Innovation Challenge

Competing teams should consist of at least one and no more than three undergraduate degree-seeking students who are enrolled part-time (minimum of six credit hours) or full-time at a UW System school (except UW-Madison) in the semester of the Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament (spring semester). Graduate teams interested in applying for the International Business Model Competition at-large category must be degree-seeking and enrolled part-time during one semester of the academic year the competition takes place.

Yes, international students are eligible to participate if they are enrolled as an undergraduate with a minimum of six credits in the spring semester. 

Non-undergraduate students (or graduates) may be part of the venture but cannot participate in the state or international competition (e.g., pitching, Q&A, etc.). The eligibility requirement is any student participating in the state or international finals needs to be an undergraduate enrolled in a minimum of six credits in the spring semester. In general, a member of the student team should be CEO, COO or president of the venture, or members of the student team should occupy 50 percent or more of the functional area management positions that report directly to the CEO, COO or president.

Participants own the IP (Intellectual Property) and can disclose to WiSys or file for a patent on their own if they want. We don't require anyone to sign an NDA or non-compete to participate. This defeats the purpose of this type of format and is becoming a standard practice for accelerators and angels/venture capitalists. At the center of what participants are going to be judged on at the State Final is Lean Startup and customer development which shouldn't require dissemination of proprietary information. Participants should instead be focused on telling their learning journey and how they validated (or invalidated and pivoted) the elements of their business model.

Check out these resources for more information on this topic.

• Lean Startup video
• Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament website

View the 2020 Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament winning team presentation.

We will assist you in finding additional team members if needed. Additionally, feel free to network at the Ideathon event to find other students that may be interested.

You can connect with Sheri Marnell if you need assistance finding a mentor.

• 2020: Lahma Bility, Didomi is dedicated to combating water crisis and eliminating waste fields in developing countries.  By selling reusable water bottles and keeping plastic water bottles out of the ocean, Didomi uses 50% of profits from every bottle to provide 10 years of water access to someone in Africa who needs it. 
• 2019: Jiaxin Li, Lakshmi Priya Girish Kumar and Soren Netka, Unmanned Ramp Manager is an artificial intelligence software program that uses automated license plate detection to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs for parking ramps. Li, of Shenzhen (Guangdong Providence), China, and Kumar, of Bangalore (Bengaluru), India, are graduate students in the Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS) program, while Netka, of St. Paul, Minn., is an undergraduate taking MSCS level courses. 
• 2018: Forrest Close, Miles Petterson and Reid Wilson, Over 25 million Americans suffer from incontinence. Many of these individuals experience issues with leakage, ease of use, poor sizing and embarrassment using the current adult briefs available on the market today.  Songen is developing a solution to address these issues and improve quality of life for incontinent individuals. Their newly designed adult brief reduces the chance of leakage by increasing the water retentive properties of the materials. The innovative design makes the product easier to use and enhances dignity for the users. With Songen‘s new and improved adult brief, incontinence is no longer a significant inconvenience. 
• 2017: Jennifer Till and David Till, Vetvocate seeks to address the issue of inefficiency in claims processing for disabled veterans.  By creating a software program to streamline claims processing, Vetvocate can help advocates save time, money and most importantly, allow disabled veterans to more efficiently receive the benefits they deserve.
• 2016: Michael Mader, According to the Salvation Army, the number one requested item in homeless shelters is socks. HippyFeet provides a solution to this pervasive problem by offering a buy-one give-one product. Purchasing the organic, durable wool socks allows the customer to give back as a pair is automatically donated to a local homeless shelter.
• 2015: Eric Wenz, Andrew Lind and An Trieu, SoPod offers a biodegradable pod technology that would allow travelers to carry body wash, shampoo and conditioners in carry-on luggage while avoiding TSA restrictions.    
• 2015: Edward Matsushima, EZPOD is a protein pod product that offers a convenient transportation method for nutritional protein to maximize the benefits by reducing the amount of time between a workout and administration of the supplement.