Applications Open for 2025 Impact Prize Pitch Competition
by Sawyer Tardie ’27 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management)
Applications are open for the 2025 Blackstone LaunchPad Impact Prize Competition. Open to all Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF students, the competition recognizes student ventures that are creating meaningful change in their communities and beyond.
Participants will present their ventures on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, from 12:30–3:30 p.m. in the LaunchPad in Bird Library in a 4-minute pitch followed by a Q&A session with the judges. A total of $15,000 in cash prizes will be awarded.
The competition is open to all student businesses, with an emphasis on those with a social impact component or mission. Examples of industries can include energy, environment, employment, education and training, health and mental health, community and social networks, social inclusion, poverty and literacy, youth empowerment, food and sustainability.
Online applications are open until November 16, 2025, at 11:59 pm.
Last year’s Impact Prize winners were:
1st Place: Paulin Capital – Elizabeth Paulin ’24 (College of Arts and Sciences) – $6,000
2nd Place: Voice – Jordan Pierre ’23, G’24 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications) – $4,500
3rd Place: Diabetech – Olutosin Alabi G’25 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management) – $3,000
Runner-Ups: ReVamped (Ava Lubkemann ’27), Beta Kola (Alie Savane ’25), and Clarity (Dylan Bardsley ’26 and Mark Leaf ’27) – $500 each
These ventures represented a range of student innovators using entrepreneurship to solve social, environmental, and economic challenges.