Arizona Innovation Challenge
The Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC), one of the largest business plan competitions in the country, is designed to advance innovation and technology commercialization opportunities in Arizona by assisting early-stage ventures to scale. All applicants receive feedback on their business plan from experienced entrepreneurial judges. AIC semifinalists and finalists who do not become AIC awardees gain access to Venture Raise, a 12-week hybrid accelerator that will prepare startups for funding.
AIC awardees receive a minimum $50,000 of non-dilutive funding and three months of customized support with an ACA Entrepreneur-in-Residence.
The application window for the Fall 2025 Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC) is now open! All Software as a Service (SaaS) startups are welcome to apply and judging will take place in three rounds by prominent Arizona-based venture capitalists (VCs) such as the Arizona Venture Development Corporation, AZ-VC, Plug and Play and PHX Ventures, as well as PHX FWD.
The ACA hosted a virtual Application Workshop for applicants interested in learning more about the competition and its three stages, the application process and the judge's evaluation criteria.
- Applications Open: July 29, 2025
- Application Workshop Webinar: July 30, 2025
- Applications Close: August 11, 2025
- Semifinalists Announced: August 14, 2025
- Semifinalist Pitch Day: August 18, 2025
- Finalists Announced: August 21, 2025
- Finalists Interviewed: August 22, 2025
- Awardees Announced: August 27, 2025
All ventures must submit a complete application to participate in the First Round of judging. Submissions will be screened for eligibility by experts from the Arizona business community. The Arizona Commerce Authority maintains complete discretion in making final decisions regarding a company’s eligibility or ability to continue in AIC.
Once all applications have been reviewed, applicants will be able to review their scores and feedback. Applications that did not meet eligibility criteria or may not have been deemed competitive enough to successfully continue will be notified.
Note: The ACA aims to respect the time and effort that companies commit to participating in the Arizona Innovation Challenge. In turn, we expect that applicants respect the time and resources required to host the AIC. Upon applying, applicants should intend to complete all phases of the AIC. However, should a company choose not to participate in a subsequent round of the AIC or Venture Scale, a company representative should immediately inform the ACA Innovation Team, providing judges ample time to consider a replacement company.
Judges will select approximately 20 startups to continue to the Semifinals. Startups selected as semifinalists will have the opportunity to update their application materials based on the feedback received from judges or due to any material changes to the business since their initial submission.
Additionally, the ACA will ask Semifinalists to submit additional application materials, including an investor pitch deck. The ACA will communicate the specificities of the semifinalist selection process directly to qualifying startups. Semifinalists will pitch judges and 10 startups will be selected to advance to the final round of AIC.
In the final round of AIC, startups will be interview by a panel of judges. The interactive question and answer session will evaluate company and founder potential. After every finalist completes their interview, the judges will confer to select up to 10 companies to recommend as awardees. Following this recognition, AIC awardees will contract with the Arizona Commerce Authority and match with an ACA Entrepreneurs-in-Residence to provide customized support over a three-month period. Once the AIC awardee completes the required milestones over the three-month period, the awardee will receive a minimum $50,000 of non-dilutive funding.