A chance to change the world
The President’s Innovation Challenge is a call to action, innovation and entrepreneurship. It’s a challenge to the entire Harvard community of students and postdocs to engage with pressing issues facing the world and to explore turning their ideas into impactful, real-world ventures.
It’s also a competition — and an opportunity to win funding. The awards are made possible by a generous gift from the Bertarelli Foundation, Ernesto Bertarelli (MBA 1993).
| $75,000 | Grand Prize (four total) |
| $25,000 | Runner-Up Prize (four total) |
| $10,000 | Ingenuity Awards |
Prizes are awarded in each of four tracks:
1 Social Impact or Cultural Enterprise
2 Health or Life Sciences
3 Open (for ideas that transcend categories)
4 Launch Lab X (selected teams in our 9-month alumni accelerator program)
The Process
93 semi-finalist teams have been accepted into the 2019 Spring Venture Incubation Program. Drawing on all i-lab resources, they will develop their ventures over 12 weeks. A panel of expert judges will then choose the finalists, who will go on to compete for the prizes.
The Awards Ceremony
The President’s Innovation Challenge culminates with the Awards Ceremony on May 1, 2019 in Klarman Hall at the Harvard Business School. At this thoughtfully curated, dynamic and unforgettable evening, guests will meet the most innovative of the startups being built at Harvard – and see 20 finalists showcase their highly-anticipated projects live. Harvard President Lawrence Bacow will present the awards that will propel the winning ventures ahead. The event is open to the public.
CLICK, LISTEN & LEARN:
HOW IDEAS ARE EVALUATED:
The letters in VERITE! correspond to the seven criteria we use to evaluate ideas and ventures: viability, empathy, rigor, ingenuity, traction, economics, and impact.
Vérité means truth. It’s what we’re after at the Harvard Innovation Labs. Because an idea can only be successful if it consistently channels the truth of the problem, the truth of the customer, and the truth of the solution.
New in 2019: Ingenuity Awards
The world needs new ideas. So, for the first time in the history of the President’s Innovation Challenge, we are giving out $10,000 in Ingenuity Awards for bold, original ideas that impress our panel of judges with their audacity and creativity.