BALTIMORE — Applications are now being accepted for the 2017 Cupid’s Cup Entrepreneurship Competition, presented by Under Armour Founder and CEO Kevin Plank. As the signature program of the Plank Foundation for Entrepreneurship (PFE) with over ten successful years of tremendous growth, 2017 will bring another evolution as the competition moves to Chicago, with Northwestern University hosting the event next spring. The University’s reputation of being a top-tier incubator for entrepreneurs offers the perfect opportunity to expand Cupid’s Cup and to continue to grow the competition. The expansion to Northwestern University marks the start of a rotation of host venues, as Cupid’s Cup continues to move across the nation.
As a thought leader and advocate of entrepreneurship, Plank continues to the entrepreneurial spirit with his own success story. The name of the event is a nod to one of Plank’s first businesses— Cupid’s Valentine Rose Delivery— an enterprise that he started as a student at the University of Maryland to sell roses on campus. Those profits eventually became the seed money that launched Under Armour.
Cupid’s Cup aims to reach the top entrepreneurial minds in the country, and more importantly, to inspire and foster the community of college students and recent graduates who have already followed Plank’s lead and are running their own companies.
The Cupid’s Cup participants will be competing for over $100,000 in total cash prizes, access to Kevin Plank’s professional network and the prestigious Cupid’s Cup title.
The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled at accredited colleges and universities, or recent alumni of those institutions who are 30 years old or younger. Applicants must be running a legal business entity that has demonstrated proof of traction. There is no fee to apply.
The application deadline is January 1, 2017. Validation Day (semi-finals) will be held on February 8, 2017 at Under Armour’s global headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland with the final competition scheduled for March 30, 2017 at Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.
To apply and learn more about Cupid’s Cup, visit: www.cupidscup.com.