Incubate your startup with Transcend UW!
Transcend is UW–Madison’s premier student-led entrepreneurship & startup organization, and they are calling for participants and sponsors for their 11th-annual Pitch Competition on April 16th and 17th, 2026.
Read more details on eligibility here and apply at this link by February 16th to secure your spot.
Transcend is the perfect place to grow your skills and work on exciting projects that can make a difference in the real world. The org helps undergraduate and graduate students develop their startup ideas by providing mentorship, funding opportunities, and access to a community of like-minded individuals. They encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration, so members can find the perfect team to bring their vision to life.
For their 2026 Pitch Competition, Transcend is looking for talented individuals or teams of up to five who have an idea they are ready to fund. Competitors have access to up to $50k in prize money from a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem across Wisconsin. They are particularly interested in startups that have a social or environmental mission, but they encourage all applicants to think about the positive broader impact their ventures can have.
The competition structure allows participants to build and adjust their pitches over weeks of events, including mandatory attendance to an Intellectual Property Seminar and Project Review Session and optional but recommended attendance to a training on Business Models (which we reviewed in our last TEO newsletter!). The competition itself is hosted over two days in which all teams participate in a poster session and pitch placement round, and then placed based on performance for the second day’s general, advanced, or top five tracks.
Transcend is also looking for sponsors for 2026. Sponsoring this event is a unique opportunity for existing organizations to support early-stage entrepreneurs while also advertising their organization and networking amongst some of the best up-and-coming, collaborative innovators across the university. Click this link to invest in the next generation of founders (via Innovation Days Fund – 112340033), or reach out to Transcend leadership at transcenduw@gmail.com with questions.
We hope to see you there!