Burton D. Morgan Venture Concept Competition — Fall 2026: Dates, $100K Prizes & How to Apply

Applications for the Fall 2026 Burton D. Morgan Venture Concept Competition closed Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Purdue used this official Fall 2026 preliminary venture concept form for the cycle.

This article documents the Fall 2026 competition cycle only. For the competition's history and semester archive, see our complete Burton D. Morgan guide. The application form, workshop schedule, and other time-sensitive links below may expire or change after the Fall 2026 cycle. For the latest official information, use Purdue's current Burton D. Morgan Venture Concept Competition page.

Fall 2026 competition at a glance

Detail	Fall 2026 information
Application deadline	Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
Who can apply	Purdue students with an eligible early-stage concept
Prize pool	$100,000 across two tracks and special awards
Workshops	Thursdays at 7 p.m., primarily at Purdue HIVE, with a virtual option
Final event	Friday, December 11, 2026, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Purdue HIVE
Application form	Fall 2026 preliminary venture concept form — deadline passed Sept. 27

For Fall 2026, Purdue describes the competition as an active venture-building process focused on business design, rapid prototyping, market validation, and customer discovery, not simply a one-day pitch event. Participants work toward answering a basic question about their concept: do people actually want this? See Purdue's current competition overview for the Fall 2026 cycle for the full description.

What you need to submit by September 27

The first step is intentionally lightweight. Purdue says the preliminary submission is an expression of commitment to go through the competition process, not something teams will be assessed on.

You do not need to choose one of the competition's two tracks when you apply. Purdue says the tracks will be determined after submissions are received.

For the Fall 2026 cycle, Purdue used this preliminary venture concept form and listed the application deadline as September 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

Who is eligible

The Fall 2026 competition is open to all Purdue students, but the concept itself must meet Purdue's early-stage eligibility requirements. According to the official competition rules, the concept:

• must not have received more than $10,000 in funding from any source;
• must not have generated more than $5,000 in market revenue; and
• must not be based on Purdue-owned intellectual property.

The competition is designed for new concepts where the team still needs to validate the customer problem, market opportunity, differentiation, and solution.

What happens after you apply

Participants spend the next several weeks working through customer and market validation. Purdue says the process includes workshops, tools, feedback, office hours, and short milestone assignments.

After the September 24 opening workshop, the remaining Fall 2026 workshops are scheduled for October 8, October 22, November 5, November 19, and December 3, all on Thursdays. Purdue lists in-person participation at Purdue HIVE as preferred and says a virtual option will also be available. For more context on HIVE itself, see our buildpurdue vs. Purdue HIVE comparison. Entered participants receive access to a Brightspace competition page for assignments, workshop materials, office hours, and feedback.

To remain eligible for the December final event, Purdue lists three minimum requirements:

• complete one or two virtual office-hour meetings with the competition team;
• submit four short assignments at key milestones; and
• commit to attending the December 11 final event in person.

The official competition page has the full schedule and participation details.

What's new for the Fall 2026 competition

Purdue listed several major changes for the Fall 2026 cycle.

First, the prize pool has doubled to $100,000, with two tracks and more teams expected to receive funding. Purdue says it expects about 25 teams total to receive a significant award across the competition and special prizes.

Second, workshops and events are being held at Purdue HIVE, Purdue's entrepreneurship hub in the Brown Family Hall of Engineering.

Third, Purdue says the top 10 prize winners across the two tracks will receive automatic admission to Venture X2, a follow-on founder program that can provide up to $5,000 per team for product and customer expenses. For a buildpurdue overview of that program, see our buildpurdue vs. Venture X comparison.

The competition also says teams with top concepts will be prepared for later opportunities including Purdue Innovates' New Venture Challenge and the national Rice Business Plan Competition. We also maintain a buildpurdue comparison of the New Venture Challenge. Purdue's Institute for Physical Artificial Intelligence is also returning as a partner to support promising AI concepts.

How the $100,000 prize pool works

For Fall 2026, Purdue published the following top awards per track for the December final:

• 1st prize: $10,000
• 2nd prize: $7,000
• 3rd prize: $5,000
• additional standout concepts: $3,000 awards intended to help teams continue building

Purdue also lists special prizes at the final event and says it expects about 25 teams overall to receive a significant award. The competition page also says the winner or winners will receive a paid San Francisco trip connected to Purdue Innovates' Third Coast Foundry, a space designed to connect Midwest university startups with Bay Area networks and capital.

Because award structure can change between cycles, use Purdue's official competition page for the latest live competition information; this page preserves the Fall 2026 record.

What the final concepts are judged on

Purdue says final-event concepts are assessed on four main areas:

1. the importance and clarity of the target customer's unmet job or problem;
2. the clarity and differentiation of the value proposition;
3. the size of the market opportunity; and
4. the market, technical, and execution risk of the proposed solution.

Those are the published Fall 2026 judging criteria. For practical application and customer-discovery guidance, see our Fall 2026 Burton Morgan application guide.

Fall 2026 application record

For the Fall 2026 cycle, Purdue set the preliminary application deadline at September 27, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

• View the official Fall 2026 Burton D. Morgan application form — the Sept. 27 deadline has passed
• Read Purdue's official Burton D. Morgan competition page
• Learn about Purdue HIVE on its official site and see our buildpurdue vs. Purdue HIVE comparison
• Read Purdue's Venture X page and see our buildpurdue vs. Venture X comparison

For a broader look at how this competition fits into Purdue's founder ecosystem, see our complete Burton Morgan guide, Fall 2026 application guide, and buildpurdue vs. Burton D. Morgan Venture Concept Competition comparison.

Fall 2026 archive notice: This page intentionally records the Fall 2026 application form, schedule, and requirements. After this cycle closes, keep this page as the historical Fall 2026 record and use Purdue's official competition page or the newest buildpurdue cycle guide for the next application window.