamic part of the nationally recognized e-Fest entrepreneurial competition.

Host: Danielle, tell us a little bit about the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge. What is it?

Campeau: The Entrepreneurship Challenge is part of e-Fest, what we call really a celebration of all things entrepreneurship. This is a nationwide competition open to undergraduate student innovators from universities all across the U.S. We bring together 25 teams from a variety of industries who have new, great ideas.

It kicked off last night with a pitch slam where all student teams provided a 92-second elevator pitch, and the top team took away $10,000 in winnings. We continue today with a set of workshops and networking opportunities for our student entrepreneurs. Then, this afternoon, they’ll participate in the Innovation Challenge, a really fun one where we put together intercollegiate teams who are going to solve a problem and come up with a solution within a three-hour time span. Again, a top prize tonight of another $10,000. And then, that leads into tomorrow, our showcase event, the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge, where student teams will be pitching their ventures for the chance to win $50,000. …

I will say, this is a very competitive competition. So, we have some of the best of the best innovators at the undergraduate level from across the nation. It is really impressive listening to their pitches last night. They are polished, they are on point, they have ideas, passion and motivation.

Host: How long has this competition been going on?

Campeau: We’re in the eighth year. It started in 2017, and we’ve awarded over $1.5 million in non-dilutive seed funding for early-stage ventures so far.