AWS University 

Startup Competition 2022

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[Friday, December 22] We are pleased to announce the 13 finalists that have been selected to pitch in front of a panel of judges comprised of AWS Startups members and investors on Thursday, January 19th at 2pm PT. These 13 companies will have the opportunity to win cash prizes and qualify for AWS credits as well (full prize category breakdown below.) Come hear their pitches and cheer them on by signing up here:

Without further ado, the finalists are:

NeuroTechR3 Inc. - neurotechR3.com

Enlighten – n/a

S-3 Research LLC - s-3.io 

Quasi Ventures Inc. - quasi.market

CryptoClear - cryptoclear.ai

Sotira - sotira.co

Boston Quantum - bostonquantum.io

Hubly Surgical - hublysurgical.com  

Tidal Medical Technology - tidalmed.tech

My Gun's Been Moved - MyGunsBeenMoved.com 

Simply Sámone LLC - simply-samone.com 

Interplay - gointerplay.com

Ceres Plant Protein Cereal - enjoyceres.com 


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It’s no secret that some of the most successful startups were founded by entrepreneurs who were in college. At Amazon Web Services, we believe this is because students are often creative thinkers who are willing to take risks and collaborate with their peers—all essential qualities in a founder. With this in mind, we launched the University Startup Competition in order to find and support student entrepreneurs as they build and launch their ventures. After last year’s success, we are thrilled to announce that the third AWS University Startup Competition is now accepting applications. The top 10 finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their startups to a panel of investors and AWS Startup Team members. All prize categories below. Past winners have used these resources to build software, connect with mentors, and grow their companies exponentially. Apply today to set your startup on its path to success!

Frequently Asked Questions below. AWS University Startup Competition is limited to U.S. based participants only.

Prizes: 

Every finalist - qualify for $5k in AWS credits*

Every applicant - qualify for $1k in AWS credits*


1st place - $20K cash + qualify for up to $100K in AWS credits*

2nd place - $10K cash + qualify for up to $100K in AWS credits* 

3rd place - $5K cash + qualify for up to $100K in AWS credits* 

 

Top Physical Consumer Products company - $10k cash + up to $10K in Marketing Support from Amazon Launchpad 

Top AI/ML company - qualify for $10k in AWS credits* 

Top HCLS company - qualify for $10k in AWS credits* 

Top Web3 company - qualify for $10k in AWS credits* 

Top Fintech company - qualify for $10k in AWS credits*


*Pending AWS Activate Eligibility requirements here.


Important Dates: 

November 7,  2022  November 15, 2022 11:59pm PT - Application page closes 

December 9, 2022 – 2nd round notifications sent

December 19, 2022 – finalists selected

January 2023 - Virtual final pitch event and winners selected

How to Apply

1. Submit the application form below by clicking “Apply Now”

2. Sign up for AWS Activate using the OrgID found in your confirmation email (within 5 business days) to claim your $1,000.00 in AWS Credits*

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are the high level eligibility requirements?
A: Applicant must be a legal resident of the U.S.. Applicant must be the age of majority in the state/locality/country where the contestant resides. Applicant must be a founding member of a startup. At least one founder must be affiliated with an institution of higher learning located in the U.S. (i.e. student, faculty, staff at a university). A full list of requirements can be found in the 
Terms & Conditions.

Q: What is Amazon Web Services?
A: AWS is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups—are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster.”

Q: What is the Amazon Launchpad Program?

A: 









Amazon Launchpad’s mission is to support entrepreneurs by providing resources, expertise, and global support to help showcase and deliver unique products like yours to millions of Amazon customers. Think of Amazon Launchpad as a supplemental program designed to jumpstart and accelerate your Amazon business.

Our program is designed with startups in mind and provides resources to help drive brand awareness, including premium presentation, discoverability, member discounts, and tools and support.

Explore Amazon Launchpad case studies here to see how Amazon Launchpad can accelerate your consumer products business.

Amazon Launchpad is pleased to offer a 1 hour webinar to all consumer product entrants on driving e-commerce success. You’ll learn about entrepreneurship and strategy directly from one of our successful Launchers, and have the opportunity to meet with our Sales team to discover if your startup could be a good fit for the accelerator program.

Amazon Launchpad program information here.
Amazon Launchpad case studies here.

Q:Who are the previous winners?
A: 2020: Big & Mini: virtual volunteering, Stratodyne: balloons for aerial imaging applications, SKOOP: content management system (CMS) software designed for digital signs and digital billboards, SwiftSku: analytics application designed to close the data gap between brands, retailers, and consumers. 2021: Personix: insights from customer conversations, Brilliant Biome: microbione influence on health, Myntor: online courses.

Q: Are there any associated events to this competition?
A: Amazon Launchpad webinar, AWS Activate webinar, Final 20 PitchPages onboarding call, Final pitch event (virtual).

Q: How many founders can pitch for the finals?
A: Maximum 2 founders can pitch.

Q: Can graduate students and faculty submit an application to the University Startup Competition?
A: Yes. See full Terms & Conditions here.  

Q: Who are the judges? Who owns the information submitted?
A: See Terms & Conditions here.


*Eligibility will be assessed upon registration. Learn more about AWS Activate: https://aws.amazon.com/activate/portfolio/

See FAQ below for any questions

Please direct any questions to aws-us-university-startup-competition@amazon.com

Apply now!

Applications now CLOSED