1. Who can apply?

Only Startups (subject to eligibility requirements) with business ideas or business models featuring products and/or services targeting the Indian market can apply.

2. Are there restrictions on the industry?

Applications are open to any early-stage entrepreneur, in any industry, from anywhere in the world with business ideas focused on a product and/or service targeting the Indian market. We accept early-stage startups. 

3. How developed does the startup have to be?

We expect startups to be in pre-seed, seed or early growth stages. Established companies should not apply. As we define it, this means that your startup should apply only if:

• You are in product development stage | OR
• You have rolled out a beta product | OR
• You have sought and collected data on customer validation (beyond conducting surveys) | AND
• You don’t exceed $1M in equity-based investment or $1M in annual revenue

For clarifications, please email us at :
wief-startups@wharton.upenn.edu

4. What is the selection process?

Startup Challenge entries will be pre-screened by a panel of experts including top entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and investors. A detailed view of the process & deadlines is given here.

5. What should I know about submitting?

• Please submit the application here.
• All teams will have to submit a pitch deck along with the online application form. Please format your presentation as per the guidelines provided in the template here. You can also use your own template design, as long as it is 4:3 slide layout. File format for submission should be powerpoint or PDF
• Ensure you address all the points mentioned in the guidelines so that your application is evaluated on all the merits. Please name the file as "company name_pitch deck".
• All teams will have to submit resumes of all the founders. All the resumes should be in one pdf file and should not exceed one page per resume. Please name the file as "company name_resumes".
• Teams have an option to provide a link to elevator pitch video. Please note that this is completely optional, you should submit it if you feel you can explain the product better with the help of an elevator pitch. The pitch should be no longer than 1-2 minutes.

6. Any other rules I need to keep in mind?

• Business plans must be targeting the Indian market or developing an India focused product and/or service. Any idea or business plan outside this scope will not be considered.
• Only complete applications will be considered. This includes submission of pitch deck adhering to the guidelines and submission of resumes of all the founders.
• We will not consider any submissions that exceed the number of slides stated in the guidelines.
• We will not consider submissions having just a business idea. This means the core team should already be working on the idea to bring the product/service to the market in future or have already launched the product/service.
• Judges’ decisions shall be final.
• We will not consider submissions having just a business idea. This means the core team should already be working on the idea to bring the product/service to the market in future or have already launched the product/service.