Competitions, leadership programs, and finance internships for future founders and analysts.
Programs in this collection (9)
Diamond Challenge: Univ. of Delaware. Competition, Worldwide. A year-long entrepreneurship competition for high school students run by Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware. Teams of 2 to 4 students aged 14 to 18, with an adult advisor aged 21 or older, develop a business or social innovation concept and pitch it at a regional event or by pitch deck and recorded video. The prize pool is about $100,000, with first place in each track listed at $12,000, and finalists can be invited to a multi-day summit.
Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition: Blue Ocean Competition. Competition, Worldwide. A free, fully virtual pitch competition where high school students worldwide develop a business idea using blue ocean strategy tools and present it in a three-to-five-minute video. Students can enter solo or in teams. Pitches are judged on creativity and value innovation, impact potential, technical feasibility, commercial viability and presentation by a panel of entrepreneurs, business people and professors. A free mini-course and pitch template help students prepare.
Wharton Global Youth Program: Univ. of Pennsylvania. Summer Program, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Summer pre-college programs on Wharton's Philadelphia campus for students currently in grades 9 to 11, with courses such as Essentials of Entrepreneurship, Essentials of Finance, Leadership in the Business World and Data Science Academy. Some programs require a 3.5 unweighted GPA.
Wharton Investment Competition: Wharton. Competition, Worldwide. Wharton Global Youth's team investment competition for high school students: teams manage a virtual portfolio, write an investment strategy and compete for a spot at the global finale. A teacher advisor registers the team, and the team leader must be at least 16. The 2026-27 competition runs September 28 to December 4, 2026; registration closed September 11.
LeanGap: LeanGap. Summer Program, San Francisco, California, USA. Four-week, full-time summer program where high school students pitch ideas, form teams and build a startup, ending in a Demo Day before Silicon Valley investors. It runs online (June 14 - July 9, 2027) or on campus at UC Berkeley (July 11 - August 7, 2027). Tuition is $6,450 online, with need-based aid of 10-80%.
NFTE Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase: NFTE. Competition, USA. NFTE's youth pitch competition, now called the Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase, is for students ages 13 to 22 in NFTE programs. Students advance from local to regional and national rounds to pitch their ventures to judges, and all take part in workshops and coaching.
FBLA: Future Business Leaders of America. Competition, USA. High school students join a local FBLA chapter and compete in business and leadership events, including tests, presentations, and team projects, with top competitors advancing to the National Leadership Conference. Membership requires national and state dues.
LaunchX Entrepreneurship Program (Ann Arbor): LaunchX. Summer Program, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. High school students ages 14 to 18 work in teams to build and launch a startup, in online programs lasting two to eight weeks or in-person programs of two or four weeks on a university campus. Students apply directly; tuition is charged and financial awards are available.
Modeling the Future Challenge: The Actuarial Foundation. Competition, USA. Teams of one to five high school students with an adult coach answer a qualifying scenario and then build an actuarial data modeling project. Students must be 13 to 19 and attend grades 9-12 in the U.S. or its territories, and top teams win college scholarships of up to $25,000.