Startup Competition Young

Entrepreneurship is a pivotal factor in a country's economic and social growth. This is the reason why every year WMF organizes the Startup Competition Young, a competition aiming at promoting entrepreneurial culture among younger people and encouraging the development of innovative business ideas to tackle collective social and economical issues.

The 2026 call is closed. But you can already apply to participate in WMF2027. Fill out the form!

The finalists of the Startup Competition Young will have the opportunity to pitch their innovative idea at the Festival, in front of a jury composed of investors and industry partners.

Over 300 students participated in previous editions, submitting over 100 applications. The finalists will have the chance to pitch their ideas and win prizes from partners such as IBAN, Amazon Web Services, and The Hive.

To encourage young people to develop entrepreneurial ideas, the challenge will follow a similar structure to the Startup Competition, which WMF has organized since its first edition.

Three finalist ideas will be selected, and each team will have 3 minutes to present the key elements of their idea. The jury will then have 2 minutes to ask follow-up questions. At the end, the judges and the audience will vote to determine the winner. The call is aimed at young people under 22, high school students, and university students up to the third year.

Participants will be challenging each other with an elevator pitch in front of the WMF audience and a jury of field professionals and experts. The pitch must cover all key elements of the entrepreneurial project.

Find below the guidelines on how correctly structure and deliver your pitch.

> Download support material

Participants must submit an innovative business idea that tackles one or more critical social issues. Each team can choose from one of the following topics:

• Future of Cities & Communities

• Future of Health

• Future of Work

• Future of Culture & Travel

• Future of Food & Agriculture

• Future of Learning & Education

• Future of Retail & Customer Experience

• Future of Marketing

• Future of Media & Entertainment

• Future of Sports & Events

• Future of Finance & Insurance

• Future of Life On Planet Earth

• Future of Finance & Trust Infrastructure

• Future of Cities & Mobility

The finalists will be selected according to the following criteria:

• Originality of the idea

• Feasibility of the business idea

• Socio-economic impact and overall sustainability of the project

• Stage of product development

• Degree of innovation and defensibility

• Social relevance of the project