VENTURE INCUBATOR COMPETITION

Is there a big problem in the world that you’re dying to solve? Have you always dreamed of being your own boss? Are you bursting with new ideas? Are you just curious about #startuplife? Looking for a good resume-builder? Then the Zahn Center’s Venture Incubator Competition might be for you…

Learn more about what the competition is all about below.

Applications for the 2026 program will open in October 2025, and close on Sunday, November 9th at 11:59pm ET.

Learn more about our 2025 cohort and read about our winners!

What is it?

The Zahn Innovation Center is a startup incubator at The City College of New York that offers programming to encourage entrepreneurial thinking & growth. We believe everyone at CUNY has the potential to be a changemaker, and we want to help you innovate! The venture incubator competition will provide the foundation for the creation of CUNY startup ventures while supporting and strengthening the skillsets of our entrepreneurs to enable success. You apply in Fall for a competitive program that takes place during the Spring 2025 Semester. Your team will participate in required workshops, both on-campus and online, on Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:45, which will help you prepare for a pitch at the end of the semester where you will compete for $15,000 and $5,000 prizes to help you build your startup!

Who can apply to the competition?

• Composition: 1 to 5 members on each team
  • Entrepreneurship and the incubator are major undertakings, so we strongly encourage you to participate as teams,
  • You will have an opportunity to grow your team in the early stage of the process.
• CUNY Representation: Each team has to have at least one current CUNY student (including those who are graduating from CUNY in December 2025) and CUNY representation should be honored throughout the program.
• Types of ideas that we accept:
  • Physical products
  • Service-based businesses
  • Apps/software
  • Nonprofits & social enterprises
  • Tech-driven innovation
• Types of ideas we don’t support:
  • Purely brick and mortar businesses (store fronts, restaurants/cafes/food trucks, boutiques)
  • Multi-Level marketing businesses

How do I enter the competition?

You’ll need to apply via the application, which will be linked here by October 2025.

Our judges will score your application and the top teams will be invited for an interview. Once interviewed, we’ll let you know if you are selected.

Please do not submit AI-generated responses; real humans are reading these applications, and we want to hear from the real you.

If you need help crafting your application, check out a few ways you can get support listed under the next question.

How can I learn more about the competition?

Check out our Demo Week page to see information about last year's participants.

In Fall 2025, The Zahn Innovation Center will run a startup minicamp open to all interested students. These in-person sessions are highly encouraged and topics will correspond to application questions. More information about the Fall startup minicamp is available.

We are hosting a few info sessions to share more about the program and answer your questions about the application. If you are looking to build your team, sign up for these sessions as well so you can meet other like-minded budding entrepreneurs.

• RSVP for Wednesday, 10/22, 5pm - 6pm at Zahn Center, NAC 1/102
• RSVP for Monday, 11/3, 12:30pm - 1:30pm at Zahn Center, NAC 1/102
• RSVP for Thursday, 11/6, 12:15pm - 1:45pm at Flex Space, NAC 1/103 (This is the last session of our Fall Startup Minicamp series; we will use the session to both cover prototyping and provide application help.)

You are also welcome to contact Zahn staff members to talk about your ideas and get feedback before your finish your application.

What should I expect from the incubator and competition?

The competition is an incubator program, so by participating, you’ll gain experience and mentorship. During the Spring 2026 Semester, you’ll attend weekly in-person and virtual workshops about a variety of business topics. You’ll be required to meet with Zahn staff & other industry mentors to track your progress.

Your deliverables will include

• weekly assignments
• Monthly milestone check-ins
• Pitch deck and prototype for the competition

We’ll give you the education you need to get your idea off the ground, and you’ll work towards building a pitch deck, conducting market research, and creating a basic prototype of your idea.

What are the attendance requirements?

Sessions will take place during the Spring 2026 semester on, Thursdays, 12:15pm - 1:45pm at CCNY

• Mandatory sessions:
  • All participants are required to attend the “Team Dynamics” session and the 2 pitch practice sessions.
• Weekly sessions:
  • Each team is required to attend at least 8 out of the 9 non-mandatory sessions.
  • All team members are required to attend at least 6 out of 9 non-mandatory sessions.
  • All team members are required to watch the webinars and work with their team on the assignments before each session, regardless if they are attending the session or not.

How do the prizes work? 

Teams that meet all the requirements throughout the incubator program will be eligible to pitch in the Demo Week activities. A $15,000 grand prize winner and a $5000 finalist winner may be awarded in each track. These prizes grants that are intended to help winning teams continue to build their ventures. Teams will received continued mentorship support from the Zahn Innovation Center and unlock access to the grant funding pending ongoing development of their ventures.

What is the deadline to apply? 

The application will close on Sunday, November 9th at 11:59pm ET.

Questions: Email us at contact@zahncenternyc.com

Track Descriptions:

The Kaylie Hardware Prize was developed and sponsored by CCNY Alum Harvey Kaylie, Founder of Mini-Circuits. This category celebrates all things hardware. Qualified startups include physical products and devices that may or may not include a connected (smart) technological aspect.

The Standard Chartered Women + Tech Prize is sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank as part of the Women in Technology Incubator at the Zahn Center. The category celebrates the role of women in building innovative businesses leveraging technology and finding solutions to social inequities. Startups in this category must be led by women and have a team made up of at least 50% women.

The Zahn Social Impact Prize honors CCNY Alum Irwin Zahn. This category acts as a catalyst for the spread of social entrepreneurship on campus, and encourages students to develop a global perspective on impact. Startups in this category are challenged to build ventures with a sustainable revenue model, whose primary objective is social change or environmental stewardship. They may pursue either a nonprofit or for-profit model.

The Zahn Software Prize honors CCNY Alum Irwin Zahn. Startups in this category are challenged to develop ventures that use technology to solve problems otherwise untouched. Their products include transformative new apps, software, database tools, e-commerce sites, or technological devices.