Entrepreneurs fine-tune pitches for upcoming competition

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

September 21, 2026

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY – On Oct. 19, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs-in-the-making from across Wisconsin will converge in Sheboygan County to compete in the Startup World Cup regional competition.

This is the second consecutive year the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC) is hosting the event, modeled after the TV show, “Shark Tank.”  

Ray York, business counselor with the SCEDC, said the Startup World Cup – the only one of its kind in the state – is a global pitch competition where people pitch their business idea to a team of judges.

Whether it’s a part of an existing business or an idea for a brand-new one, he said the only requirement for entry is they “have an idea.”

“That’s the main core of it – and that they’re working on pursuing it in one way or the other,” he said. “The expectation is they would have a business entity already set up, but they don’t necessarily have to be in business.”

York said valid examples include:

• Applicants having invested some of their own money into their ideas
• Searching elsewhere for investment funding
• Using their own money or other investment funds to establish a legal business entity
• Advertising their products, if they’re at that stage

Also, as part of their entry, York said applicants need to have prepared a pitch deck that essentially lays out their concept. 

He said the presentation should outline things such as market potential, costs, how big the market is, what potential sales could be, what the start-up costs are, etc. 

“Many competitors put things in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, but there are other platforms that can be used,” he said. “On the night of the regional competition, each applicant gets four minutes to pitch their idea to the audience and professional judges. That is followed by two minutes of Q&A with the judges.”

York said the official judging will be done by a panel of five business owners and entrepreneurs, who sometimes also serve as mentors or coaches. 

During the regional competition, he said attendees also judge the applicants in an audience-choice vote of the competition. 

Last year, York said about 170 people attended the regional competition, while this year, the SCEDC expects 200-250. 

“Every audience member will get a paper ballot they will fill out after the competition indicating who their favorite pitch person was, their favorite business idea, etc.,” he said. “Ballots will go into a box, and at the end of the evening, the ballots will be counted.”

York said the person or idea that receives the most votes from the audience will get a $1,000 prize. 

Further, he said the idea selected by the professional judges will receive $2,000, and then move on to compete in the finals in San Francisco.

The regional competition, York said, will be held from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 at the Weill Center in Sheboygan. 

“The grand finale will be held on Nov. 4-6 at Hilton Union Square in San Francisco,” he said. 

Since Startup World Cup’s inception in 2017, York said the competition has hosted more than 100 regional events in more than 60 countries, attracting thousands of start-up applications and participants.

Competition unveils many consumer product ideas

Last year, York said there were multiple consumer goods products pitched, but the ideas ran the gamut. 

He said ideas ranged from a new beverage company, to someone selling a refrigerator-type unit ideal for tailgating. 

“The winner of the regional competition had a sports drink-type fountain,” York said. “It was technically enabled with an app, where you could order a specific kind of sports drink with the ability to add protein powders and all other kinds of vitamins, potentially, into your drink. Then, it was dispensed from this machine that was part of the idea. It was really quite cool.” 

Sum Hydration, per sumhydration.com, was founded by Tyler Hurd, an engineer by trade, as a way of addressing dehydration among fitness enthusiasts and athletes, while reducing single-use plastics at the same time.

“The audience choice winner was a company called Go With Rosie,” York said. “It is a travel platform where people can book travel, but it was based on family travel rather than individual or business travel. It was meant for families looking for family-related activities, and then booking travel according to the suggestions based on that travel platform (gowithrosie.com). That platform is live online now and going pretty well.”   

Many benefits to be gained

York said applicants who participated in last year’s event found value in the competition, even if they didn’t win. 

“They were able to do peer networking, and they stayed in contact after the event,” he said. “They can bounce ideas and questions off each other about certain aspects of their own business. They can get a lot of information off of each other to essentially help grow their business.”  

York said many of the folks who come to this event are simply looking for an evening of entertainment. 

“Many people in the audience are business owners themselves,” he said. “There are also investors or people who want to mentor or coach others.”

York said Sheboygan County’s Innovation Council is also very beneficial to new entrepreneurs.

The innovation council, he said, is a group of volunteers who are entrepreneurs, people who have launched successful businesses in the past or who still have successful businesses. 

“They love this type of event, because they get introduced to all these people who have ideas and/or businesses they’re working on,” he said. “They just want to help them get their ideas further along. That’s really what we expect will happen at these events – where a business person steps up to someone else who has a good business idea and offers to help them push that idea forward.”  

York said in a nutshell, there are several advantages to participating in the regional competition:

• Showcase a product or service to a new audience
• Connect with investors, customers, mentors and business leaders
• Build valuable exposure and credibility
• Compete for prize money and recognition

“Beyond that, all applicants and other entrepreneurs have access to Sheboygan County’s local support network,” he said. “[Our] website, accelsc.com, provides free one-on-one business consultancy services.” 

York said the SCEDC also offers other opportunities throughout the year for start-up companies or companies needing some assistance. 

“We offer technical assistance grants where we give out five $1,000 grants every year,” he said. “We have a product development loan program they can look at. We also have our ‘Experts in Residence’ program if they need more technical help.” 

Throughout the year, York said they offer other pitch competitions that are not as well known as the Startup World Cup. 

“There are three other pitch competitions throughout the year people can participate in,” he said. “We have a variety of things we offer as assistance – for free – to those applicants as well.”

Visit the SCEDC’s aforementioned website for more information on the competition and to apply.