The Blue Ocean High School Entrepreneurship Competition is the most prestigious pitch competition for high school students in the world. It is a virtual entrepreneurship competition that attracts the very best high school-aged entrepreneurs from dozens of countries. Every year, individuals or teams pitch their innovative business concepts to experienced entrepreneurs and business-people, receive feedback on their ideas, join a community of like-minded students, and compete for thousands in cash prizes. Simply finishing in the Top 100 makes you one of the 100 best student entrepreneurs in the world.
In 2020, the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Pitch Competition received submissions from more than 750 students comprising of 275 teams from 13 countries and over 120 high schools. After four tough rounds of judging, the competition announced its 2019-2020 winners:
- First Place: Botana by B Fiber, Janani Elumalai and Saloni Patel
- Second Place: EpiBracelet, Sahil Mantha
- Third Place: Fision Lens, Eva Tuecke, Krisha Patel, and Emily Shao
- Best Social Pitch: Groundify, Gurnoor Narula and Arshia Narula
See all of the Top 10 pitches on the Blue Ocean YouTube channel.
Ann Arbor-based Skyline High School was among five of the top participating high schools in the competition.
Ted Dacko, CEO of Arbor Dakota, serves as the executive director of the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Pitch Competition. He also teaches Blue Ocean concepts in two different courses at the University of Michigan Center for Entrepreneurship. Ted has been a fixture for years within the Ann Arbor SPARK Incubator Network, providing guidance and support to early stage companies.
