Dempsey Startup Competition

Schedule

The application site will open for submissions on Thursday, February 21, 2025 and will be due by 11:59pm on Monday, April 7. The competition begins with the initial online Screening Round between April 10-15, 2025.

There are four competitive elimination rounds (and one non-competitive round) between April 1 – May 22, 2025. The Buerk Center will schedule information sessions, workshops, and office hours with mentors to help participating student teams prepare for each round!

Dempsey Startup Competition Event Schedule 2025

Competition Rounds + Deliverables for Teams Advancing Past Screening Round

Event	Date
Dempsey Startup Application Site Opens	Thursday, February 21
Information Session Virtual Session (RSVP here)	Tuesday, March 4
Information Session In-person Session (RSVP here)	Tuesday, March 11
Information Session Virtual Session (RSVP here)	Tuesday, March 18
DEADLINE TO ENTER: Submit 5-7 page Business Summary (see SUBMISSION RESOURCES tab below for examples of past submissions)	Monday, April 7 by 11:59 pm
Screening Round (Closed, Online Session—Judges Only)	April 10-15
Announcement of the 36 teams advancing to the Investment Round Teams will be notified by email after 2:00 pm.	Tuesday, April 15
Investment Round Resource Night Mandatory event for all teams advancing to the Investment Round	Thursday, April 17 (evening)
Pitch Workshop Mandatory for all teams advancing to the Investment Round	Thursday, April 24 (evening)
Office Hours with Mentors 30-minute appointments with mentors for teams advancing to the Investment Round	Week of April 21
Investment Round (top 36) Tradeshow-style event. Deliverable: 1-page business summary due Thursday, April 24.	Thursday, May 1
Coaching Round (top 16) Mandatory, non-competitive virtual session. Deliverable: Draft of PPT pitch deck to review with coaches.	Wednesday, May 14 (late afternoon/evening)
Sweet Sixteen (top 16) Deliverable: 12–15 page business plan due Thursday, May 15. PPT Pitch deck is due the morning of May 22.	Thursday, May 22 (morning)
Final Round (top 4) Open to the public to attend.	Thursday, May 22 (afternoon)
Awards Ceremony	Thursday, May 22 (evening)

Rules

Teams in the Dempsey Startup Competition must comply with the following criteria to be eligible for the competition.

• Teams entering must have at least one full-time or part-time student on the team who is enrolled in good standing in a degree seeking program at an accredited college or university in the Cascadia Corridor – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia, as well as Alaska. If you graduated the summer quarter prior to the year of the competition or later, you are considered a current student in the competition under these rules. Please contact us to discuss your eligibility.
• The business plan must be developed during the student’s tenure at the university. Students working with outside entrepreneurs must create an original business plan.
• All submissions to the Dempsey Startup Competition must live up to the higher ideals of the University of Washington. Your idea must be appropriate for a university-sponsored event. The Buerk Center reserves the right to disqualify any entry that in its judgment violates the letter or the spirit of the competition or exceeds the bounds of social convention.
• If the team or company entering the competition is revenue positive, actual annual revenue cannot exceed $250k. For the purposes of the Competition, “revenue” includes but is not limited to commercialization grants (I-Corp, Gap Fund, SBIR, etc), friends and family investment, and competition winnings. (Please note this is different than the company’s projected revenue. This rule does not apply to projected revenue.)
• Eligible students can form a team with alumni and other non-students, but there are restrictions to this involvement (see below).
• In the Investment Round, no more than four team members, including both students and non-students, can present the new business concept to the judges. In the Sweet Sixteen and Final Rounds of the competition, only student team members will be allowed to make presentations to the judges.
• Students must have an ownership stake in the business or the potential for equity or employment.
• Only student team members based in WA, OR, ID, AK and British Columbia are eligible to earn prize money. No payments will be made to non-students or student team members located outside of the region.
• Teams that have participated in the Jones + Foster Accelerator may not apply to the Dempsey Startup Competition.
• Students graduating within this academic year (Summer 2024 and forward) are eligible as student members for the current competition.

Note: The Director of the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship reserves the right to make the final determination of the eligibility of submitted business ventures.

Confidentiality

The Dempsey Startup Competition considers all submitted business plans as confidential and treats all team matters accordingly. However, we cannot guarantee complete confidentiality for proprietary matters.

Therefore, we strongly encourage any team with concerns regarding intellectual property, copyright, or patent confidentiality to either contact their University’s intellectual property office (for University-developed discoveries) or competent legal counsel (for non-University related discoveries). The University of Washington, the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, the Foster School of Business, and the organizers of the competition are not responsible for any proprietary information and/or intellectual property included in a submitted business plan.

Ultimately, protection of sensitive materials is the sole responsibility of the individual or team participating in the competition.

Judging criteria

The Dempsey Startup Competition is comprised of four competitive rounds (Screening Round, Investment Round, Sweet 16, and Final Round) and one non-competitive Coaching Round, designed to prepare teams for the Sweet 16 and Final Round.

Screening Round

The Screening Round takes place online, and is the first major hurdle for students participating in the Dempsey Startup Competition. Student teams submit their business plan executive summaries online. Over the course of a weekend, each business plan executive summary is read and scored by eight to ten judges who are encouraged to provide written feedback for students. After the Screening Round, an announcement of teams advancing to the Investment Round is sent via email. Please also review the submission checklist.

NOTE: Scoring based on 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest), with 3 being of the caliber to advance to the next round

Overall Impression of the Executive Summary

Does the summary adequately describe the idea — does the idea make sense?
Has the team adequately described the pain in the marketplace?
Do you believe the team has presented a feasible solution?
Is the summary well written and succinct?
Does the summary create excitement?

Management team

Does this management team have the skills required to execute the plan?
Does this team have the experience to lead a new venture?

Market opportunity

Have they adequately described the market and economic opportunity?
Have they clearly stated their value proposition? Is it a viable model?

Competitive strategy

Has the team completely analyzed its competitive space?
Does the summary clearly identify the company’s initial competitive advantage or differentiator?
Does the team have an adequate strategy for defending their market position?

Go to market strategy

Is it clear how the company will reach its initial customer?
Does the summary clearly identify a sales strategy?
Is the distribution plan clearly defined and reasonable?

Traction

Has the team made progress toward any milestones (licenses, patents, etc…)
Has the company signed customers and/or channel partners?
Has the company booked any revenue?

Financials

Are the financials consistent with the overall plan?
Are the assumptions realistic?
Are contingencies and exit strategies addressed?
Does the plan describe the funding/resources required to execute on the plan?

Social Impact

Does the entry have the potential to make a significant positive impact on society? Will it improve the quality of life for people and our planet and help contribute to a better, safer and more prosperous world?
Does the team discuss measurable efforts to minimize consumption, use, and byproduct waste, while bolstering profitability/cost containment?

Investment Round

The Investment Round, arguably the most exciting event of the competition, follows a trades show format in which teams set up intricate displays and interact with judges to pitch the team’s idea. The judges, all prominent members of the local entrepreneurial community, are given one thousand “Buerk Center dollars” to invest in a portfolio of teams that they consider the “most viable” – that is, with the best chance for success in the real world. At the end of the event, investment dollars are collected and tallied. The sixteen teams receiving the highest “funding” are announced at a reception immediately following and advance to the next round, the Sweet Sixteen.

We ask the judges to invest their $1,000 “Buerk Center dollars” in a minimum of 5 companies (student teams) and a well-rounded portfolio of companies. We also tell them: when you’re deciding which teams to invest in, ask yourself:

• Does this business seem well thought out?
• Has the team demonstrated knowledge of the industry and potential customers?
• Is there a real opportunity here?
• Has the team answered your questions?

Coaching Round

The Coaching Round is a noncompetitive round in which no teams are eliminated. This round gives teams the opportunity to practice their presentations in front of a panel of coaches from the local entrepreneurial community. This round is designed to provide teams with in-depth and constructive feedback that they can use to hone their business plans and pitches prior to the Sweet 16 and Final Rounds.

Sweet 16 Round and Final Round

After honing their presentations in the Coaching Round, each of the sixteen remaining teams is assigned to present to one of four panels of judges. Judges select the advancing teams based on the following criteria:

1. The Team: What are the team dynamics? What is the quality of the team? Does the team demonstrate the ability to execute on its plan? (Student-driven teams are a plus.)
2. The Market: Does the company’s product or service address the target market’s needs? (Opportunity size is a plus, but not the primary concern)
3. Viability: Is the business model viable, well-articulated, and reasonable? (The team’s IP position should be clear.)
4. Presentation: Did the team make a quality presentation? What was the quality of the team’s materials and data? How was the team’s ability to answer tough questions?

Each panel of judges will see four teams’ presentations. After all presentations are finished, judges will discuss the merits of each of their four teams and by process of consensus select one or two teams to go on to the Final Round in the afternoon.

The Final Round is open to viewing by all competition participants, faculty, students, and the public. Each team has 30 minutes to present to and answer questions from a panel of judges (these judges have not seen any teams’ presentations prior to the Final Round.) The judges reach their decisions about team ranking by consensus using the same criteria as the Sweet 16 judges.

The Dempsey Startup Competition would not be possible without the generous support of our partners. Below are the partners of the 2025 Dempsey Startup.

Learn about Dempsey Startup Competition partnership opportunities here.

2025 Prizes

$25,000 Grand Prize sponsored by BECU
$15,000 Second Place Prize sponsored by WRF Capital
$10,000 Third Place Prize sponsored by iSpot TV
$7,500 Fourth Place Prize by Friends of the Dempsey Startup

Big Picture Prizes ($5,000)

The Big Picture and Best Idea prizes were created to reward student teams in the Dempsey Startup Competition for their exceptional work in several distinct categories. The teams are selected by a special group of judges during the Investment Round, and the winners are announced at the dinner and awards ceremony in May. Please note that no team can take more than one Big Picture and/or Best Idea prize.

Glympse > Internet of Things (IoT) Prize
Recognizes a business venture that has incorporated new products or services that contribute to the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem—devices, vehicles, infrastructure and/or other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity—that enables these objects to collect and exchange data to create new consumer experiences.

Wilson Sonsini > Social Impact Prize
Recognizes a venture that “not only demonstrates the capacity to deliver financial performance, but also shows how it makes a positive contribution to society.” This contribution can be a strategy that incorporates values into their company to develop and implement solutions to social issues or a product/service that helps develop and implement solutions to these same issues.

 

Best Idea Prizes for $2,500

eBay > Best Marketplace Idea
Targeted for teams that creates a commerce or payments platform for communities of buyers, sellers or businesses.

Thatcher + Shannon Davis > Best Consumer Product Idea
For a venture that offers a compelling new consumer product, focusing on a well-defined market.

Perkins Coie > Best Innovation/Technology Idea
Targeted for a venture that has a new application for a current technology, a disruptive technology, or an idea that represents a substantial improvement in a product or process.

DLA Piper > Best Idea with Global Reach
A venture that has aspirations for acquiring customers around the world.

Smukowski Family > Best Sustainable Business Prize
Recognizes a venture that has incorporated best practices toward resource reduction while bolstering profitability/cost containment.

Saara Romu > Community Impact Prize
Recognizes a venture that has a direct impact on the lives of women or other underserved communities, with a preference to a team with female-forward leadership.

Voyager Capital > Best Business to Business Idea
Recognizes a venture that offers an innovative B2B product or platform.

Holland & Knight > Best Health & Wellness Impact Idea prize
Recognizes a venture with significant potential to prevent, diagnose, or treat diseases or disorders that impact human health.

 

Follow-on funding: Jones + Foster Accelerator

Up to $25,000 in follow-on funding is available to student-led start-ups coming out of the Dempsey Startup Competition, the Health Innovation or Environmental Innovation Challenges, or entrepreneurship coursework.

In the Jones + Foster Accelerator, student teams transition to becoming early-stage start-ups. Teams admitted to the program will devote six months to completing a list of milestones with coaching from a committee of mentors. Learn more about the Jones + Foster Accelerator.

Whether you’re preparing to enter a competition or just want to explore the process of starting a startup, the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship offers numerous ways to prepare—networking events, special-topic workshops, panel sessions with experts, and more!

Information Sessions + Office Hours

Student teams planning to apply to the Dempsey Startup Competition are strongly encouraged to attend an upcoming informational session or office hours.

Submission Checklist

In order to prepare your own executive summary, download the Submission Checklist, which includes the judging criteria judges will be using in the Screening Round to evaluate all entries.

Pay particular attention to the Administrative Checklist at the end of the document.

Learn By Example

Take a look at 5-7 page executives summaries submitted in previous years. These summaries should be considered a guide for what to include in your own plan, regardless of industry area.

• Aurora Plasmonics
• FlashVolunteer
• GSD Devices
• Insulenz
• JoeyBra
• NomON
• Stash
• Xylamed (PatientStream)
• Afterlife Listings
• Cledge
• Reclaim

Startup Resources

The Buerk Center’s start-up resources feature our favorite tips, blogs and resources for writing solid business plans, making a great pitch, securing funding, marketing, and more.

The Buerk Center recognizes that there are a variety of AI programs available to assist with written work and visual models or presentations. While these programs are useful tools, they are not a replacement for human creativity, originality, and critical thinking. However, within limited circumstances and with proper attribution, AI programs may be used as a tool by Teams to prepare for our competitions. Please see below for our expectations around AI usage:

Check Its References

Make sure to double check any market, scientific, or other data you receive from a generative AI model. You want to avoid repeating “made up” facts or reciting information from an out-of-date training set. AI models have built-in biases as they are trained on limited underlying sources; they reproduce, rather than challenge, errors in the sources.

Responsible Data Use, AI, and IP:

Beware of putting any proprietary data into open-source models. Your data, ideas, models, etc. may no longer be considered protected data that is confidential. AI generated work is also in most cases not patentable or copyrightable and may even be considered automated plagiarism because it is derived from previously created texts, models, etc. without cited sources.

Stay True to You

Generative AI is great at analysis and feedback, but as mentioned above, it cannot replace your unique creativity or thought process. Judges do not want to hear what ChatGPT thinks about your idea – they want to hear the excitement and enthusiasm directly from you. You and your team must craft and verify your work. Cutting and pasting without understanding will not advance or validate your ideas. Remember that AI tools lack the critical thinking and abductive reasoning to evaluate and reflect, as well as make judgements.

Cite Your Sources

Acknowledge work done by a generative AI model like you would another team member. For example, indicate in a footnote or other citation where rough drafts or graphics were generated by AI and through which platforms. You are ultimately responsible for the impact of any content produced and presented by your team, including AI-generated material.

Business Plan Practicum: ENTRE 440/540

ENTRE 440/540 Business Plan Practicum is offered throughout winter quarter by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, bring in experts from the local entrepreneurial community to teach various aspects of creating a startup venture, from idea generation to legal issues to raising capital. Attending Resource Nights (ENTRE 440/540) is a great way to prepare for the Dempsey Startup Competition (Dempsey Startup), the Environmental Innovation Challenge (EIC), and the Health Innovation Challenge (HIC).

Class recordings from the 2020 course can be found on the Buerk Center’s Startup Resources page (under RESOURCE NIGHTS tab).

2025 DAVIS CONSUMER PRODUCT WORKSHOP SERIES
Students can register now for three upcoming 90-minute sessions featuring special guests. You’ll walk away knowing how to unlock the pivotal steps in starting and growing a consumer product business, whether it’s something you created with your hands or in the digital space.
Students may register for the entire series or individual sessions below. Each workshop takes place between Noon and 1:30 pm on a Friday at Founders Hall Room 490.

REGISTER

In the 26 years that the Buerk Center has produced its annual business plan competition, the Dempsey Startup Competition, 6,100+ students (1,935 teams) have participated in the spring event. We’ve awarded more than $1.7 million in seed funding to 216 winning teams, many of which have gone on to make us proud.

Can non-business students enter the competition?
Yes. The Dempsey Startup Competition is open to ALL students who are currently enrolled in a degree program in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia and Alaska.

If I don’t find any team members that really seem like “the right fit”, is it OK to have a “team” of just one person?
It is OK to have just one person on a team. However, if you advance to the Investment Round, you’ll want to add a few people to your team to help you pitch to judges

Can we submit a business plan into the competition for a business that is or may become a nonprofit / social business in the future?
The competition is open to all types of businesses. Every year there are nonprofit or social-venture businesses in the competition.

Is there a Dempsey Startup archive that has a synopsis of the Dempsey Startup plans submitted so far?
Yes, but you must come to the Buerk Center to look at it. Be sure to call or email the Buerk Center office to set-up a time.

Can a student submit plans for more than one team?
You are allowed to participate in the Dempsey Startup Competition with more than one team. It can be a logistical challenge to do that at the Investment Round and Sweet 16, but it is possible.

Am I allowed to have a faculty member as a mentor for the Dempsey Startup?
You can have a faculty member as a mentor.

I am part of a company looking to recruit students to assist in taking my idea through the Dempsey Startup Competition. How should I go about doing this?
The Dempsey Startup is a process and competition for student-driven companies, and we have a strict policy guiding outside companies recruiting students to join their team in order to compete:

• Students must have an ownership stake in the business or the potential for equity or employment.
• Only student team members are eligible to earn prize money. No payments will be made to non-students.

Can I compete two years in a row?
Students are welcome and encouraged to participate as many times as they want–as long as they are a student (enrolled in a degree seeking program in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia or Alaska) or have a student on their team.

Can I change the name of the business at some point during the competition?
You are allowed to change your company name during the competition. We recommend that you reference the name change in your documents (one-page executive summary or business plan).

Can I have more than four members on my team?
Most teams are three to five people, but you can do whatever makes the most sense for you. However, only four teammates can pitch at a time during the Investment Round. If you have more than four team members, you can tradeoff.

Is the list of judges for the Dempsey Startup Competition available to the participants?
We don’t release our judge lists for any of the rounds.

Do judges or coaches usually sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements)?
Judges and coaches do not sign NDAs. This is common practice in the entrepreneurial world, especially when you are pitching your idea to investors. You should figure out a way to talk about your business, but not give away the confidential information that could be patented, trademarked, or that is simply your secret sauce.

How many judges are there at each round of the competition?
This depends on the round. Here’s the approximate breakdown

Screening round	8-10 judges will read your plan
Investment round	250 judges
Sweet 16	Closed session with 7 judges
Final round	7 judges and open to the public