High Potential Program

Frequently Asked Questions

• How much funding is available?

  The HiPo Fund will award $25,000 in total grants during Summer 2025. The average grant will be around $5,000, though actual amounts may vary depending on venture needs and judge recommendations.

• Who is eligible to apply?

  To be eligible for the HiPo program, ventures must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Have an active founder or co-founder who is a matriculated, degree-seeking Harvard undergraduate, graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or clinical fellow OR, you had one during the Spring of 2025.
  • Have not pitched in a previous HiPo finals round
  • Have never won the President's Innovation Challenge OR the New Venture Competition
  • Demonstrate material traction and/or high growth potential

• What are the program commitments?

  Ventures selected for the HiPo must:

  • Participate in the virtual pitch event during the week of May 19–23, which consists of a three-minute pitch followed by a three-minute Q&A.
  • Attend three mandatory coaching sessions in June.
  • Pitch to the HiPo Investment Panel on June 25, if selected.
  • Be a supportive and engaged peer in the HiPo cohort.

• What is the selection process?

  1. Complete the online application by May 12, which includes submitting a pitch deck. You don’t have to have a perfect pitch — the i-lab team will work with you on that!
  2. The HiPo Selection Committee reviews and evaluates all applications. By May 15, 12 to 25 ventures will be invited to a virtual pitch event.
  3. During the week of May 19–23, selected ventures pitch virtually to a judging panel comprised of entrepreneurs, funders, operators, as well as an AI judge. Ventures will be divided into three cohorts: Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C), and Health Care and Life Sciences.
  4. After the virtual pitch day, only five ventures will be selected as HiPo nominees by May 30.
     
  5. HiPo nominees will participate in three mandatory 1:1 coaching meetings over the first three weeks in June.
  6. The program culminates in the HiPo Investment Panel on June 25, where participating ventures will pitch to a new panel of judges to become HiPo Fellows.
  7. The investment panelists will evaluate the ventures and their eligibility for a HiPo grant. The ventures will be notified if they are a HiPo Fellow and their grant amount.
  8. Harvard Innovation Labs staff works with HiPo Fellows to disburse the funds as an unrestricted grant, either to the individual or to the venture entity (the later is often preferred by teams).

• How will ventures be evaluated?

  Judges will use the following criteria to evaluate your venture. You should seek to answer these questions, and support your answers with data, in the application questions and in the deck that you submit.

  1. Problem + Customer Definition: Is there a clearly defined, significant problem or need? Is the market opportunity large and compelling?
  2. Solution + Differentiation: Does the venture offer a strong solution that fits the problem? Is it unique or better than alternatives?
  3. Business Model + Potential: Is there a credible plan for how the venture will make money and grow? Does it have potential for scale and sustainability?
  4. Team + Execution Ability: Does the team have the skills, commitment, and experience to execute the plan and adapt as needed?
  5. Traction: Does the venture have customers, revenue, users, partnerships, or investors? (For health care and life sciences or deep tech teams: Please describe any prototypes, patents, experimental data, etc.)