Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge – US

Presented by the Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Queens Economic Development Corporation, the multi-week program offers high-level entrepreneurial classes, one-on-one office hours with QEDC mentors & advisors, networking events with startup founders, and cash prizes (five up-to $20K awards).

Competition Categories

• Consumer Tech – Business to Consumer
  • A startup that builds technology products or services designed for everyday use by consumers.
• Enterprise Tech – Business to Business
  • Technology products or services used by businesses or organizations.
• Sustainability
  • A startup that uses innovative solutions to help build a healthy planet or creates a product/service that makes a positive impact on the environment. This can be a tech-based or non-tech based business.
• Community
  • A non-tech focused startup business that delivers a need or responds to a demand of the community through providing a service or a product in fields such as lifestyle/wellness, fashion, and e-commerce.
• Food-Based
  • A startup business with its main activity being the creation and/or sale of a food or beverage product as a wholesaler, manufacturer, or retail business. Any retail storefront including restaurant, coffee shop, specialty food store must be located in Queens.

What does the program offer?

• Prizes
  • There will be one winner in each category, with five winners in total. Each winner will be awarded up to $20,000 to start or grow their business with no strings attached.
• Online Workshops
  • They will be offering different online workshops from October, 2023 to January, 2024, covering a wide range of startup topics from product development, financial management to fundraising, legal issues and many more. The curriculum is not cohort-based. Participants can join any LIVE workshops that’s of interest to them or watch recordings.
• Networking Events
  • They’re hosting in-person networking events once a month from October, 2023 to February, 2024. It will be a great opportunity for you to meet with other local entrepreneurs and learn about the resources in the Queens startup community.
• One-On-One Office Hours
  • Participants in the program can schedule one-on-one meetings with the program director to discuss their needs and progress. The program director will be able to share more resources or match them with different advisors for further assistance.

Eligibility Requirements

• Contestants must be Queens-based entrepreneurs who meet ONE of the following criteria:
  • You or one of your co-founders lives in Queens,
  • Your business is located in Queens OR employs 50%+ of its workforce from Queens (If you’re a winner, you must continue to operate in Queens OR employ 50%+ of your workforce from Queens for one year),
  • Your business is contributing to Queen’s economy significantly in some other way
  • You are a student(s) or a recent graduate (2021, 2022, 2023) of one of the following institutions:
    • York College
    • Queens College
    • Queensborough Community College
    • LaGuardia Community College
    • Vaughn College of Aviation
    • Plaza Business Institute
    • Cornell Tech
  • You are a client in good standing of the Entrepreneur Space Incubator
  • You are a graduate of QEDC’s 2023 EAC Cohort
• Contestants must be 18 years of age or older and U.S. citizen or legal residents of the United States
• Contestant business must be legally registered, located, and operating within the US
• Contestants must be tax-compliant and operating with up-to-date licenses and permits
• Contestants must EITHER demonstrate sales (no more than 250K in revenue over the last 12 months) OR have tested the startup idea and are able to provide proofs of user testing or customer feedback
• Real estate businesses, franchises, affiliate marketing, multi-level marketing, and not-for-profit businesses are not eligible to participate in this Challenge.
• People who have won a previous Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge are not eligible to enter again.

For more information, visit Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC).