Venture Incubator and Competition

Click to view 2027 Startup Venture Incubator and Competition

VENTURE INCUBATOR COMPETITION

In one semester, our incubator guides you from “just an idea” to a validated business or nonprofit ready to launch with our weekly business building workshops, one-on-one coaching and a supportive community. ALL MAJORS and ALL YEARS IN SCHOOL are welcome to learn to build and test your venture ideas with us while acquiring transferable skills and having fun. If you need some inspiration, check out the winners from our 2026 cohort.

Apply as a solo founder or bring a team of up to 5, as long as one of you is a current CUNY student (including December graduates), for the chance to join our incubator, showcase your MVP and pitch for up to $15,000 in prizes.

Learn more about what the competition is all about below.

Applications for the 2027 cohort are now open.

Apply here!

The application will close on Sunday, November 8th at 11:59pm ET.

Want to learn more? Attend one of our info sessions where we'll feature a recent prize winner, share more about the program and answer your questions about the application.

Overview

The Zahn Innovation Center is a startup incubator at The City College of New York that offers programming to encourage entrepreneurial thinking & growth

Our Spring Venture Incubator and Competition program offers an accelerated, guided and collaborative environment to build and test early stage ventures through:

  • Webinars
  • In-person workshops
  • Business building with milestone check-ins
  • Mentorship from experts across different industries
  • Pitch practices

In May, eligible teams will compete for up to $15k in prizes!

Eligibility

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 2026) 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 that we don't support:

  • Purely brick and mortar businesses (store fronts, restaurants/cafes/food trucks, boutiques)
  • Multi-Level marketing businesses

To enter the Venture Incubator and Competition

You’ll need to apply via the application, which will be linked here on September 28, 2026.

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

Your venture can definitely involve AI in multiple ways! But for this application, please do not submit AI-generated responses; real humans are reading these applications, and we want to hear from the real you.

To get inspiration and support

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

Attend our Fall Startup Minicamp sessions, with topics that will help you learn about entrepreneurship and give you a head start on how to answer the application questions. More information about the Fall startup minicamp is available.

Attend one of our info sessions where we'll feature a recent prize winner, share more about the program and answer your questions about the application.

You are also welcome to contact Zahn staff members to talk about your ideas and get feedback before your finish your application. Email us at contact@zahncenternyc.com

Timeline

FALL 2026

  • Application due November 8, 2026
  • Then:
    • Semi-finalist interview
    • Decision announcement
    • Accept offer
  • Kickoff December 10, 2026

SPRING 2027

  • Weekly workshops on Thursdays from 12:15pm - 1:45pm in-person at CCNY
  • Mentor meetings
  • Monthly check-ins
  • Demo week activities

SUMMER 2027

  • OKR strategic review
  • Business building
  • Accounting + legal workshops
  • Ongoing mentoring
  • Prize release

Incubator and competition expectations

The competition is an incubator program, so by participating, you’ll gain experience and mentorship. During the Spring 2027 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.

Incubator attendance requirements

Sessions will take place during the Spring 2027 semester on Thursdays from 12:15pm - 1:45pm, in-person 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.

About the prizes

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 prize grants that are intended to help winning teams continue to build their ventures, and you retain full ownership of your work. Teams will received continued mentorship support from the Zahn Innovation Center and unlock access to the grant funding pending ongoing development of their ventures.

Competition 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. This category celebrates the role of women in building innovative businesses leveraging technology Startups in this category are led by women and have a team made up of at least 50% women.

The Zahn Social Impact Prize is sponsored by CCNY Alum Irwin Zahn. Startups in this category are building ventures  that drive social change while also seeking a sustainable revenue model. They may pursue either a nonprofit or a for-profit model.

The Zahn Software Prize is sponsored by CCNY Alum Irwin Zahn. Startups in this category are building  technology-based ventures to solve important problems. Their products include transformative apps, software, websites, or platforms.

Last Updated: 09/28/2026 13:03