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 gain access to Venture Raise, a 12-week hybrid accelerator that will prepare startups for funding. AIC awardees receive $100,000 and begin Venture Scale, a six-month accelerator of customized support and one-on-one matching with ACA Entrepreneurs-in-Residence.
All ventures must submit a complete application to participate in the First Round of judging. Submissions will be screened for eligibility and then judged 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. Judges will assess the applications over a month-long period.
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 25 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 application process directly to qualifying startups. Semifinalists will have one to two weeks to submit the requested materials. Judges will evaluate semifinalists’ submissions over a three-week period and select 15 startups to advance to the final round of AIC.
In the final round of AIC, startups will pitch to a panel of judges from the business, entrepreneurship and venture capital community. Each company’s pitch presentations will be followed by an interactive question and answer session to evaluate company and founder potential. After every finalist completes their pitch, 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 matriculate into the Venture Scale program.