CUNY Startups will host a competition for student entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and display business startup strategies, for a chance to win a cash prize.
The CUNY Clash is targeted toward student business innovators who are ready to present their product or business ideas to a larger audience.
The format of this pitch competition involves the collaboration of 26 CUNY colleges to provide innovative ideas. It also includes solving real-world problems to compete and win monetary prizes.
To apply, an applicant must submit a 60 to 90-second video explaining their business idea. After, students are required to submit a short form prior to an information session held on Instagram Live on March 2.
Erica Li, founder of the career development app Naomi, explained how this initiative brought her product to life through constant support and refinement. Li placed second in the 2025 CUNY Clash competition.
“This experience helped me turn an idea into something real through mentorship and feedback,” Li said, in a CUNY Clash promotional video. “Winning second place gave me the funding to recruit a student team and start building my app and that has been a huge step for us.”
Launched in 2014, with their office located at Baruch, CUNY Startups has since aided 240,000 students across the 26 campuses. It aims to help students harness entrepreneurial skills, while promoting business and economic growth in NYC.
Associate Director of the CUNY Startup program Adia Johnson echoed the initiative’s mission to promote entrepreneurial success.
“CUNY Startups mission is to propel students’ overall career projections and well-being by providing startup programming mentorship that enhances their skills, networks and access to capital,” Johnson told The Ticker.
To achieve their goal, CUNY Startups has a three-program component embedded into this initiative: New Venture Accelerator 1, New Venture Accelerator 2 and CUNY Clash.
Johnson explained that this “empowering” program helps students gain a head start in their business venture by providing them with a supportive network.
“I think it really gives students the opportunity to really push their idea forward by giving them that platform so that people could see it on our Instagram pages, in person or just about in general,” Johnson said.
Johnson revealed that the ideal candidate for this competition should be proactive.
The competition provides an opportunity to hear additional testimonies from past competitors if applications are submitted before Feb. 20.
“Students who apply early get to have access to an early bird Discord room with previous finalists,” Johnson said. “We have 4 previous finalists who are in that room waiting for them to impart their knowledge.”
Semifinalists will receive advice on how to improve pitching skills.
However, only 14 to 15 semifinalists will advance into the final aspect of the CUNY Clash competition. This will take place on May 1, at Amazon.
The prizes received by the top three candidates will vary.
“The grand prize winner takes home $10,000. Second place wins $4,000. Third place wins $2,000,” CUNY Startups reported. “And all other finalists also receive cash prizes.”
