Rules

Eligibility Requirements

A complete list of rules and eligibility for e-Fest 2026 is available on our website at: https://efest.biz/compete/rules

Student Eligibility 

• All team members must be enrolled as undergraduate students during spring 2026 or have graduated no earlier than fall 2025. 
• Students in direct-to-masters or 5-year programs who have not yet received an undergraduate degree are eligible. 
• Finalists may be asked to provide proof of enrollment (e.g., transcript or university letter). 

Team Composition 

• Teams must have 2 to 5 undergraduate students. 
• A student may be listed on multiple online submissions but may only compete with one team in the Finals. If more than one team is selected, the student must choose one team.
• Any team left with fewer than two eligible members will be disqualified. 

Repeat Participation 

• No venture that previously competed as an e-Fest finalist may be resubmitted, even with a new team. 
• Ventures must be substantially new, meaning they go beyond pivots of the underlying business model and are not slight modifications or extensions. 

Advisor Requirement 

• Each team must have an official faculty or staff advisor from one of the team member’s institutions. 
• The advisor must accompany the team to Minneapolis, act as the team’s main contact, and be eligible to accept the travel stipend. 
• In limited cases, an e-Fest approved mentor (alumni, entrepreneur-in-residence) may attend, but the official advisor must submit the intake form. 

Submission Requirements 

• All materials must be submitted through the official e-Fest® submission portal by the published deadline. Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered. 
• Original Work: All materials – including the pitch deck, video, and application content – must be prepared by the student team. Submissions must reflect the team’s own work, ideas, and analysis. Outside assistance (e.g., faculty, mentors) may be consulted, but the submission must be student-driven. 
• Submission Format: Detailed guidelines for required formats and content will be provided in the official application instructions. These typically include a pitch video, slide deck, venture summary, and team information. 
• Submission Deadline: All required materials for the Online Round must be submitted through the official portal no later than March 1, 2026, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

Forms of Business 

e-Fest® welcomes a wide range of student-created ventures, but to ensure fairness and alignment with the goals of the competition, participating ventures must meet the following business model criteria: 

Eligible Ventures Must: 

• Be new, independent ventures created and led by students. 
• Be in the seed, startup, or early growth stage — meaning the business has not yet scaled, raised significant external funding, or generated substantial revenue. 
• Ineligible Venture Types Include: 
• Buyouts, acquisitions, or purchases of existing businesses 
• Franchise expansions or corporate spin-offs 
• Recapitalizations or significant reorganizations of existing companies 
• Subsidiaries of larger, established businesses 
• Nonprofit ventures that do not demonstrate a credible pathway to financial self-sufficiency through earned revenue. Note that mission-driven ventures such as social enterprises, hybrid ventures, and impact focused business (e.g., B Corps, L3Cs, etc.) may qualify if they demonstrate a revenue-generating model capable of sustaining operations without relying on grants or donations. See below. 

Social / Hybrid Ventures:

• Social enterprises, hybrid ventures, and mission-driven business models (e.g., B Corps, L3Cs, or impact-focused LLCs) are encouraged to apply, as long as they meet the following for-profit criteria: 
• The venture must have a viable business model that includes a clearly defined revenue-generating strategy. 
• It must be capable of operating as a financially self-sustaining enterprise — even if it pursues social or environmental goals. 
• The submission should demonstrate a clear understanding of how the business balances mission and market sustainability. 
• Ventures that rely exclusively on grants, donations, or non-revenue-generating activities will not be considered eligible. 

Required Student Involvement 

e-Fest® is designed to recognize and reward undergraduate student entrepreneurship. Participating ventures must be student-originated, student-owned, and student-led.  

To qualify: 

• Ventures must be developed and led exclusively by undergraduate students who meet all eligibility requirements. 
• Students must play the primary role in developing the idea, building the business model, and leading day-to-day operations. 
• Students must serve in key decision-making and management roles within the company. 
• The student team must hold fundamental equity-holding (or potential equity-holding) positions. 
• Collectively, student team members must own at least 25% of the founder’s equity in the business. 

Non-Student Involvement Guidelines: 

• Faculty members, advisors, and other non-student collaborators may support the team but may not be the primary drivers of the business.  
• Faculty, advisors, graduate students, alumni, and other non-undergraduates are not eligible to participate in e-Fest, present during the competition, or appear in any competition materials. 

Note: Ventures launched through licensing of university intellectual property (IP) are permitted as long as students are leading the commercialization effort and meet all ownership and leadership criteria listed above. 

Financial Eligibility 

• To be eligible, student ventures must not exceed the following thresholds as of the submission deadline (March 1, 2026): 
• Total cumulative funding: under $100,000 
• Total cumulative sales/revenue: under $50,000 

Definitions: 

• Funding includes equity investments (from individuals, angels, or firms), grants, loans, prize money, and in-kind contributions over $500 (e.g., donated development work, equipment, or services). 
• Sales/Revenue includes all income from customers or clients, including paid pilots, pre-orders, licensing revenue, or other commercial transactions. 
• Teams may be asked to list all funding and revenue sources and the official team advisor asked to attest to the accuracy of this information. 

Finalists may be asked to submit documentation for verification, which may include: 

• Cap tables 
• Grant or investment award letters 
• Bank statements or financial summaries 
• Screenshots or accounting records showing sales 

Team & Institutional Accountability 

By confirming their participation in e-Fest, all team members and advisors agree to: 

• Abide by all e-Fest rules and deadlines 
• Certify that all submitted materials are accurate 
• Participate in all required events 

Advisor & Team Commitment Agreement

• All Top 25 Finalist teams are required to complete the official Advisor & Team Commitment Agreement by the published deadline to confirm their participation. This agreement certifies that the team: 
• Meets all eligibility requirements 
• Has submitted truthful and original materials 
• Agrees to comply with all e-Fest® rules, participation expectations, and decisions made by the e-Fest team 
• Finalist status is not official until this completed agreement is received and approved. Failure to submit the agreement, or submitting false or misleading information, may result in disqualification and/or a two-year institutional ban from e-Fest. 
• Consequences of Noncompliance (at the discretion of the e-Fest team): 
• The team may be disqualified or forfeit prizes 
• The institution may be barred from participating for 2 years 
• Travel stipends may be withheld or revoked 
• Participation Requirements (Finalists) 
• Top 25 Finalist status is a significant achievement and carries important responsibilities. These participation requirements are designed to uphold the integrity of the competition, ensure fairness to all teams, and foster a high-quality experience for students, advisors, and judges. 
• By accepting a finalist spot at e-Fest®, each team and advisor agrees to fully participate in the entire event and follow these expectations: 

Finalist Responsibilities 

Finalist teams must: 

• Submit all required forms (e.g., Student Intake Form, marketing materials, team commitment form) by the published confirmation deadline  
• Attend all scheduled events and programming, including the awards ceremony 
• Ensure all confirmed team members and their advisor are present and engaged throughout the competition 
• Notify e-Fest staff of any major pitch, team, or personnel changes in advance and receive written approval of the change 
• Represent their school and venture with professionalism, integrity, and respect 

Advisor Requirements

Each team must be accompanied by an official faculty member, staff member, or institutional representative who serves as the designated team advisor. 

The advisor must: 

• Verify the team’s eligibility and ensure all information submitted is accurate 
• Oversee compliance with all e-Fest rules and requirements 
• Serve as the primary contact between the institution and e-Fest staff (if necessary) 
• Apply for and accept the travel stipend on behalf of the institution (if applicable) Please note: Travel stipend checks are issued directly to the institution, addressed to the attention of the official team advisor. To ensure timely processing and receipt of funds, the advisor must be a current faculty or staff member of the institution.
• Attend the event in person and actively support the team throughout the event 

Confidentiality: All sessions of the competition, including but not limited to oral presentations, video and slide deck submissions and question/answer sessions, are open to the public at large. Any and all of these sessions may be shared with interested people, through media that may include radio, television, printed materials and the internet. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by entrants should be considered information that could possibly enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged, or presented in these sessions. Due to the nature of the competition, we will not ask judges, reviewers, sponsors, staff or the audience to agree to or sign non-disclosure statements for any participant. By participating in the competition, entrants agree that no member of the e-Fest team — EIX, The Richard Schulze Family Foundation, The University of St. Thomas, members of the judging panel, sponsors and their designate organizations — will assume any liability whatsoever for any disclosures of business plan information that may be made (whether inadvertently or otherwise) by any judge, reviewer, staff member, audience member or other individual connected with, participating in, viewing, hearing, or receiving information from the competition.