America250 Backs College Entrepreneurs with Re- ...

2026-12-10 · Washington

America's Startup brings thirty collegiate semi-finalist teams to Washington, D.C. to compete for a share of a one million dollar non-dilutive prize pool.

America's Startup is a national collegiate competition designed to identify, support, and celebrate undergraduate entrepreneurs and early-stage innovators. The program features a $1 million total prize pool, non-dilutive funding, mentorship, and a live pitch finale in Washington, D.C. for 30 semi-finalist teams.

Founder brief

Who should attend

Current undergraduate students at accredited United States colleges, universities, or trade schools who are legal residents aged thirteen or older should apply. Pre-seed teams developing innovations across hardware, biotechnology, consumer products, artificial intelligence, and healthtech will find the format directly relevant to their stage.

What happens

Selected founders take part in mentorship sessions before thirty semi-finalist teams pitch live on stage to an expert evaluation panel. The competition awards non-dilutive grant capital of up to fifty thousand dollars per team from an overall prize pool totaling one million dollars.

Who's in the room

America250 Chair Rosie Rios hosts the gathering alongside speaker Adhira Tippur of Kairos Health. The judging panel features Liquid 2 Ventures co-founder Joe Montana, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and venture capitalist Tim Draper, with corporate support provided by NVIDIA.

How to prepare

Refine your core thesis to hold up under scrutiny from seasoned institutional investors and prominent technology executives. Emphasize your technical milestones, market validation, and a realistic budget showing precisely how fifty thousand dollars in non-dilutive funding advances your product toward its next inflection point.

Organizer: America250

Register

At a glance

Tickets
Free
Format
30 semi-finalist teams travel to Washington, D.C. to pitch live to a panel of judges.
Who can apply
Open to legal residents of the U.S. 13+, who are current undergraduate students at an accredited university, college or trade school in the U.S.
Prizes
$1 million total prize pool including up to $50,000 in non-dilutive grant funding per team
Attendance
About 30 attendees expected
Stage
Pre seed
Sectors
Ai ml, Healthtech, Biotech, Hardware, Consumer

Speakers, judges and hosts

  • Rosie Rios — Chair, America250 (Host)
  • Joe Montana — Co-founder, Liquid 2 Ventures (Judge)
  • Sarah Friar — CFO, OpenAI (Judge)
  • Steve Wozniak — Co-founder, Apple (Judge)
  • Tim Draper — Venture Capitalist (Judge)
  • Adhira Tippur — Co-Founder, Kairos Health (Speaker)

Sponsors and partners

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