Great news! The City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce and Temple University are thrilled to host the Philadelphia Regional Startup World Cup Pitch Competition at Temple University on August 27, 2025. 

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity positioning and celebrating Philadelphia on the global stage. This Philadelphia competition, hosted by the Department of Commerce and Temple University, is one of more than 100 regional pitch competitions happening across the world.

The Philadelphia first prize winner will compete in the Startup World Cup, largest tech competition in the world.

Apply to compete

10 tech startups will be selected to compete in Philadelphia on August 27.  

Selected tech startups must pitch for 3 minutes with 2 minutes of Q&A. 

Are you an eligible tech startup interested in pitching and competing that day?

Click here to submit your application.

The business applying:

  • Must be a registered business located in Philadelphia.
  • Must be legally recognized with an Employer Identification Number (EIN).
  • Must be a startup business. For the purpose of this application, we are defining a startup as an early-stage company that has been in existence for 10 years or less. The company can be pre-revenue, meaning the company has not made a profit yet. However, each company must showcase that they have a plan to make revenue within the submitted pitch deck.  
  • Must upload a pitch deck in the application.

Click here for all additional eligibility guidelines available in the application. The 10 tech startups selected will compete for the following regional prizes:

  • FIRST PLACE WINNER will be awarded $20,000 from the Department of Commerce and automatically selected to pitch at the Startup World Cup, the largest startup competition in the world for a chance to win a $1 Million investment prize in San Francisco.
  • SECOND PLACE WINNER will be awarded $10,000.
  • THIRD PLACE WINNER will be awarded $5,000.

The application deadline is Monday July 7, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.  

The top 10 finalists selected to compete at the Philadelphia Regional Pitch Competition will be announced in a few weeks after application closes. 

The selected tech startups must be available to attend and pitch onsite at the event on August 27, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in Philadelphia at Temple University’s Science Education and Research Center (SERC) Building.

Apply today