e-Fest: dates, who attends, and how founders get in
A three-day, action-packed celebration of undergraduate entrepreneurship featuring workshops, networking, and four competitions awarding $250,000 in cash prizes.
The essentials from the organiser's own pages: when, where, how big, and how founders get in. Speakers, investor lists and past editions are on the official site.
- Next edition
- Apr 22–24, 2027 · e-Fest 2027 source
- Where
- Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, Minneapolis, United States
- Format
- in-person
- Startup pass
- Student teams apply through an online submission round (slide deck and pitch video; Nov 11 – Jan 31 for the 2027 edition); judges select the Top 25 finalist teams to attend in Minneapolis. Travel stipends of up to $3,750 for airfare, hotel and meals are offered, as published. source
- Pitch Slam!
- Pitch Slam!: 1st Place $10,000; 2nd Place $5,000; 3rd Place $2,500 (as published on the e-Fest 2027 competitions page) source
- Cadence
- Annual, April (online submissions open each January)
Next edition
| Dates | Apr 22–24, 2027 source |
|---|---|
| Edition | e-Fest 2027 |
| Venue | Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, Minneapolis, United States |
How founders get in
| Startup programme | Student teams apply through an online submission round (slide deck and pitch video; Nov 11 – Jan 31 for the 2027 edition); judges select the Top 25 finalist teams to attend in Minneapolis. Travel stipends of up to $3,750 for airfare, hotel and meals are offered, as published. source |
|---|
Pitch Slam!
| Prize | Pitch Slam!: 1st Place $10,000; 2nd Place $5,000; 3rd Place $2,500 (as published on the e-Fest 2027 competitions page) source |
|---|
Meeting investors there
Per the organiser, at the Pitch Slam everyone in attendance votes for the 3 venture teams they would most want to meet with as a potential investor. source
Before you go: the hub's cold email to VCs playbook covers the pre-event outreach that fills a meeting calendar, and Causo matches your stage and thesis to the funds in its database so you know who to ask for a meeting.
Official links and socials
Prepare for it
- How to cold email VCs — book the meetings before you land.
- The 12-slide seed deck — what to have ready when a partner says "send me the deck".
- Pitch Deck Roaster — a slide-by-slide pass before you submit to Pitch Slam!.
- Accelerator deadlines — the application windows that open around the event.
Sources
Every fact above was read from one of these official pages on Oct 26, 2026: