The participants will present their findings to the Capital Cup Qualifying Committee in a video that is a maximum of four minutes (no more than 240 seconds) in length and posted to YouTube.
All videos must include the following components:
Product/service Idea/Benefit Overview
- Description of new product/service idea.
- Justification why this is good opportunity for success. Show reasoning by citing research resources within the video that prove need, demand, any void in the marketplace and related current market and cultural trends.
- Visual representation of the product/service prototype.
- Explanation of product/service strategy by describing and differentiating the product features and benefits that create competitive advantage.
Target Customer/Market Segment
Primary Target Customer
- Demographics: age, gender, race, income range, education and/or occupation.
- Psychographics: personality traits such as values, interests and information such as leisure activities and hobbies.
- Picture or collage of target customer.
- Motivation of target customer.
- Frequency of product/service use.
Market Segment
- Potential size of the market segment. Will it be sufficient to be profitable?
- Competitive market for products/services that directly compete with your idea as well as other product/service categories that you may be competing against.
Marketing Plan: Pricing, Distribution, and Promotion
- Pricing: Explain your price for this new product/service and the strategy behind this decision, keeping the brand image (luxury, mainstream, basic) and your target customer in mind.
- Distribution: Explain how and where you will sell and distribute your product, consistent again with the customer perception of the product/service, product/service image and price strategy.
- Promotion: Create a compelling message strategy and basic brand identity for your product/service launch and describe the specific media tools you will use to get the word out. Your plan should cover communication choices that would appeal to your target market and help drive awareness and purchase.
- Create an advertisement or a piece of relevant promotional collateral such as a Facebook page, website, customer newsletter, direct mail postcard, etc. with relevant copy and graphics. Then complete a simple media plan for your product/service launch.
Video Presentation
- Present as if speaking to potential investors. Sell the benefits of the product/service.
- Focus on key points to stay within four-minute guidelines.
- Be visually creative when presenting ideas.
- Overall creative, including art direction, style, tone and sound should reflect the product/service category and be relevant to your target customer’s lifestyle. Animation, sound track and/or any special effects may be used to enhance your overall video presentation.
- Consistent volume with audible voices.
For details on the evaluation, please see the Presentation Evaluation Form.
For research suggestions, you may wish to consult the following:
- Product/Idea Benefit: PSFK Creative Intelligence, JWT Intelligence, Nielsen Newswire, etc.
- Target Customer/Market Segment: Nielsen Prizm, Hoovers, Competitor Websites
- Pricing, Distribution and Promotion: Adweek, Ad Age, Brandchannel.com
The Capital Cup Entrepreneurship Competition is open to all high school students from any country.
Before July 15, the Capital Cup Committee will evaluate submissions and release the qualifier results. The Committee and Chair will select five finalists to compete face-to-face before the expert judges on Aug. 13 in Washington, DC.
The finalist will be given eight (8) minutes with expert judges to present their idea or concept and five (5) minutes for Q&A with the judges in front of a live audience.
Teams will be able to use PowerPoint, visual aids, props, or other items during their pitch; while visual material may be used, the presentation must stand on its own without a written business plan.
The presenters cannot use any handouts.
Confidentiality is not guaranteed in any way. If a team wishes to keep elements of their concept or idea confidential, the team should not include that information in their video. There is no way for UDC, its affiliates, event sponsors, or organizers to enforce a prohibition of other competitors, audience members, or judges who see or hear a presentation from sharing the concept, idea, and/or materials with others.
By participating in the Capital Cup Business Competition, competitors agree that UDC Business School and all related parties assume no liability and shall have no liability or obligation whatsoever for disclosures of information provided by a competitor as part of a submission or otherwise during the course of the competition.
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) between a competitor and the judges and/or audience members will not be required or allowed.
The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) invites high school innovators from around the world to participate in the 2026 UDC Capital Cup, a global entrepreneurship competition based in Washington, D.C.
