We are no longer accepting pre-accelerator applications for our 2024 Cohort.

Apply for our scholarship by November 24.

We are awarding ten student founders attending a Maryland university or community college. Each scholarship provides $250 of initial capital to students with bright ideas but need help to cover basic start-up expenses.

The application deadline is November 24. Finalists will be identified in January 2025.

Before applying, please read the following:

  • You must be a full-time student with at least a 3.2 GPA.
  • Your venture idea must be focused on STEM innovation.
  • You cannot apply with multiple ideas. Your final submission will be the only one considered.
  • Your pitch deck must be in PPTX or PDF format. Please refer to this guide when determining how to craft your submission. We do not expect financial projections.
  • A video pitch is required. You may include a demo of your product in the same video if you have something to share.

STEP ONE: VENTURE SUMMARY

Takes About 20 Minutes
Submit a written description of your idea that is no longer than 200 words that cover the following:

  • Identify a problem or opportunity that may directly impact you or members of a community that you identify with.
  • Identify potential stakeholders.
  • For your stakeholders, describe:
    • how often your stakeholders experience the problem
    • the impact on their quality of life
    • how severe the problem is when it happens
    • how your stakeholder is addressing the problem currently
  • Explain your idea to address the problem for your stakeholders.

STEP TWO: PROPOSAL PACKAGE

Takes About 4 Hours
We look for bright, well-rounded applicants with organic, solution-oriented instincts that will make them great students of entrepreneurship. Applicants are provided the opportunity to collect more data, describe what it will take to bring their ideas to market, and explain why they are the right person or team to do so.

Deliverable One: The proposal must not exceed 1,000 words and must include citations for all quantitative figures and major assumptions. The proposal must cover:

  • An expanded venture summary from Step One. Go into more detail about how technology is enabling your approach.
  • The resources (broadly defined) that exist at the student’s institution that are necessary to bring the idea to market. Identify costs associated with accessing those resources.
  • Identify who is on the team, what skills they have, what their roles are, and if there are any critical skills missing from the core team.
  • The size of the market of those that have at least four attributes (i.e., marital status, primary device, location, education level, occupation, etc.).
  • Estimate the cost and timeline to deliver a prototype to market, given your current schedule.
  • Explain what factors (economic, political, environmental, etc.) make now the best time to bring this concept to market.
  • Provide details as to how you will utilize the funding to collect feedback from your stakeholders regularly.

Deliverable Two: At least one or more individuals that will be future customers of the idea presented in the above proposal must write a letter arguing why your idea is valid and important to them. Each stakeholder must explain how your idea will improve their quality of life.

Deliverable Three: You can either write a compelling, one-page summary or record a two-minute video of yourself and what drives your entrepreneurial curiosity to realize the idea presented in your start-up proposal or submit a video. The key question to answer is why are you compelled to help your stakeholders achieve a better quality of life?

Deliverable Four: A copy of the latest official transcript from your post-high school institution.

Proposals are due January 15, 2024, by 11:59 p.m.

STEP THREE: SELECTION PROCESS

Upon submission, applications will be pre-screened for additional eligibility and criteria. Screened applications are sent to a committee that will select the finalists. Finalists may be required to conduct a video interview with our Executive Director as the last step. Based on the recommendation of the selection committee and the results of the interview, the best three to five applicants will be announced as the next IP Scholars.

Invitations for the 2024 cohort will be delivered in February 2024.