NESCAC Venture Network
The Summit · November 15, 2026
Inaugural · Boston
The first pitch competition for the whole NESCAC.
One student venture represents each of the eleven colleges. An investor panel awards the NESCAC Cup; the room picks a crowd favorite by live vote.
- When
- Sunday, November 15, 2026
- Where
- Boston, venue announced soon
- Applications
- Sept 6 – Oct 5
The eleven
Scroll the strip
What this is
Eleven campuses run their startup scenes in isolation. This puts them in one room.
The NESCAC Entrepreneurship Summit brings the conference’s top student ventures to Boston for an afternoon of pitches, breakout sessions with alumni founders and investors, and a startup showcase. One team pitches for each school, selected through an open application; the winner takes the NESCAC Cup.
It’s organized by a team of students from different NESCAC campuses, and built as much for the alumni in the room as for the students on stage.
The day
One afternoon, noon to evening.
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01
Noon
Doors & welcome
Guests arrive from across the conference; a light mixer before the program opens.
-
02
Early afternoon
Keynote & breakout sessions
A short opening keynote, then small-group sessions on investing, starting a company, and selling, led by alumni founders and investors.
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03
Afternoon
The Cup
Eleven pitches, one per school. Three minutes each plus Q&A, in front of the investor judging panel. Judges award the NESCAC Cup; the room votes a crowd favorite.
-
04
Evening
Entrepreneurship Fair
Student and alumni founders, VCs, startups, and more will table. See what is happening in NESCAC entrepreneurship, grow your network, and enjoy the provided dinner.
Attend
For students, alumni, and faculty of the eleven schools.
Watch every pitch in the conference in a single afternoon, join a breakout session with people who have built and funded companies, and meet the founders at their tables afterward.
If you’re an alum: this is the first room that gathers founders and investors from all eleven schools at once. A large share of the alumni we’ve talked to are coming for exactly that.
Same-day travel works from every campus: doors open at noon and the program ends by early evening.
Apply to pitch
One team will represent your school. It should be yours.
The application is open to current students at any of the eleven NESCAC colleges, at any stage, from a working company to a serious idea. Selected teams get alumni-led virtual training sessions before the Summit, then three minutes and a Q&A in front of an investor panel.
-
01
Sept 6
Applications open
One short application, any stage. Your campus entrepreneurship center will have the link.
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02
Oct 5
Applications close
A hard deadline. Decisions follow within days so training can start on time.
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03
Mid-October
Teams selected
One team per school is notified; runner-ups are invited to table at the Entrepreneurship Fair.
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04
Oct – Nov
Pitch training
Virtual working sessions led by alumni founders, so every team arrives stage-ready.
-
05
Nov 15
The Summit
Eleven teams, one stage, Boston.
Apply to table
Show your venture at the Entrepreneurship Fair.
The evening Fair is the showcase floor of the Summit: tables for student ventures, alumni-founded startups, and funds from across the conference, with the whole room circulating over dinner.
Runner-up teams from each school’s selection get a table automatically. Everyone else applies here: student and alumni founders, startups hiring NESCAC talent, and VCs.
Get involved
For the people who fund, judge, and teach.
NESCAC schools produce an outsized share of founders, and there has never been a single room where the conference’s best student ventures show up at once. The Summit is a first look at that pipeline, pre-vetted by open application and campus selection.
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01
Judge the Cup
Sit on the investor panel that hears all eleven pitches and awards the first NESCAC Cup.
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02
Sponsor the first edition
Fund the venue, student travel, and the Cup itself, and put your name in front of eleven campuses of student founders.
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03
Lead a breakout session
Run a small-group working session on the thing you actually know: investing, zero-to-one, or selling.